Surveyors must pay £50,000 for their negligence over knotweed
June 24th 2019A man who is almost blind was awarded £50,000 after his North London property became overrun with Japanese knotweed. Paul Ryb, who represented Great Britain and won the International Blind Tennis tournament, lost his central vision after suffering from a macular disease. Before purchasing the £1.2m property, on the ground floor of a big Victorian house, the former tennis champion hired Conways Chartered Surveyors to perform a comprehensive survey. He…
Landlord was wrong to apply service charge for clearing rubbish
June 17th 2019By Laura Bright Solicitor A tenant has successfully appealed a service charge he incurred after his landlord removed rubbish from the car park of the property. The tenancy agreement included the rent payable as well as the right of the landlord to add a variable service charge to cover services specified in the agreement, such as garden maintenance and lighting. It also stated that the tenant would not leave personal…
Landlords insist a specialist housing court is needed
June 3rd 2019By Mark Aspin Director Landlord groups have called on the government to establish a dedicated specialist housing court to speed up the process of legitimate evictions. The move comes after the Ministry of Justice published figures showing that it is now taking longer for private landlords to evict problem tenants. The average time between a landlord making a claim to the courts to repossess a property, and it actually happening,…
Judge orders homeowner to pay builder in full for repair work
May 20th 2019By Laura Bright Solicitor The High Court has ordered a homeowner to pay the full cost of repair work carried out on his property by a building company. The court heard that the homeowner, Sylvein Pinto, had asked ICCT Ltd to stop leaks in his basement. The work was not paid for so ICCT took the matter to arbitration and Mr Pinto provided the adjudicator with pictures of the leaking…
Homeowner awarded £500,000 after architect fails to deliver ‘wow factor’
April 1st 2019A City banker has successfully sued his architect after a home cinema designed to float above an indoor swimming pool failed to deliver a “wow factor”. Philip Freeborn was a successful banker and owned a luxurious home. He hired architect Daniel Marca to redesign his pool-house. They agreed on a cinema screen that would appear in a glass box on legs above the pool. However, the end result was not…
New law caps tenancy deposits and regulates letting fees
March 11th 2019By Laura Bright Solicitor The Tenant Fees Act that caps tenancy deposits and protects against unfair practices has now received the Royal Assent and passes into law. The government introduced the new regulations because it believes that unexpected letting fees and high deposits can make properties harder for people to afford and are often not clearly explained upfront – leaving many prospective tenants unaware of the true costs of renting…
Property owner liable to pay council tax after tenant fled
December 14th 2018By Laura Bright Solicitor The High Court has ruled that the owner of a property was liable for council tax after the tenant renting it fled suddenly. At the end of 2016, there was a fire at the premises and it was discovered that it had been used for producing large quantities of cannabis. The tenant disappeared, having not paid rent. The property was subsequently sold to a new owner…
Expert’s plea in light of ‘wicked’ Cumbria doctor’s Will abuse
October 26th 2018A LEGAL expert has spoken about the importance of ensuring wills are properly drafted after a doctor was jailed for defrauding a wealthy widow. David Tew today issued a ‘do it right’ plea following the case of Zholia Alemi, who was last week imprisoned for five years after faking the will of elderly Gillian Belham. Alemi had been asked to rule on the wellbeing of dementia sufferer Mrs Belham. But…
