Overview

The law about flats is extremely complex, frequently changing, and often litigious.  As a result, the court system and in particular the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal and Lands Tribunal play a crucial role in resolving disputes and clarifying the law (where possible!).  Some of the more complicated cases have even been decided by the Court of Appeal and House of Lords. 

In this section, you can learn about all the latest court decisions involving flats as well read expert commentary on some of the more contentious decisions.  If you have more questions, require further clarification, or want to suggest an article don’t forget to contact us, comment on an article or leave a comment in our forum.

Your rights if you lose your job

Top tips for employees facing a redundancy situation.

Nailrile - The Valuers Recipe

Following the Lands Tribunal’s decision in Nailrile, the valuation of intermediate leasehold interests will be much more complex than before, but this recipe guide will see you though.

MORE LEASEHOLD LAWS ‘A PRIORITY’

‘Make me an honest offer’ – Cadogan v Morris reconsidered

LVT case of the month -Challenging service charges

House of Lords ruling announced today will have serious ramifications for landlords

The House of Lords has dealt another blow to owners of residential or mixed use buildings following its decision today in the case of Les Aggio and Others v Howard de Walden Estates Limited and 26 Cadogan Square Limited v The Earl of Cadogan and Cadogan Estates Limited.

When a house is not a home

Anna Favre of Pemberton Greenish recalls how one recent landmark case has outlined the prerequisites to something many already thought they knew – what constitutes a house?

Death, taxes and childbirth - there's never a convenient time for any of them!

Anyone acquiring the freehold to their house will need to think about two taxes in particular, stamp duty land tax (SDLT) and capital gains tax (CGT). Martin Codd of Dawsons LLP reports.

Your Legal Toolkit - Take the right legal steps

In the seventh series of plain-English legal articles, Yashmin Mistry, Solicitor in the Leasehold Enfranchisement Department of Brethertons LLP highlights an area of law of interest to leaseholders – Reserve Fund and Sinking Funds.

Majorstakes Ltd v Curtis

Mark Chick, partner at Bishop & Sewell LLP, takes a close look at February’s landmark ruling by the House of Lords, the first judgment to be made by them under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.

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How Far Eastern Quality Beat the Credit Crunch

If you're going to fall victim to the recent credit crunch, you might as well do it in style. Fallout from the financial downturn was felt across London's Canary Wharf district, but nowhere was it more obvious than at Ballymore's flagship residential development, Pan Peninsula.

The Common Wasp: Friend or Foe?

For many people, the summertime means enjoying relaxing picnics in the sun. There is one particular insect associated with this season however, which evokes fear, distress and annoyance in many picnic goers: the common wasp. Despite being a pest species, many people don't realise how interesting and complex these social insects are. So should we treat wasps with fear or admiration?

Tax for flats

The recent hike in capital gains tax to 28% by the new coalition Government has been met with caution by the property industry, as it will affect many who have invested in flats.

IFAS Prefer Commercial to Residential property

More financial advisers think their clients should consider commercial property as an investment compared with residential property, according to the latest survey of Independent Financial advisers (IFas) by rEITa.

Flats Rise - slowly

The latest Government house building data shows that the number of starts rose in the first three months of this year to the best level since the second quarter of 2008. Despite this, starts are currently only running at around 50% of the level achieved at the high water mark of the previous cycle.

Leaseholders group won't be left in the cold

The Federation of Private Residents Associations has called for a change to the Landlord and Tenant Act that would allow for ‘reasonable' insulation to be carried out to blocks of flats as part of the service charge.

Mainstay acquires Market Focus

Mainstay group , the national property management and facilities company, has purchased Market Focus Asset Management (MFAM) based in London. MFAM specialise in the management of mixed use, residential and commercial property.

Managing to Win

Over 50 property managers celebrated together in London as England beat Slovenia in the FIFa world Cup 2010. The event was jointly hosted by News on the Block and Sky Homes.

RMG wins £400k of Business in North

RMG property management has successfully generated over £400k worth of business from the north of England.  Justin Herbert, RMG's Operations Director for the North, said: "Customers recognise the benefi t of regular site visits, full transparency and accessibility to Property Managers, quarterly meetings and site audits, as well as the value for money and customer service provided by RMG."

New Home, New Leader for Stonedale

Stonedale, the specialist London based property management company has appointed Andrew Lyle as its new Head of Operations. Andrew boasts a career that spans over 20 years in property management, having worked for a number of high profi le managing agents in London. In the 18 months since joining the Stonedale team as a Senior Property Manager, he has managed developments in Docklands, Limehouse and Clerkenwell.