LATEST NEWS

It is normal for victims of crime to think that the conviction and punishment of the criminal marks the end of the process entirely. However, that is not always the case as, when appropriate, compensation can be sought from the criminal. A good example is a recent High Court case in which a woman in her 50s who had been the victim of sexual abuse for many years when she was a child achieved a settlement of more than half a million pounds in damages after taking professional legal advice. The...

Welcomed by tenants and housing practitioners but perhaps a current landlord's worst nightmare, HHJ Jan Luba QC has provided much needed clarification on the application of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. In an appeal of a first instance decision of DJ Bloom, HHJ Jan Luba QC sent a highly persuasive message to housing practitioners and landlords. Although not binding as a County Court decision  (unless tested at the Court of Appeal),  landlords who did not provide a gas safety certificate at the start of a post 1st October 2015...

Owning a share of the freehold is often cited as a selling point to flat buyers – but tenant democracy is no panacea and there is little advantage to it if residents do not get on. In one case, a dispute between wealthy apartment dwellers over cuts to their concierge service ran up over £300,000 in legal costs before being resolved in court. The case concerned a development of 15 apartments that were valued at between £15 million and £34 million. Residents, some of them billionaires, held shares in a...

It is an enduringly popular misconception that all you need to do in order to establish that you are not UK resident for tax purposes is spend fewer than 90 days per year in this country. However, the true position is much more nuanced than that, as one couple discovered to their cost. The couple had decided to seek sunnier climes after one of them was seriously injured in a road accident. They argued that they had departed the UK in 2006 and had made their permanent home in Monaco....