The Blog - Archive

December 2009



17/12/09 Renewal of business leases - new case

The case of Inclusive Technology - v - Williamson of 2009 is important for both landlords and tenants in cases where a tenant wishes to renew his business lease but the landlord claims possession on the grounds that he is going to carry out works of reconstruction (this is known as "ground f" in the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954).

This case highlights the fact that if the landlord later changes his mind about the reconstruction, but does not inform the tenant who then commits himself to another lease, the tenant may bring a claim for damages for misrepresentation. Any landlord wishing to have the premises back because of proposals to rebuild or reconstruct should therefore act very carefully if changed circumstances mean that the plans for redevelopment are postponed or cancelled.

For a full report on this case see the Articles section of this website. If you are a landlord or a tenant wishing to have more advice about your position on renewal of business leases, please contact Daniel Stanton or Roger Turner at our Poole Office. (See the Article for contact details)

by Roger Turner

 

08/12/09 Land Registry flood risk indicator - update

Avid readers of our legal blog will be aware that late in 2008 we responded to a Land Registry survey on whether the Registry ought to offer a new flood risk indicator. The Registry launched the indicator a few days ago and this has met with mixed reactions. Our own Daniel Stanton was contacted by the Daily Telegraph for his opinion:

"The main points I emphasised were that the flood risk indicator was a step in the right direction but should be viewed as part of a package of other measures that can be taken to find out as much as possible about a property prior to purchase. Solicitors had been gathering information of flood risk for their clients for nearly a decade now and whereas more information was for the better when purchasing a property, you would always need a solicitor and surveyor to put the information into context.

The additional measures need to include specific enquiries of the Environment Agency and commercial search agencies, who have been providing this information for many years now. The Land Registry have reduced the risk of casual observers making too much of the flood risk indicator by including a lengthy disclaimer asking readers to refer to the Environment Agency. I expressed my concern that the Land Registry flood risk indicator should not be a required component of the Home Information Pack, as there was a real risk that a buyer without legal representation at that stage could take the "headline" in the flood risk indicator, showing whether or not there was a risk of flooding, and this could cause a potential purchaser unnecessary concern. I was pleased to see that the Land Registry had reduced this risk a little by giving more details as to whether it was a low, medium or high flood risk immediately underneath the "headline".

My main concern was that the flood risk indicator does not give any indication of risk from surface water flooding (such as flash flooding from torrential rain outside of a river or coastal flood plain). This may well be due to the difficulty in predicting the flow of such water without there having been such a downpour before, but is nonetheless a major flaw in the Land Registry indicator.

All property information is a snapshot in time and needs to be continually updated to ensure that new flood defences and developments that increase the range of travel of floodwater are taken into account. This does not need to be on a daily basis but would need to be fairly often."

by Roger Turner

 


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