See the following: • Practice Note: Equipment leasing and hiring which contains information on what an agreement of hire is • Practice Note: Third party rights—the common law doctrine of privity of contract

Surveys conducted regularly show that a large proportion of potential purchasers would be put off buying a property if they knew that a murder or other serious crime had been committed there. In the age of the internet, it is relatively easy to carry out a search to see if there has been any reported incident relating to the property. However where there has been a misdescription of the property, this may amount to a breach of contract and, if substantial (being one which, but for the misdescription it can reasonably be supposed that the purchaser would not have entered into the contract—Flight v Booth and the innocent party is prejudiced by the error, can lead to rescission of the contract (Standard Condition 7.1.1(b) of the Standard Conditions of Sale (5th ed.)). Further, where the vendor has made a false statement to the purchaser which induced

This Q&A applies where: • A, B and C are all members of the same group of companies for stamp duty land tax (SDLT) purposes, and • B and C do not acquire any rights under the contract between the third party and A (ie the transfers to B and C are free-standing transfers for the purposes of Schedule 2A to the Finance Act 2003 (FA 2003)) For SDLT purposes, relief for sub-sales comes within the rules on pre-completion transactions (PCTs) under FA 2003, Sch 2A. The rules apply where: • a person (the original purchaser) enters into a contract (the original contract) for the acquisition by that person of a chargeable interest under which the acquisition is to be completed by a conveyance, and • there is a PCT A transaction is a PCT if: • as

The Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) provides protection against discrimination and other prohibited conduct relating to protected characteristics which people may possess. Different types of event may give rise to a claim before, during and after the employment relationship. Is a police officer protected under the EqA 2010? The EqA 2010 recognises a wide set of circumstances as employment. 'Employment' in this context covers employment under a contract of employment, a contract of apprenticeship, or any other contract personally to do work, crown employment, employment as a relevant member of the House of Commons staff and employment as a relevant member of the House of Lords staff. For further information, see Practice Note: Employment events which give rise to discrimination, harassment and victimisation claims—The meaning of 'employment'. Most regular police officers hold the office of 'constable'. As such, they are office holders rather than employees or workers. However, holding the office

Most standard form consultant appointments and building contracts do not contain clauses requiring the consultant/contractor to indemnify the employer against losses caused by any act or omission of the consultant/contractor. However, some employers will seek to include such provisions in construction contracts, including consultant appointments (this Q&A discusses indemnities in both consultant appointments and building contracts). Public sector clients will sometimes have such wide reaching indemnity provisions in their standard terms and conditions. The potential effects of an indemnity will depend on the precise wording of the relevant provision in the contract, but generally speaking, indemnities are not subject to the usual requirements which apply to claims for breach of contract, ie causation, remoteness of damage and the requirement to mitigate losses. The limitation period for a claim under an indemnity can also be longer than it would be for a breach of contract claim. The liability under

A service occupancy licence or tenancy is a licence or tenancy granted to an employee to occupy accommodation where the employment contract expressly requires that they live at the property for the better performance of their duties, or it is essential for the performance of those duties: Northern Ireland Commissioner of Valuation v Fermanagh Protestant Board of Education [1969] 1 WLR 1708. As to the contractual requirement, this must be established as a matter of fact and not merely by way of a term included in the contract, but it is sufficient to satisfy the condition if it can be shown that the

It has been assumed for the purposes of this response that: • the party who has the claim is a purchaser • the amount of the claim is unknown • the solicitors are holding the money as stakeholder for the seller • the contract provides for the repayment of the deposit • the property is residential • the standard conditions of sale are incorporated into the contract (albeit they may have been amended) This Q&A deals with the remedies available to a purchaser where a sale has not completed, and the deposit has not been repaid to the purchaser. In the first instance, the purchaser will need to be sure a claim against

An individual may by Will grant an option, or right, to purchase shares which they own at the date of death. As explained in Talbot v Talbot on exercise of that right, the beneficiary enters into a contract

This week's edition of Construction weekly highlights includes insights from the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) on the Target Cost Contract, an Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) case on the interpretation of paragraph 8 of Schedule 8 to the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) (Almacantar v De Valk), guidelines from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Ciarb) on third-party arbitration funding, the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA)’s whitepaper on streamlining document production in arbitrations, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)’s consultation on a new global construction professional standard, publication of RICS’s AI in Construction 2025 report and the publication of the construction output for July 2025 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This week's edition of Property Disputes weekly highlights includes: a Court of Appeal decision concerning recovery of costs under service charge provisions in a long lease, new Upper Tribunal practice directions, an Upper Tribunal decision on the liability of a tenant’s assignee to pay the costs of a lease extension of a flat, Law Society guidance on the new video hearings service being introduced in 2024, and Chancery Division decisions on equitable interests following the rescission of a contract of a sale, the valid exercise of three options and specific performance of the resulting sale contracts, and consequential orders made in respect of the mistaken discharge of registered legal charges.

This week's edition of Energy weekly highlights includes: several announcements from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), including (1) reforms to the planning framework for the development of nuclear power plants, (2) a consultation on the draft of the new nuclear National Policy Statement (EN-7), (3) the publication of the response to its January 2024 consultation on transitional support arrangements for large-scale biomass electricity generators to power bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS), (4) the publication of the response to its November 2024 consultation on proposed additions to the Contract for Difference (CfD) contract arising from the introduction of the Clean Industry Bonus (CIB), and (5) a consultation on extending the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) beyond the end of Phase I. In addition, this week, Ofgem published a letter to the National Energy System Operator (NESO), outlining its expectations for the scope and development of the transitional Regional Energy Strategic Plan (RESP), and NESO proposed a new Connection and Use of System Code (CUSC) modification to introduce a Progression Commitment Fee to support the future connections queue.

If a party with an interest in a construction project has directly employed either the building contractor, a professional consultant or a sub-contractor it will be protected against the impact of problems arising out of the design or construction of the works under the terms of the building contract or the relevant appointment or sub-contract to which it is party. However, a third party with an interest in the project who is not party to those agreements, will find itself without the necessary direct contractual relationship that will enable it to rely on, or enforce, the terms of the building contract, appointment or sub-contract in order to protect its interest. What is a direct agreement? Direct agreements are, like collateral warranties, agreements that have evolved, and are now commonly put in place, in order to protect the interests of third parties who have an interest in a construction project but who are not, necessarily, party to the key project contracts that could affect their interest/investment. They are principally