Part V of the Housing Act 1985 (HA 1985) gives extensive rights to those who hold secure tenancies under HA 1985 to purchase their homes. Provision is made for the circumstances in which those rights may be exercised and the price which must be paid for the acquisition of either the freehold in the case of most homes or a long leasehold interest in the case of flats. It is not uncommon of course for a lease to have restrictions upon which the leaseholder can assign or sublet, albeit that the landlord cannot withhold consent unreasonably. HA 1985 goes further, however, in placing limitations upon disposals of either the freehold or leasehold interest acquired by the former tenant. Arguably, best known is the requirement to repay a proportion of any discount in the purchase price to which the former secure tenant was entitled when acquiring the interest where there is a subsequent disposal of it within the first five years

This Q&A sets out some of the main issues which practitioners should consider when proposing to have documents signed by electronic means in a loan transaction. The issues are discussed in the context of the suggested best practice guidance set out in the practice note: Execution of a document using an electronic signature (the JWP Practice Note), issued by a joint working party of the Law Society Company Law Committee and the City of London Law Society Company Law and Financial Law Committees (the JWP) in July 2016. The JWP Practice Note can be accessed here. For more information on what constitutes an electronic signature and the applicable legislative framework, see Practice Note: Electronic signatures and for more information about using electronic signatures in loan transactions, see: Execution formalities in loan transactions and How to arrange execution of the finance documents in a loan transaction. When a practitioner is considering the use of e-signatures in a transaction, it is important

A valuer is a person who sets a price upon or estimates the value of property. There are no general statutory requirements as to the qualifications of a person acting as a valuer. A valuer’s ‘qualification’ is normally his/her experience in dealing with a certain type of property. Many valuers of property are members of professional bodies where membership depends on examination and a period of practical experience. The role of a valuer

New processing activity You should take a data protection by design and default (DPbDD) approach to any new processing activity. DPbDD involves considering data protection and privacy issues upfront in everything you do. This means you have to integrate data protection into your processing activities and business practices, from the design

We refer you to the attached checklists from Mines, minerals and landfill: Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents, vol 26(3): • Checklist—general property aspects of mines and minerals: Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents [3]—this checklist, while not specific to the transfer of title to mines and minerals from the Queen, provides information that should be sought and borne in mind in the sale of mines and minerals, including rights, permissions and third party interests • Checklist—sale of land and minerals: Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents [8]—this checklist should be used in conjunction with the general checklist Note

A partnership is not a legal entity but is a relationship between partners. It is defined in the Partnership Act 1890 as ‘the relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profit’. The partners in a partnership are the persons who are 'carrying on a business in common with a view of profit'. As such, the partners in a partnership can be individuals, corporations, other partnerships or a combination of these. This is subject to some particular cases, such as some professions

There are a number of key issues to consider when purchasing land for potential development, where underlying mines and minerals have been excepted from the title. Particularly: • ongoing rights to work the minerals: an exception of mines and minerals carries with it the powers necessary for working the minerals without these powers being expressly reserved. However, with certain rights, such as the right to let down or, in the case of open cast activities, destroy—the surface may not be included. It has been held that clear words need to be used where a right to break open the surface is required (McLean Estates Ltd v Earl of Aylesford) • ensuring the right of support for the development: when the proprietary rights in the surface and the minerals have been separated, by whatever means, the surface owner has, as incident

The position post-Brexit provides both opportunities and challenges for claimants in IP disputes. Opportunities • the jurisdiction of the English courts is now arguably broader under the common law rules than it was pre-Brexit, particularly where the defendant is present in the jurisdiction • the procedure for leave to serve out has the benefit that if the claimant is successful in obtaining leave, there will be an order by the English court that the case meets the standard

Considerations for the borrower In relation to the borrower, the terms of the first mortgage and loan agreement will need to be considered as the borrower will not want to breach any covenants or undertakings in granting a second charge over its property. In particular it is common to include in both loan agreements and security documents a so called negative pledge clause, the general effect of which is to prohibit the borrower from creating further security over the relevant asset. If there is such a clause in either the loan agreement or the first security document then you need to consider the effect of breaching that clause. In particular if the second security holder knew of the negative pledge clause it could be liable to the first charge holder for any damages it suffers as a result

The GDPR became directly applicable and fully enforceable in all EU Member States from 25 May 2018. The GDPR introduced substantial amendments to data protection law and replaced the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998) and Directive 95/46/EC. The GDPR permits a number of national derogations. In the UK, the adoption of the GDPR into UK law was assisted and supplemented by the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) which provides permitted national derogations/exceptions to the requirements of the GDPR, see Practice Note: The Data Protection Act 2018. Since the DPA 2018 makes only limited changes to how the GDPR applies in the UK, this Precedent refers to the ‘GDPR’ as shorthand for the UK data protection regime under the GDPR and DPA 2018. On 31 January 2020, the UK ceased to be an EU Member State and entered an implementation period, during which it continues to be subject to EU law. During this period, the

The main issues that may arise where an employee proposes to take a second job with another employer are outlined below, and also discussed in News analysis: UK cost of living crisis—are your employees taking second jobs? Working time rights A worker has the right under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833 to: • an average 48-hour maximum working week (unless there is a valid opt-out agreement) • daily rest periods • weekly rest periods • rest breaks • paid annual leave • compensatory rest breaks In relation to young workers, who are subject to maximum working time of eight hours a day and 40 hours a week: • when calculating the hours worked for these purposes, if on any day or during any week the young worker is employed by more than one employer, their working hours are determined by aggregating the hours worked for each employer • an employer must take ‘all reasonable steps’, in keeping with the

Life insurance—basics Life insurance benefit (life cover) can form an important part of the employee benefit package that is used to both attract and retain employees. However, there is actually no legal requirement for employers to provide life cover for their employees with the exception of any contractual requirement to do so under an employee’s contract of employment. Life cover is usually set up as a single scheme that covers a group of, or all of, the employer’s employees. It can be linked to the business's pension scheme where life cover is only provided if the employee is also a member of the scheme. Alternatively, those employees who are not members of the pension scheme could instead receive a reduced level of life cover under the same or a separate policy. The sum assured under the life insurance policy is often calculated as a multiple of the employee's salary, for example two, three or four times a salary. The policy will pay out a lump sum death benefit