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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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Wilson and others v HB ( SWA) Ltd and others [2025] EWHC 1315 ( TCC) What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment offers practical guidance on the assessment of damages for breaches of the duty in section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 ( DPA 1972), and highlights examples of losses that may not be recoverable. Section 1 DPA 1972 imposes obligations on those carrying out works to construct new dwellings (ie residential properties) to execute the works in a skilful or professional way and to use appropriate materials, so that on completion the property is fit for habitation. Aspects of DPA 1972 claims have been considered in earlier authorities—most recently, URS v BDW (decided in May 2025), in which the Supreme Court examined who can sue and limitation-related issues. However, there seem to be relatively few decisions that analyse in...
On 25 May 2025, the government issued a technical consultation proposing a statutory build-out framework and a fresh power enabling LPAs to refuse to determine applications where progress on existing sites has been unreasonably slow. Although provided for in the Levelling- Up and Regeneration Act 2023 ( LURA 2023), these provisions are not yet in force. Consultation What are the key points of the consultation? Mandating build-out statements at submission, outlining anticipated delivery rates and identified constraints Requiring commencement notices to be served before works start Insisting on annual progress reports throughout the build Empowering LPAs to decline to determine applications where developers have a poor local build-out record Setting online submission and publication duties to advance the government’s digital planning agenda The government aims to lay regulations to put these measures into effect ‘at the earliest practical...
The Mayor and Commonality and Citizens of The City of London v 48th Street Holding Ltd and another company [2025] EWHC 1130 ( KB) What was the background? The second defendant (‘ POLL’) traded in devising rate mitigation schemes (the RMS) for empty premises for third parties. The first defendant, 48SHL, implemented one such arrangement and relied on it as a defence to a claim for non‑domestic rates. Under the arrangement, once relevant property fell vacant, section 45(1) of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 together with the Non‑ Domestic Rating ( Unoccupied Property) ( England) Regulations 2008, SI 2008/386, regs 3 and 4a, operated to confer an exemption from liability for unoccupied rates for three months and, on the expiry of that three‑month period. To facilitate this, 48SHL granted POLL a lease of the premises and, at the same time, served a break notice...
Carvill- Biggs and another v Reading [2025] EWCA Civ 619 What are the practical implications of this case? The scope of an office-holder’s authority to recover ‘any property’ under IA 1986, s 234 plainly embraces real property and any estate or interest subsisting in such property. Upon the appointment of receivers, they are granted broad managerial powers, notably to take possession of and sell the asset for the lender’s benefit to satisfy the secured borrowing. From the time receivers are appointed over mortgaged land—or remain in post following an administration or liquidation—the asset no longer constitutes property ‘which the company is or appears to be entitled’. As a result, that real property cannot ground an application under IA 1986, s 234. The Civil Procedure Rules apply to insolvency matters unless disapplied or inconsistent with the Insolvency ( England and Wales) Rules 2016, SI...
Background EA 2021, s 98 and Sch 14 extend BNG to applications under the TCPA 1990. After consultation from January to April 2022, the regime and accompanying regulations were commenced in two stages on 12 February and 2 April 2024, having first been intended for November 2023. For NSIPs consented by DCOs, the corresponding provisions are in EA 2021, s 99 and Sch 15 and were originally slated for November 2025. A consultation launched on 28 May, alongside an announcement that commencement would be deferred by six months to May 2026. This note outlines what is proposed in that consultation and highlights any differences from the equivalent TCPA 1990 implementation, which this proposal does not affect. The ecological measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill are also separate from, and additional to, this...
In this issue: Transferring property Commercial real estate finance Statutory compliance Property development Easements, rights and covenants Residential property Insurance Property taxes Additional property updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers New Q& As Transferring property HMLR announces plans to share data on avoidable requisitions with customers HM Land Registry intends to provide firms with visibility of the proportion of their applications that include simple-to-avoid requisitions, such as mismatched names, missing documents, and witness information. These insights are scheduled for publication in Autumn 2025. Across firms, current levels vary, with between 0% and 24% of applications affected. In tandem, HMLR is refining its processes and systems to better support users: raising requisitions only where necessary and automatically validating certain details at the drafting stage. The goal is to...
