Freeths
13 Experts
2 Contributions by Freeths
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note explores how the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Duty affects insurers, touching in particular on key matters such as claims handling, methods for calculating and setting premiums, the appropriateness of policy wordings, and the role of third parties. It also flags important regulatory movements (including supervisory reviews) that bear on insurers’ roll‑out of the Consumer Duty. For an overview of the core components of the FCA’s Consumer Duty, see Practice Note: The FCA Consumer Duty—essentials. For commentary on what the Consumer Duty means for insurance intermediaries, see Practice Note: The FCA Consumer Duty—implications for insurance intermediaries. For a record of key milestones associated with the FCA’s Consumer Duty, see: The FCA Consumer Duty—timeline.
Claims
For insurers, claims handling is expected to be a prime area of FCA attention when evaluating compliance with the Consumer Duty. The reason is that, in reality, it is at the
Insurance & Reinsurance
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note explores the ramifications of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Consumer Duty for insurance intermediaries, covering the assessment of fair value in insurance products, the FCA’s expectations for rollout, and a range of intermediary-specific considerations linked to scheme policies, placing and producing brokers, claims handling and renewal activity, broker remuneration and potential insurer conflicts. It also signposts key regulatory developments (including supervisory reviews) that are pertinent to intermediaries’ delivery of the Consumer Duty. For an overview of the core components of the FCA’s Consumer Duty, see Practice Note: The FCA Consumer Duty—essentials. For commentary on what the Duty means for insurers, see Practice Note: The FCA Consumer Duty—implications for insurers. For significant milestones on the Consumer Duty, including go-live dates, see: The FCA Consumer Duty—timeline.
FCA’s reviews into value measures
Under the Consumer Duty, firms must achieve and test four outcomes, which include
Insurance & Reinsurance
21 Contributions by Freeths Experts
PRACTICE NOTES
Background
The architecture of biodiversity law and policy is intricate. Spurred by pronounced post-war losses in biodiversity, a corpus of law has developed to confront the problem, though how effective it is remains unclear. The Introduction to Biodiversity Litigation (OUP, 2023) observes that, until lately, litigation has tended to centre on climate change before the judiciary or on the environment as a whole, rather than on biodiversity itself. However, biodiversity’s distinct features justify closer, subject-specific study within legal scholarship. Biodiversity law and policy have undoubtedly become embedded in governmental policy and rhetoric and in the jurisprudence of both domestic and international legal systems. This trajectory is set to persist, particularly as explicit links are increasingly drawn between restoring biodiversity and adapting to the effects of climate change. This Practice Note is designed to equip practitioners with the background and conceptual apparatus required when
Environment
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note sets out how to bring a possession claim when a lease or licence has ended, for both residential and commercial premises. It covers Part 55 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR 55), preparing the claim, and practical points for the hearing. For guidance in other situations requiring possession proceedings, see Practice Notes:
Terminating assured and assured shorthold tenancies—pre-Renters' Rights Act position
Forfeiture of a lease
Trespassers—possession proceedings
LTA 1954 business lease renewal—proceedings
Mortgage possession claims
Entitlement to possession
A tenant’s right to occupy ends after the contractual term expires in several cases, including:
the lease is commercial and is contracted out of the security of tenure provisions of LTA 1954, or security of tenure is otherwise lost (see Practice Note: LTA 1954 business lease
Property Disputes
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note summarises the principal provisions on discrimination affecting the private rented sector in England and Wales, contained in sections 33–49 of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (RRA 2025). For an overview of the Act’s core measures, see Practice Note: Renters’ Rights Act 2025—key provisions.
Discrimination in the rental market in England
These provisions took effect on 1 May 2026.
Prohibited grounds of discrimination
RRA 2025, ss 33–42 impose statutory bans on discriminatory conduct in England’s rental market. They apply to assured tenancies as defined by the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988), but exclude social housing tenancies (as in Part 2 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008) and supported accommodation (HA 1988, Sch 2, para 12). Landlords, and anyone acting for them—whether a professional letting agent or an informal helper such as a friend or relative—must not treat prospective renters
Property Disputes
PRACTICE NOTES
Introduction
The EU‑UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is the accord between the European Union (EU) and the UK that took effect on 1 May 2021 after Brexit. It sets out preferential arrangements across core areas of EU‑UK relations, covering trade in goods and services, digital trade, intellectual property, public procurement, aviation and road transport, energy, fisheries, social security coordination, law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, thematic cooperation, and participation in EU programmes. These arrangements are supported by commitments to a level playing field and the protection of fundamental rights.
The EU entered into the TCA under Article 218 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In the UK, the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 (EU(FR)A 2020) established a framework enabling the TCA to be implemented by regulations, rather than giving the agreement immediate direct effect. For more on the
Environment
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note outlines the range of scenarios a developer may face when seeking vacant possession of a prospective development plot. It reviews the possible occupiers and rights that may exist, spanning business tenancies protected by Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), through to long-standing occupants, licensees and telecommunications operators, and the routes to end those rights and secure possession. As timing is crucial to redevelopment, the Practice Note also sets out when to serve notices and take steps to regain possession, and highlights the need for the developer to address all interests on the site.
