The postal service is commonly used to effect service of a wide variety of notices under statutes. Notices frequently encountered by property disputes lawyers include those served under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) and the Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA 1925). Whether, and if so when, notices are served frequently affects parties’ substantive property rights. It may therefore be very important to understand how notices may be served if there were no effective Royal Mail service for a period of time for any reason (including as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19)). The first step will be to carefully assess both the instrument (for example a contract, deed or lease) under which the notice is to be served, and the statutory regime which applies to the notice. Separate statutes may govern the circumstances in which the notice

Once the terms of acquisition for a new lease under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993) have been agreed between the parties or determined by the First-tier Tribunal (FTT), the Leasehold Reform (Collective Enfranchisement and Lease Renewal) Regulations 1993 provide for a lease to be prepared and LRHUDA 1993 provides for a timetable for drafting and agreeing the new lease (Leasehold Reform (Collective Enfranchisement and Lease Renewal) Regulations 1993, SI 1993/2407, Sch 2, para 7 and LRHUDA 1993, s 48). If

Unless an application is made without notice, once an application made within insolvency proceedings has been issued, one of the first steps that must be taken is to serve the application and supporting documents on the respondent. However, problems can occur when it is not possible to serve a respondent because, for example, they cannot be located or are deliberately avoiding service. This Practice Note looks at the steps an applicant can take if they cannot effect service of an application and supporting documents made in insolvency proceedings on a respondent. It does not look at alternative methods of service for bankruptcy petitions, winding-up petitions and administration applications by which insolvency proceedings are opened. For reading on the service of documents opening insolvency proceedings, see Practice Notes: • How do you effect service of a creditor’s bankruptcy petition on the debtor and what if service cannot be effected? • Compulsory winding-up of a company—the process and procedure • Court appointment of administrators—the procedure For

Context The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (the Use Classes Order), SI 1987/764 puts uses of land and buildings into broad categories set out in the schedule of the Use Classes Order. Each category is known as a ‘use class’. A care home might potentially fall within either class C2 or class C3 of the Use Classes Order, or be considered a sui generis use (a use which does not to fall within any of the use classes set out in the Use Classes Order). Determining which use class applies, or whether a particular care home constitutes a sui generis use, centres around whether a particular care home falls within the definition of a normal ‘dwelling house’, which is a C3 use, or whether it falls within the definition of a C2 use, namely, that it is a ‘residential institution’ where care is provided to residents. The Use Classes Order defines a C2 residential institution as follows: ‘Class C2. Residential institutions Use for the provision of residential accommodation

You don’t have to look very hard these days to find evidence of law firm practices for sale. A quick search of the internet will uncover adverts along the following lines: ‘This is a Sole Practitioner’s Solicitors’ Practice with offices in the [ZZ] postcode area of a home county. The principal is interested in selling the entire practice as a going concern as they intend to retire although they would be prepared to stay on for a short while after disposal to assist with the transition.’ When reading these adverts, the question that comes to mind is: how does one go about placing a price on such a business? This Practice Note explains how law firm valuation methods have changed over the years and what is a realistic approach to valuing your firm. A multiple of revenue? You don’t have to go back too many years to find a comfortably familiar world where a law firm would be valued simply on a multiple of revenue, which would be paid over and above the underlying

Legal ownership of a property in England and Wales where there is more than one proprietor will always be as joint tenants. This means that each owns the indivisible whole; and if one dies, the other seamlessly becomes the sole owner (or if there are more than two legal owners, each diminishing number of owners does, until there is only one left). This is known as the doctrine of survivorship. There is no transfer, and the interest of the co-owner does not fall into their Estate; rather their interest is simply extinguished. Co-owning legal joint tenants hold the beneficial interest of the property on trust for the beneficial owners. The starting point is that this is them themselves. The beneficial

This answer is limited to covering the recoverable legal costs of a judgment creditor issuing a warrant of control under the Taking Control of Goods regime. In conducting our research we have focussed on the fixed recoverable legal costs. Fixed enforcement costs are allowed in respect of legal representatives'

We have assumed that this Q&A is referring to business-to-consumer sales. Chapter 2 of Part 1 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015) provides certain statutory rights and remedies for consumers in respect of contracts for the sale of goods. The key statutory rights are that the goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for a particular purpose the consumer has made known, and match any description, sample or model by reference to which they were supplied. The same rights apply to second-hand goods, although when assessing the level of quality that is satisfactory, considerations such as price, age and easily identifiable defects would be taken into account. In respect of second-hand goods, the guidance for business provided by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy states on page 10: ‘The requirement is the same for new and second-hand goods—the goods must be of satisfactory quality, based on

We have assumed for the purposes of this Q&A that there is a clause in a contract which allows party A to terminate and the situation where party B is in repudiatory breach such that party A can elect to treat the agreement as repudiated and so treat it as at an end and claims damages. See Practice Notes: Contractual damages—general principles and Causation and remoteness in contractual breach claims. Contractual right to termination for breach Where a contract contains an express right to terminate the agreement for breach, it should set out

Mutual enforcement As a first step, it is necessary to review the other leaseholders leases to determine whether they contain mutual enforcement covenants by the landlord and/or management company, ie a covenant providing that all other leaseholders have the same covenants for use in their leases and if another leaseholder breaches covenants in their lease, the landlord will enforce that breach subject to the requesting tenant providing a complete indemnity to the landlord against the costs of the action. Failing which, the landlord will be in breach of covenant with the other leaseholders, and the leaseholders will have various remedies available including potentially injunctive relief to force the landlord to take action to enforce against the leaseholder for breach or potentially damages—however, this will be at the cost of the leaseholders due to the indemnity. Halsbury’s Laws of England: 388. Enforcement of covenants in flats states: 'The buyer/tenant's lender will usually insist that the lease contains some method of allowing enforceability of covenants between the tenants,

In order for a trust to emigrate from the UK, the UK trustees are required to retire from their roles and new non-UK resident trustees must be appointed in their place. For information on changing trustees, see Practice Notes: Trustees—appointment of trustees and Trustees—retirement of trustees. In the situation described in this Q&A, section 80 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 (TCGA 1992) will not apply since TCGA 1992, s 80 applies for tax years 1992–93 onwards. Where TCGA 1992, s 80 applies,

Abolition of section 98 meetings Section 98 is removed from the Insolvency Act 1986, (IA 1986). Creditor approval of a liquidator in a creditors voluntary liquidation (CVL) must be obtained using either the deemed consent procedure, or a virtual meeting, see rule 6.14 of the  Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016), SI 2016/1024. If creditors object to the use of deemed consent then the company must immediately call a physical meeting. The deemed consent procedure is a new procedure under IR 2016, SI 2016/1024 whereby creditors make a decision by not objecting to a course of action suggested. Under the deemed consent procedure the relevant creditors are given notice of the decision. If less than 10% by value of