URS Corporation Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd [2025] UKSC 21 What are the practical implications of this case? The Supreme Court has delivered a definitive ruling on several legal questions of fundamental significance to the construction sector, particularly in the post- Grenfell landscape where claims for historic defects are widespread. Current and prospective claimants bringing claims in tort, under the DPA 1972, and for contribution arising from defective works will be encouraged by the Court’s clarifications. Notably, the judgment opens the way for negligence claims to recover repair costs incurred when the claimant no longer had any proprietary interest in the property and was under no enforceable liability towards third parties, which is especially pertinent where BSA 2022, s 135(3) has retrospectively revived DPA 1972 claims that were previously time-barred. The Court further confirmed that DPA 1972, s 1 applies to original...
Facts The defendant in the proceedings, Ms Lawrence, entered into a loan agreement with a lender, for whom HNW, the claimant in the matter, acted as the security agent for the lender. The purpose of the loan agreement was to help finance Ms Lawrence’s development of a property. That property was also secured separately by a legal mortgage, operating as continuing security to the lender under the loan terms. Although HNW was not itself a party to the loan agreement, the loan agreement nonetheless contained an express provision said to grant HNW certain third party rights to enforce its terms; namely, that, even though HNW Lending Ltd was not a party to this Loan Agreement, HNW Lending Ltd could take the benefit of and specifically enforce each and every express term of the Loan Agreement, together with any term implied under it pursuant to the...
In this issue: Statutory compliance Property development Transferring property Environment, energy and buildings Easements, rights and covenants Residential property Property taxes Property in Wales Additional property updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers New Q& As Statutory compliance Clarification of limitation period in BSA 2022 In URS Corporation Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd [2025] UKSC 21, the Supreme Court rejected all four grounds of appeal. It determined that the retrospective limitation in section 135(3) of the Building Safety Act 2022 covers not only claims brought expressly under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972, but also actions that depend on the DPA 1972, s1 limitation framework—even where the claim is not issued under that provision. The Court also held that a claimant’s voluntary remedial...
Background This appeal examines the breadth of the public’s access rights over Dartmoor under DCA 1985, s 10(1). The court was asked to decide whether that provision gives members of the public permission to erect tents or otherwise camp overnight on the Dartmoor Commons (the Commons). Section 10(1) states, in effect, that, subject to the Act and observance of any rules, regulations or byelaws in force for the commons, the public enjoys a right of access to the commons on foot or on horseback for the purpose of outdoor recreation. The Dartmoor National Park ( DNPA) was designated as a national park in 1951 under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 ( NPACA 1949). Within DNPA there are areas of moorland that are privately owned, yet other local people hold rights to place their livestock there. The...
What is the background leading up to this consultation? Energy Performance Certificates ( EPCs) evaluate the energy efficiency of dwellings in England and Wales using a letter-based rating. Since 2018, the Energy Efficiency ( Private Rented Property) ( England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (‘the 2015 Regulations’), SI 2015/962, have required privately rented properties in England and Wales to hold a valid EPC with a rating of E or above, unless a valid exemption applies. In 2020, the previous government consulted on raising the minimum standard to an EPC C, proposing it would apply to new tenancies from 1 April 2025 and to all tenancies by 1 April 2028. No official response followed, and the proposals were subsequently shelved. The current consultation aims to advance the 2020 proposals, acknowledging the time that has passed and the altered context. There are multiple ways to enhance a...
HM Land Registry ( HMLR) has issued a blog post revealing two new upgrades to its portal service, intended to enhance user experience by saving time and offering clearer updates on application progress. Portal users are now......
R (on the application of Tesco Stores Ltd) v Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and another company [2025] EWCA Civ 610 What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Appeal, in this judgment, returned to Hopkins Homes Ltd v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2017] UKSC 37 and Tesco v Dundee City Council [2012] UKSC 13, underscoring the separation between construing planning policy and putting it into effect in practice. Deciding what a policy issued by a local planning authority or the Secretary of State means is, as a matter of law, a question for the court to resolve. By contrast, deploying that policy when determining applications and appeals is for the decision-maker, and is amenable to challenge only on public law grounds. The Court of Appeal also stressed that construing policy should be...
In this issue: Environment, energy and buildings Residential property Property transfers Property leasing Property development Property insolvency Property in Scotland Further property updates this week News alerts: daily and weekly New and refreshed content Trackers Environment, energy and buildings Law Society practice note on climate risk and property transactions On 12 May 2025, the Law Society of England and Wales issued a new practice note on climate change and property. It offers hands-on guidance for solicitors and their teams on managing climate-related risks across property deals spanning residential, commercial and mixed-use sectors. The note sets out illustrations of climate hazards, ways to advise and act for clients in varied transaction types, and methods for valuations and surveys. It is aimed at practices of every size, irrespective of...