Introduction
An apparently straightforward redevelopment site may carry multiple interests with varying levels of legal protection. Landlords intending to redevelop should assess what those interests are, together with the available methods and timings for bringing them to an end, well before any works are due to
Property Disputes
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note outlines the principal rules on rent and rent transparency in the private rental sector in England under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (RRA 2025). It covers the obligation to state the proposed rent in adverts or written offers, the ban on urging tenants to bid or pay more than the proposed rent, the ways in which rent can be varied, and limits on taking rent up front. For an overview of the core elements of RRA 2025, see Practice Note: Renters' Rights Act 2025—key provisions.
Stating proposed rent and avoiding rental bidding
In force from 1 May 2026, ss 56–57 of RRA 2025 aim to make the exact rent for a property clear and to curb informal bidding contests between would‑be tenants that drive prices up. A landlord, agent, or anyone acting for the landlord must not:
publicise a proposed letting in
Property Disputes
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note sets out the steps for dealing with many of the most frequent residential service charge disputes under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (LTA 1985). It covers a landlord’s ability to recover residential service charges, whether a demand is reasonable, when demands must be issued, the timing and wording of formal notices, and the process for issuing an application in relation to service charge demands and recovery before the First Tier Tribunal (Property Tribunal), together with the recovery of the landlord’s costs arising from service charge proceedings. For broader guidance on the statutory consultation regime for qualifying works and qualifying long term agreements, and the kinds of disputes that process may trigger, see the separate Practice Note: Consultation for residential service charges.
The power to recover residential service charges
A core principle for service charge recovery is that a landlord has no duty to
Property Disputes
PRACTICE NOTES
Section 49 of the Law of Property Act 1925
This Practice Note outlines the procedure under section 49(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA 1925). It enables a buyer or seller of any interest in land (or their representatives), during the period between exchange and completion, to make a summary application to the court in relation to:
any requisitions or objections
any claim to compensation, or
any other issue arising from or connected with the contract (other than a matter affecting the contract’s existence or validity)
The provision applies to contracts for the sale or exchange of any interest in land. The court may make whatever order appears just, including directions on the costs of and incidental to the application. The court has no power to award damages. For guidance on the court’s discretion to order repayment of a deposit under LPA
Property Disputes
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note examines UK policy, law and legislation in relation to biodiversity...
Environment
PRACTICE NOTES
Biodiversity legal and policy frameworks comprise a fast‑evolving and often intricate branch of law. In the wake of marked post‑war declines in biodiversity, a corpus of legal measures emerged to confront the issue. Results have been uneven; nevertheless, biodiversity law and policy now form a core element of government policy and the jurisprudence of domestic and international legal systems. This direction is set to persist, particularly as the ties between restoring biodiversity and adapting to climate change are drawn more closely. This Practice Note equips practitioners with the context and principal concepts underpinning biodiversity law. It explores:
the background to the legislative and policy frameworks that support biodiversity, and
the key concepts in biodiversity law
It also sits within a suite of biodiversity content comprising the following Practice Notes:
Biodiversity—UK policy and legislative framework
Environment
PRECEDENTS
Claim No. [ insert claim number ]. [ IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS [ OF ENGLAND AND WALES OR IN [ insert location ] ] ] [ State division ] [ Identify specialist court ] [ Insert location ] DISTRICT REGISTRY OR THE COUNTY COURT AT [ insert location ] [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS LIST ] ] Before [ The Honourable Mr Justice OR The Honourable Mrs Justice OR His Honour Judge OR Her Honour Judge OR Master OR District Judge ] [ insert name ] dated: [ insert date ] between: [ insert name ] Claimant and [ insert name ] Defendant
Directions
Having considered the allocation questionnaires provided by the parties. [ upon the parties having agreed the directions set out below. AND upon hearing the parties. ] The following is
Property Disputes
PRECEDENTS
FORTHCOMING CHANGE :
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 was granted Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. For guidance on how the Act affects residential tenancies in England, see Practice Note: Renters’ Rights Act 2025—key provisions.
Introduction
The defence must be submitted on Form N11R. These drafting notes are provided solely to assist with completing Form N11R.
Relevant precedents
For further relevant precedents, refer to:
Drafting notes for claim form in section 21 standard possession proceedings
Drafting notes for particulars of claim in s 21 notice standard possession proceedings
General points
These notes are intended to help with completing Form N11R, the defence used where a landlord of property let on an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) has begun possession proceedings under the standard possession procedure. For these notes, it is assumed the landlord’s case also includes a claim for rent arrears. A landlord may instead elect to use the
Property Disputes
PRECEDENTS
FORTHCOMING CHANGE :
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 obtained Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. For advice on the Act’s effect on residential tenancies in England, see Practice Note: Renters’ Rights Act 2025—key provisions.
Introduction
Where a possession claim relies on grounds other than rent arrears, the correct defence is filed using Form N11R (defence form—rented residential premises). These drafting notes are provided solely to support completion of Form N11R.
Relevant precedents
Drafting notes for a section 8 notice seeking possession of property let under an assured tenancy (AT) or assured shorthold tenancy (AST)
Drafting notes for the claim form in section 8 proceedings for possession (AT or AST) arising from rent arrears and/or other breaches
Drafting notes for particulars of claim in section 8 proceedings (AT or AST) relating to non-payment of rent and/or other breaches
Drafting notes for a defence to section 8 possession claims brought for
Property Disputes
PRECEDENTS
FORTHCOMING CHANGE :
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 obtained Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. For detailed guidance concerning the Act’s effect on residential tenancies in England, see Practice Note: Renters' Rights Act 2025—key provisions.
How to use these drafting notes
These drafting notes are intended for preparing particulars of claim where a private landlord has issued a notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) to the tenant of a property let on an assured shorthold tenancy (AST), and the standard procedure for possession is being followed, rather than the accelerated route. Form N119 should be used for the particulars of claim in this context. For further guidance, see Practice Note: Assured and assured shorthold tenancies—terminating...
Property Disputes
PRECEDENTS
FORTHCOMING CHANGE
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 obtained Royal Assent on 27 October 2025. For guidance on the Act’s effect on residential tenancies in England, see Practice Note: Renters’ Rights Act 2025—key provisions.
Introduction
The defence to a possession claim arising from non-payment of rent must be filed using Form N11R (defence form—rented residential premises). These drafting notes assist with properly completing Form N11R only...
Property Disputes
PRECEDENTS
Introduction
Where a landlord contests a request for a new tenancy under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), the application must be brought using Form N1. These drafting notes are provided to accompany, and are intended for use solely with, Form N1, which is the required claim form in such circumstances.
Other precedents
For other relevant precedents, see:
Directions—opposed LTA 1954 business lease renewal
Landlord’s defence opposing tenant’s claim for a lease renewal
General points
These notes are designed to assist with completing Form N1 where a tenant of business premises seeks a renewal under the LTA 1954 and the landlord is opposing that renewal. Opposed lease renewal proceedings are brought under the Part 7 procedure, and evidence is filed in accordance with the court’s directions, with the landlord serving their evidence first. A claim can be issued at any County Court hearing centre;
Property Disputes
PRECEDENTS
To:
[ insert Building Owner ] Of: [ insert Building Owner’s main address ] Being the Adjoining [ Owner OR Owners ] for the purposes of the Party Wall etc Act 1996 (the ‘Act’) in respect of [ insert Adjoining Owner’s building ], and noting receipt of a notice dated [ insert date ] concerning proposed works at [ insert Building Owner’s building ], and without prejudice to any of [ my OR our ] rights under the Act, [ I OR we ]...
Property Disputes
PRECEDENTS
Claim No. [ insert claim number ]
[ IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS [ OF ENGLAND AND WALES OR AT [ insert location ] ] ] [ Specify division ] [ Specify specialist court ] [ Insert location ] DISTRICT REGISTRY, OR THE COUNTY COURT AT [ insert location ] [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS LIST ] ]
Between: [ insert name ] Claimant and [ insert name ] Defendant
Defence
[ The Defendant disputes the granting of a new tenancy on the grounds set out in its notice served pursuant to section 25 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (‘the Act’): [ ground or grounds plus full details ]. OR The Defendant disputes the granting of a new tenancy on the grounds identified in its notice under section 26(6) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (‘the Act’): [ ground or
Property Disputes
PRECEDENTS
Claim No. [ enter claim number ].
[ IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS [ OF ENGLAND AND WALES OR AT [ enter location ] ] ] [ name division ] [ name specialist court ] [ [ enter location ] DISTRICT REGISTRY OR THE COUNTY COURT AT [ enter location ] [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS LIST ] ] ]
before [ The Honourable Mr Justice OR The Honourable Mrs Justice OR His Honour Judge OR Her Honour Judge OR Master OR District Judge ] [ enter name ] dated: [ enter date ] between: [ enter name ] Claimant and [ enter name ] Defendant
Directions
Having reviewed the allocation questionnaires lodged by the parties. [ And upon the parties having agreed the directions set out below. OR And upon hearing from the parties. ] It is ordered as
Property Disputes
PRECEDENTS
Claim No. [ insert claim number ] [ IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS [ OF ENGLAND AND WALES OR IN [ insert location ] ] ] [ Specify division ] [ Specify specialist court ] [ Insert location ] DISTRICT REGISTRY OR THE COUNTY COURT AT [ insert location ] [ BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS LIST ] ] between: [ insert name ] Claimant and [ insert name ]
Property Disputes
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