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Thousands of leaseholders who paid double ground rent are to receive refunds following action by the Competition and Mergers Authority (CMA).  Elizabeth Crouch Senior Associate Solicitor & Head of Residential Property provides an update. The CMA has secured undertakings from nine companies that bought freeholds from housing developer Taylor Wimpey. A further four national developers – Crest Nicholson, Redrow, Miller Homes and Vistry – have also agreed to work with the…

EMPLOYERS across the UK are being made aware of recent changes allowing more health professionals to issue fit notes. To reduce pressures on doctors, particularly GPs, the Government added registered nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists to the list of professionals who can certify fit notes providing evidence to employers about a person’s absence if they have been off work with illness for seven days or more. Joanne Stronach, Head…

A LEADING Cumbrian law firm is celebrating one of its client’s winning contracts worth more than £4million. Collaboration and joint ventures are becoming ever more prevalent for SMEs looking to combine their skills and expertise to bid for major industry contracts across a range of sectors. In order to meet the needs of those awarding the contracts and to make successful bids, specific legal frameworks often need to be set…

The government is being urged to introduce reforms to provide better legal protection for cohabiting couples if their relationship breaks down. Amy Fallows Senior Associate Solicitor & Head of our family law team reports. The number of cohabiting couples has more than doubled in the past generation with 1.5m in 1996, compared to 3.6m in 2021. Do cohabiting couples have rights   The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee says there is a…

The number of firms going out of business or facing serious financial distress has risen sharply this year, according to the latest figures.  Carly Davies, our Debt Control Manager reports. The Insolvency Service says there were 5,629 corporate insolvencies in Q2, an increase of 12.7% compared to Q1’s figures of 4,995, and an increase of 81.3% compared to Q2 2021 (3,105).   Meanwhile, the Red Flag Alert produced by the recovery, financial advisory,…

House prices rose by 11% in the year to July, according to the latest figures from the Nationwide Building Society. However, increases in interest rates and the rising cost of living crisis could lead to a slowdown.  Sam Bulman Conveyancer in our Residential Property team reports. That slowdown may already be starting as the increase in prices between June and July was only 0.1%. The average house now costs £271,209.  Nationwide’s…

A fashion designer in her early fifties who was passed over for promotion has been awarded £96,000 after making an age discrimination claim.  Joanne Stronach Director and Head of Employment & HR reports on this recent case. The case involved Rachel Sunderland, who had worked as a knitwear specialist for Superdry since 2015.   Sunderland had 30 years’ experience in the industry and had worked for well-known brands such as Fang Bros and Boden…

The trustees of a man’s will have been told they cannot put a time limit on his daughter’s right to bring a claim against them unless they provided all the facts that determined how the estate should be divided.  Stephanie Johnson Senior Associate Solicitor reports on this recent case. The case involved two siblings in dispute over the will of their late father.   The deceased owned an estate worth around £3.5…

A pregnant cleaner who was told by her manager she was pathetic for needing to take a five-minute break has won her discrimination case.  Jennifer Cafferky Solicitor in our employment team, reports on this recent case. Anna Burns began working for Whitstable-based Tralee Rest Home in March 2019.  She took only two days absent from work and had a good relationship with her manager for the first six months of her…

Family businesses are well-known for taking the long-term view, with business sustainability and the wider community impact being forefront in their development strategy. Increasingly, all business sectors are adopting a shifting mindset that considers a “triple bottom line” of people, planet and profit, moving away from the desire to simply make profit. We have all come across examples of businesses that make bold claims on their website about their purpose-driven…