LNB News 12/05/2025 14 What is the background to the publication of the Law Society Practice Note on climate change and property transactions? In April 2023, the Law Society of England and Wales released guidance on solicitors’ duties when advising on climate change. At that point, it was signalled that additional materials would follow for distinct areas of practice. The first of these has now been issued as a Practice Note on climate change and property (the Note), dated 12 May 2025. From the outset, it should be emphasised that the Note does not suggest that lawyers must, or ought to, become experts on the prospective effects of climate change. Instead, it alerts real estate professionals to categories of climate-related risk that may influence the property sector, and indicates how such risks may intersect with the advice they give and the deals they conduct for...
In this issue Transferring property Leasing property Easements, rights and covenants Property management Key developments and horizon scanning Additional property updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers New Q& As Transferring property Supreme Court decision on the qualifying period for adverse possession In a leapfrog appeal from the Upper Tribunal ( Lands Chamber), the Supreme Court has read paragraph 5(4)(c) of Schedule 6 to the Land Registration Act 2002 ( LRA 2002) as requiring an applicant seeking registration by adverse possession to prove only that, during some single continuous ten‑year stretch before the application date, they reasonably believed the land was theirs. The Court of Appeal’s stance in Zarb v Parry adopted a different, unworkable construction by insisting the reasonable belief must run up to the very day the...
In this issue: Leasing property Transferring property Property development Residential tenancies Key developments and horizon scanning Additional property updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers New Q& As Leasing property Telecommunications Code—redevelopment In a comprehensive and engaging review of a range of inventive arguments deployed to oppose renewal of a subsisting code agreement under paragraphs 31(4)(a), (c) and (d) of the Electronic Communications Code, the Upper Tribunal in Vodafone Ltd v (1) Icon Tower Infrastructure Ltd (2) AP Wireless II ( UK) Ltd [2025] UKUT 00058 ( LC) held that the alleged grounds were not established. This update concentrates on grounds 31(4)(c) and (d)—the intention to redevelop—and the paragraph 21 public benefit test. See News Analysis by David Jones and Mark Barley, associate and partner at Womble Bond Dickinson: Telecommunications Code—redevelopment ( Vodafone v Icon & AP...
Telecommunications Code—redevelopment ( Vodafone v Icon & AP Wireless) Vodafone Ltd v (1) Icon Tower Infrastructure Ltd (2) AP Wireless II ( UK) Ltd [2025] UKUT 00058 ( LC) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling acts as a useful reminder that, under the Code—unlike the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( LTA 1954)—works undertaken beyond the demise on neighbouring land can be considered when opposing renewal on redevelopment grounds. Although the outcome on whether the site provider could rely on historic works is hardly surprising, the UT provided guidance on several elements of the operation of ground 31(4)(c): the UT confirmed that redevelopment works must be undertaken within a reasonable period after the tenancy comes to an end......
White v Alder [2025] EWCA Civ 392 (7 April 2025) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling is a definitive and unequivocal statement from the Court of Appeal clarifying the nature and legal consequences of boundary demarcation agreements. Delivering the principal judgment, Asplin LJ held that such an agreement operates with proprietary effect and, as a result, binds successors in title regardless of any knowledge they may or may not have. To most property practitioners, the outcome will seem unsurprising. It aligns with the familiar approach articulated by Megarry J in Neilson v Poole (1969) 20 P& CR 909 (not reported by Lexis Nexis®UK), the leading authority on boundary agreements since 1969. Even so, although Megarry J’s reasoning had been affirmed by the Court of Appeal on a number of occasions, in the absence of a clear, binding authority squarely...
Christian Peter Candy v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 416 ( TC) C paid SDLT on the substantial performance of a contract, then later sought a refund on the footing that completion never occurred. In scenarios like this, a repayment is typically pursued by amending the return under section 44(9) of the Finance Act 2003 ( FA 2003). Nevertheless, as outlined in Candy [2022] EWCA Civ 1447, C was unable to obtain repayment by amendment because the change was made more than 12 months after the filing date of the return and was therefore time-barred (see News Analysis: Court of Appeal confirms that the standard 12-month period for amending a return applies to a claim for repayment of SDLT ( Christian Candy v......
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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