The position in respect of recoverability of service charges in relation to residential property is governed by statute—sections 18–25 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 cover limitations to and reasonableness of service charges, requests for summary of relevant costs, effects of change of landlord and assignment on request, as well as providing for an offence for failure to comply. The provisions apply to all dwellings and cover all residential leases, except

Construction analysis: The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) introduced a new section 2A into the Defective Premises Act 1972 (DPA 1972), which imposes liability on parties that provide substandard building works and services in respect of existing residential properties. We look at potential difficulties with the application of this new provision.

Information Law analysis: The High Court has revisited the question of the protection available to Jon Venables, one of the perpetrators of one of the most well-known crimes in recent years. The court considered whether an injunction protecting the identity of the individual formerly known as Jon Venables should remain in place following his conviction of further crimes relating to child pornography. This article considers the balancing exercise undertaken by the court, considering both the public’s right to have knowledge of these matters and the obligation to protect individuals from death and torture. This is the third time the court has had to consider this issue and the present case shows the significance of social media when considering the need to protect someone’s anonymity. Written by Nicole Bollard, Barrister at 3PB Barristers.

The statutory powers of gas providers are governed by the Gas Act 1986 (GA 1986) which was enacted after the lease in question here. If the successor to the gas board is a ‘gas transporter’ within the definition set out in the statute, then it may be authorised by the Secretary of State (after consultation with the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority) to compulsorily purchase any land, including any right over land. The creation of new rights over land may also be authorised. This means that it is possible for a gas transporter to use compulsory

Section 62(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA 1925) states as follows: 'A conveyance of land shall be deemed to include and shall by virtue of this Act operate to convey, with the land, all buildings, erections, fixtures, commons, hedges, ditches, fences, ways, waters, water-courses, liberties, privileges, easements, rights, and advantages whatsoever, appertaining or reputed to appertain

There are a number of common law principles that may come into effect in determining who has liability for any works necessary to protect against landslip and the like. As a first step it would be necessary to establish where the legal boundary lies. It is essential in understanding the landowner’s duties to each other to be clear who owns it, who owns the mud bank, any boundary feature that supports it or affects its stability and who owns any land that falls/slides. See Practice Notes: Property boundaries. The boundary is ascertained by usual

The burden of costs in connection with legacies depends on the type of legacy. For an explanation of the different types of legacy, see the further reading link to Williams on Wills, Part H Contents of Wills, Chapter 30: Legacies. It will be seen from this extract that a gift of a property will be a specific legacy, providing it is a gift of particular property forming part of the testator's estate at death and is identifiable by sufficient description and distinguished from the testator's estate generally. The burden of costs in respect of different types of legacy is explained clearly in the following extract from Tolley’s Administration of Estates Part E, Payment of legacies: Costs incurred in connection with legacies: “Unless

We refer you to Practice Note: Individual savings accounts (see section on ‘Individual savings accounts—Junior ISAs’), which explains that the Junior ISA account is held in the child's name but the application to open the account must be made by a person aged 16 or over. Unless the applicant is the child themselves (aged 16 or 17 years old), they

See Commentary: Matters for consideration: Tristram and Coote's Probate Practice [12.24]. Domicile is also relevant to the issue of what part of the estate is liable to UK inheritance tax. Where the grant has been issued on the basis of an incorrect domicile, the matter can be dealt with in one of two ways: an application to amend the grant, or an application to revoke the grant and apply for a new grant. Which option is most appropriate will depend on the nature of the error. Amendment See Commentary: Revocation of the grant: Butterworths Wills Probate and Administration Service [3.161] states that: If an error is discovered in the grant, so long as it is of a relatively minor nature, such as the misspelling of

Reservation of power to non-proving executor(s) A person appointed as executor under a Will is not obliged to accept the appointment. If they do not wish to accept the role, there are two options. They can renounce probate (unless they have intermeddled) or a grant of probate can be issued to one or more executor(s) with power reserved to the other executor(s) to apply for a grant at a later date. On the application for probate by the proving executors, notice should usually be given to the executor(s) to whom power is to be reserved and the application for probate must state that notice has been given (the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, SI 1987/2024, r 27(1) (NCPR 1987)).

A lease is surrendered when it is disposed of to the immediate superior interest. A surrender of a lease involves both a disposal of the lease by the tenant and the acquisition of it by the landlord and attracts capital gains tax (CGT). Where a lease is surrendered, whether or not on expiry of the term, and a new lease is granted on the same terms (other than its duration and the amount of rent payable) HMRC will (if the taxpayer so wishes) treat these transactions as not giving rise to any disposal

An easement may be established by prescription in any one of three ways: • prescription at common law • prescription under the doctrine of a lost modern grant • prescription as governed by the provisions of the Prescription Act 1832 (PA 1832) Our Practice Note: Acquisition of easements by long use sets out the basic requirements which must be satisfied in order to claim an easement by prescription.