As explained in Practice Note: SDLT chargeable consideration, overage payments will generally fall within the scope of contingent, uncertain or unascertained consideration. Where one party has previously bought a freehold property which is subject to overage and where the payment of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) has been deferred, then a further sale of that property may result in immediate final determination of the consideration payable on the first sale (eg, where the first sale provides for overage triggered on sale of the property and the second sale is for a fixed consideration). In such a case the seller

Corporate Crime analysis: Sanctions regimes are tools of foreign policy. In February 2022, a statutory instrument was made amending the sanctions regime which applies to Russian owned and controlled entities as part of the UK’s response to tensions in Eastern Europe. Partner, Sarah Klein, and Knowledge Development Lawyer, Gillian Bradbury, of BCLP LLP consider this development.

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) provides to certain qualifying tenants of properties a right of first refusal. This means that if their landlord is seeking to dispose of their interest in the property (whether as freeholder or superior leaseholder) the landlord must offer the interest to those qualifying tenants first. A failure to do so is not only a criminal offence but can involve the unwinding of a transaction done in breach of its provisions, which

Part I of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) applies to premises which consist of the whole or part of a building, which is to be assumed is the case here, which contain two or more flats held by qualifying tenants and the number of flats held by qualifying tenants exceeds 50% of the total number of flats in the premises. In this case, the building comprises two flats both of which are held or will be held on long leases and so will be held by qualifying tenants. As a result, when the second long

Under section 55(2)(a) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990), planning permission is not required for the carrying out for the maintenance, improvement or other alteration of any building of works which affect only the interior of the building, or do not materially affect the external appearance of the building. This include mezzanine floors, subject to exceptions for retail premises. TCPA 1990, s 55(2)(f) states that a change in the use of land or buildings, where the previous and new use falls within the same use class,

Lease or licence? In Street v Mountford the House of Lords identified the hallmarks of a tenancy as: • exclusive possession • of defined premises Payment of rent might also be an indication of a tenancy but is not essential. Determining whether the agreement proposed will be a lease or a licence will depend upon the substance of the agreement as a whole, rather than the form, ie if the parties in fact have reached an agreement which amounts to exclusive possession, this cannot be offset by simply labelling an agreement in a certain way. Even if properly drafted at the outset as a true licence, it appears

This Q&A assumes that the wall is not immediately adjacent to the boundary, nor has footings or foundations projecting into the neighbouring land. PWA 1996 imposes rights and obligations on property owners who wish to: • work on existing party walls or structures • construct a new wall or structure at the boundary line with an adjoining property, or • excavate within three or six metres of an adjoining building or structure (depending on the depth of the works) If a building owner doing such works fails to comply with the provisions of PWA 1996, and obtain the consent of the adjoining

MLex: Competing businesses can in theory sue one another for unfair commercial practices on the basis of breaches of EU privacy law, according to a legal opinion prepared for the EU's top court. It is considering questions about a German case where a pharmacist wanted to sue a competitor for unfair competition, alleging illicit processing of ‘health data’, and Advocate General Maciej Szpunar's opinion considered the status of the data in question.

The question here is whether an express written tenancy at will or an implied unwritten tenancy at will shall attract the ‘security of tenure’ conferred by Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) which would prevent the landlord recovering possession without first serving a notice pursuant to LTA 1954, s 25, and what period of notice is required (in addition to under LTA 1954, s 25 if the tenancy does attract security of tenure)? All tenancies at will, whether granted expressly as such or arising by

There are various ways in which a tenancy which is being continued by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) beyond the contractual termination date may come to an end. The parties may impliedly surrender the existing tenancy by granting and accepting a new lease. However, where the new lease is of part, only the corresponding part of the existing lease is surrendered. See Commentary: Surrender by operation of law: Hill and Redman's Law of Landlord

Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is charged on the chargeable consideration for a land transaction. A land transaction is an acquisition of a chargeable interest. Chargeable consideration has a particular meaning for SDLT purposes and is defined in section 50 of the Finance Act 2003 (FA 2003) and FA 2003, Sch 4. Chargeable consideration includes not only money or money’s worth but also other means by which value is given directly or indirectly to the transferor of the land. For further detail on the meaning of

We have assumed in answering this Q&A that the property was fully constructed at the time of exchange of contracts, is freehold and that there are no construction obligations for the developer within the sale contract. If that is not the case, then there may be other remedies available to the buyer either for breach of contract or, perhaps, pursuant to the Defective Premises Act 1972. Rescission The remedy of rescission is considered in the Practice Note: Termination for breach of property contract. The term ‘rescission’ is used to describe two different remedies: