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Large houses set amidst rolling acres are an abiding feature of English rural life – but should such properties necessarily be viewed as wholly residential? In answering that question in a landowner's favour, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) relieved him of a substantial Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) demand. The landowner and his wife purchased a house and 39 acres of land for £2.5 million. He paid £114,500 in SDLT on the transaction on the basis that the property was in mixed use. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), however, took the...

Fraud is a very real risk faced by investors in property developments and that is why detailed professional supervision of projects is so essential. The point was powerfully made by a case in which a family fell victim to dishonesty and lost millions on the ill-fated purchase and redevelopment of a luxury flat. Following the flat's purchase for £7.75 million, the project was to be administered by a man who would receive 5 per cent of profits generated on the property's resale. In the event, there were no such profits...

The fathers of those who are given up for adoption as babies are often not identified on their birth certificates and that can be a painful barrier to their formation of cultural and family identities in later life. As a High Court ruling showed, however, there is a great deal that the law can do to help them. The case concerned a woman in her 40s who was born in Portsmouth. Her mother was 18 when she gave birth to her and her father was a Royal Navy engineer who...

Is it right for gametes – sperm or eggs – to be collected from dying people who can make no choices for themselves so that their genetic legacy can live on after they are gone? The High Court grappled with that issue in a desperately sad case. The case concerned a university student who was being sustained on life support following a catastrophic stroke. He was unconscious and there was virtually no prospect of him surviving. The tragedy prompted his parents to make an emergency application for permission to retrieve...