Part I of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (LTA 1987) gives qualifying tenants of flats a right of first refusal enabling them to purchase the interest of their landlord if and when they propose to dispose of it. The right prohibits the landlord from making a relevant disposal without first serving a notice on the qualifying tenants and ensures that the disposal is made in accordance with the statutory requirements. The right of first refusal applies where premises: • consist of the whole or part of a building • 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 contained in the premises If the above conditions are met, the landlord is bound to follow the procedures set out in

Commercial analysis: Adidas, The North Face, Cartier and Victoria's Secret are the most recent names to join the ranks of retailers—Marks & Spencer, Harrods, and the Co-op—to be hit by cyber-attacks in recent months. Rich in customer data, with significant resources and a strong reputation to protect, a large retailer is an attractive target for cyber criminals. Complex digital supply chains also increase the potential entry points for attackers—the attacks on Adidas and Marks & Spencer emanated from supply chain vulnerabilities. For businesses in the retail sector (and beyond) that are sensibly reviewing and reinforcing their cyber readiness plans, these recent attacks demonstrate the importance of managing cyber risks across your supply chain—from cloud service providers, POS system providers, app suppliers, to IT and customer service helpdesks. Louisa Chambers, head of technology & commercial transactions, James Longster, partner, and Helen Reddish, knowledge counsel, set out five tips to help businesses avoid and manage cyber-attacks.

In Scotland, at common law, a lease does not actually end on the specified expiry date (ish) unless: • either party gives correct and timeous notification of termination • follows this up by acting on that notice, and/or • the tenant in a separate document confirms that the lease will end, and that they will vacate, on the specified termination date Tacit relocation applies whether the lease was originally concluded: • formally • informally as a result of circumstances where rei interventus applies, or • orally See: Introduction: Stair's Laws of Scotland (Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia) [373]. Tacit relocation does not apply to seasonal leases where no notice of termination is required, eg seasonal sporting leases or leases for grazing or mowing. For further information, see: Leases affected: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia [375]. Effect of tacit relocation The rule of tacit relocation (or silent re-letting) is that if neither party has given notice of their intention to terminate the lease at its ish, the parties are presumed to have

Commercial analysis: As our everyday use of language, technology, and business practice continues to evolve, the use of emojis can result in the inadvertent acceptance of legally binding contracts or terms. It’s the latest potential pitfall for negotiating commercial parties. Written by Louise Norbury-Robinson, director at Walker Morris LLP.

An employee has the right: • not to be subjected to a detriment, and • not to be dismissed on various grounds relating to health and safety. See sections 44 and 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996). For further guidance generally, see Practice Note: Health and safety—protection from detriment and dismissal. There is no minimum qualifying period of employment required to bring a claim (see ERA 1996, s 108(3)) and no maximum limit on the amount of compensation that can be awarded in such health and safety cases (see ERA 1996, s 124(1A)). The health and safety grounds include leaving work in the face of serious or imminent danger. It is unlawful to subject any worker to a detriment, and any dismissal of an employee will be automatically

When acting on a corporate transaction (transaction) a professional adviser, eg financial adviser, solicitor, accountant etc, will enter into a letter of engagement with the party carrying out the transaction (client), setting out the agreed terms of the engagement. The letter of engagement will usually be entered into at the beginning of or during the initial stages of the transaction. Form of the letter of engagement Many professional advisers have a standard form letter of engagement usually made up of: • the main body of the letter setting out, amongst other matters, the role of the adviser, the scope of such role, the fees and commissions to be paid to the adviser by the client, how expenses will be dealt with, the adviser's liability to the client and how that liability is limited, and • an appendix to the letter attaching the adviser's standard terms and conditions of business, which will be incorporated into the letter of engagement by the inclusion of a clause in the main body of the letter Depending on how the letter

This Practice Note contains a number of tables setting out the statutory limits on compensation (with the appropriate calculation) for all types of employment tribunal claim, plus any applicable qualification period of continuous employment. This Practice Note also sets out the current maximum week’s pay and compensatory award, minimum basic award (eg for trade union, health and safety, working time representative, pension scheme trustee and employee representative dismissals and others) and the maximum guarantee payment per day. The tables contain links to all relevant legislation and Practice Note materials. The limits in these tables are listed by topic, for example, discrimination, whistleblowing, unfair dismissal. Click on the links in the Table of Contents to navigate to the relevant topic. The annual indexation of limits for a week's pay, guarantee payments, maximum compensation for tribunal claims etc takes effect from 6 April each year. The tables set out, where relevant, the applicable rates for the current year (ie the rate that applies from 6 April 2026 onwards), as well as the rates relating to two preceding

This Practice Note examines the requirements set out in Chapter 13 of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)'s Senior Management Arrangements, Systems and Controls sourcebook (SYSC 13) and provides guidance for insurers on establishing and maintaining effective systems and controls for managing operational risk. Purpose of SYSC 13 The purpose of SYSC 13 is to provide guidance on interpreting SYSC 3.1.1 R and SYSC 3.2.6 R, which set out the requirements for establishing and maintaining systems and controls in relation to the management of operational risk. The chapter covers systems and controls for managing risks concerning any of a firm's operations. It does not, however, cover systems and controls for managing credit, market, liquidity and insurance risk. Firms should also consider the requirements for operational risk contained in the FCA’s Conduct of Business sourcebook (COBS), SYSC 14 (risk management and associated systems and controls for insurers) and SYSC 15A (operational resilience). Further details on these requirements can be found in Practice Note: Governance, systems and controls requirements for insurers. Application of SYSC 13 SYSC 13 applies to

This week's edition of Property Disputes weekly highlights includes: Upper Tribunal decisions concerning lease interpretation issues and the identification of breaches under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, a Court of Appeal decision concerning mortgagee sale autonomy, High Court decisions concerning an order for vacant possession against trespassers in the context of the Insolvency Act 1986, the ‘balance of convenience’ and ‘clean hands’ doctrines in a refusal to grant equitable interim relief, judicial review of a refusal to grant permission to appeal under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and an order for specific performance of contract for sale. It also includes First-tier Tribunal decisions concerning a landlord’s failure to comply with a selective licensing regime, an unlicensed HMO and the reasonableness of lease extension administration costs under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and minutes of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee meeting held on 3 October 2025.

Compensation for improvements carried out by a tenant is provided for in Part I of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 (LTA 1927), as modified by Part III of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. The provisions apply to premises that are held under a lease and used wholly or partly

Dispute Resolution analysis: The Court of Appeal has considered the scope of its discretion where the applicant seeks, by way of prohibitory injunction, to prevent the respondent from doing what he has promised not to do. Although the judgment is given in the context of an employment contract (restrictive covenants) the same principles could arguably apply in the commercial context. This decision is of interest to practitioners advising a client whose counterpart is seeking to breach a contractual obligation not to do something.

This week's edition of Commercial weekly highlights includes: analysis of the key commercial developments announced during the King’s Speech 2024, commentary on the key changes brought about by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 and how these will affect the subscription contract model, and news of the publication of the Competition and Markets Authority’s response to the consultation on the draft consumer law compliance advice for businesses marketing green heating and insulation products.