Staff

Changes to the laws on Agricultural Holdings come into force on 21 June 2021, allowing tenants to demand changes to their tenancy or consent from their landlord, where the landlord will not agree. Jonathan Carroll Director and Head of Agriculture provides an update. Agricultural Holdings Act The snappily titled “Agricultural Holdings (Requests for Landlord’s Consent or Variation of Terms and the Suitability Test) (England) Regulations 2021” allow a tenant of an…

A LEADING legal firm has doubled its number of house sale transactions over the past year, in line with a national trend in the property market.As research released today predicted that this year’s housing market is on course to be the busiest since 2007, Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors said its property department had seen a huge jump in transactions since last April. According to the property website Zoopla around 1.52 million…

Care workers who slept overnight at their workplace were “available for work” rather than “working” and so were not entitled to be paid the national minimum wage for the whole of their sleep-in shift. Joanne Stronach Director & Head of Employment and HR reports on this recent case. That was the decision of the Supreme Court in two cases that have major implications for residential care homes. Care workers who…

The government’s new scheme to help people buy a home with a 95% mortgage has now come into effect. Mandy Shum Conveyancer in our property team provides an update. It means buyers can now get on the property ladder even if they only have a 5% deposit. The mortgages are available to both first-time buyers and existing homeowners for houses costing up to £600,000. The government will offer lenders the…

The Court of Appeal has ruled that a group of leaseholders were not responsible for the cost of repairs if those repairs also made good fundamental structural defects in their properties. Natalie Tatton Solicitor reports on this recent case. The leases related to flats situated in a large block constructed in 1957. They were for 125-year terms and were originally granted under the right to buy provisions in the Housing…

The newly appointed Small Business Commissioner is to spearhead a national effort to crack down on late payment of invoices – which cause thousands of small businesses to close every year. Carly Davies Debt Recovery Manager provides an update. Former journalist Liz Barclay will be the first woman to hold the position, which was created in 2016 to help small businesses secure the payments owed to them and to galvanise UK…

12 months on and we are still feeling the effects of the pandemic and will for some time.  In March, immediately after the Chancellors latest budget, we asked SMEs across the UK to share their outlook for the next 12 months.  The findings make for interesting reading – including: 46% of businesses with less than £250k turnover are expecting reduced income over the next 12 months. 67% of businesses with…

A commercial landlord has won a dispute over unpaid rent of more than £166,000 despite the tenant citing Covid-19 as the reason for its failure to pay. Stephanie Johnson Senior Associate Solicitor reports on this recent case. The case involved Commerz Real Investmentgesellschaft MBH and TFS Stores Ltd. Commerz was the leasehold owner of the Westfield Shopping Centre. TFS was the tenant of one of the units in the centre…

Thinking it over with Carol Fish Director & Head of Serious and Catastrophic Injury… AS more people prepare to return to offices and other workplaces as lockdown eases further over the coming weeks, now is the time for businesses and employers to be planning how to look after the welfare of their people. Some employees will be looking forward to getting back into workplaces and excited about interacting with their colleagues and…

The Employment Tribunal has ruled that a cleaner was unfairly dismissed after she resigned because her employer accusing her of lying about her illness. Joanne Stronach Director & Head of Employment and HR reports on this recent case. The case involved Pamela Wynn Newcombe, who was employed by Machynlleth Town Council from 2013 to 2019. In 2017, she became involved in a dispute over plans to alter her working hours.…