From 1 April 2020, registered providers of low cost rental accommodation as defined by section 69 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008, must set rents in accordance with the Policy Statement on Rents for Social Housing 2019. It does not apply to certain categories of property or to property let to a high-income social tenant. The rent standard sets the market rent at which registered providers can charge for residential properties that are covered, and the affordable rent is set at up to 80% of the market rent. The Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 had provided for a 1% annual rent reduction. However the 2019 direction

With employees largely working from home in 2020 and 2021 and outside of traditional office working hours, what does this blurring of home and work life mean for the ownership of ‘creative’ works? The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic changed the way that we work in that more of us work outside of the physical office, at unconventional times and with our own computer equipment. In doing so, it has raised the profile of the question of who owns materials created ‘for work’ or ‘on the job’. The pandemic has not changed what you need to consider in determining who owns a copyright work in these circumstances. The starting point for the ownership of copyright materials is section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988),

Burden Where a party to a transfer of freehold land (Party B) enters into a positive covenant with the other party to the transfer (Party A), the burden of that covenant will not bind Party B’s successors in title, notwithstanding Law of Property Act 1925, s 79 (LPA 1925). The burden of the covenant is directly enforceable only against Party B as original covenantor, but remains enforceable against Party B even though he may have parted with all his estate or interest in the land before any claim is brought against him by Party A (see Smith v River Douglas Catchment Board [1949] 2 All ER 179). Benefit As you have correctly stated, the benefit of a positive covenant does not need to be expressly made with the covenantee’s

Section 18(1)(j) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 allows the Court of Protection to exercise any power vested in a person who lacks capacity, including powers held as a trustee. Section 54(1) of the Trustee Act 1925 (TA 1925) provides that (subject to subsection (2)) the Court of Protection may not make orders regarding a trustee who lacks capacity where the High Court can make such an order under the TA 1925. See TA 1925, s 54(2) regarding when a deputy is appointed or there is an application for the appointment of a deputy. Trustees do not generally cease to hold office as trustees when they lose mental capacity. Unless the terms of the trust provide otherwise, a trustee who loses capacity to act will continue in office until

The purpose of the 2013 Protocol and Good Practice Model: Disclosure of information in cases of alleged child abuse and linked criminal and care direction hearings (the protocol), which came into force on 1 January 2014, was to seek to ensure as far as possible, and within the bounds of the duty of confidentiality, that where a criminal investigation was commenced, or where a prosecution was brought, that the local authority and those involved in relevant care proceedings were made aware of the same. The protocol is also aimed at ensuring that the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are made aware in a timely fashion of requests for disclosure of criminal material into the family forum, and to enable the

The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill (the Bill) received its second reading in the House of Lords on 9 June 2020. The Bill goes to committee stage in the House of Lords on 16 June 2020. For the Bill in full, see Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill. Among the proposed reforms, the Bill (at clause 7 and Schedule 9) introduces a new Part 26A into the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006)—Arrangements and Reconstructions for Companies in Financial Difficulty (a ‘restructuring plan’). The Bill contemplates a new restructuring procedure that would allow a company to bind all creditors, including junior classes of creditors even if they vote against the plan, through the use of a cross-class cram down provision. Such cram down could be imposed provided

The starting point is that the protection of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954) will apply to any lease where the tenant occupies premises for the purposes of a business carried on by the tenant or by a company in which the tenant has a controlling interest (LTA 1954, s 23). While LTA 1954 contains anti-avoidance provisions, it also reflects the parties' freedom of contract to agree that the protection should not apply. The way in which this balance is struck is that LTA 1954, s 38 makes any agreement void, except as provided by LTA 1954, s 38A, in so far as it purports to preclude the tenant from making an application or request for a new tenancy

Paragraph 47(3) of Part 3 of Schedule 45 to the Finance Act 2013 (FA 2013) provides: '(3) At the start of the relevant year, the taxpayer did not meet the only home test, but there comes a day in the relevant year when that ceases to be the case and the taxpayer then continues to meet the only home test for the rest of that year.' FA

It is not possible to contract out of the effects of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE 2006), SI 2006/246. See Practice Note: TUPE—contracting out and settling claims. However, parties to a commercial agreement affected by TUPE 2006, SI 2006/246 will usually manage those effects by way of appropriate indemnities that apportion specific liabilities between the parties. An

This response considers the ability of personal representatives of an estate to apply to extend the term of a lease of retirement housing entered into by the deceased during their lifetime. For the purposes of this response, it is assumed that the lease in question is typical of those aimed at the retirement market: a purely residential lease of a term in excess of 21 years, with the freeholder providing extensive services in return for a relatively high service charge. Leasehold Retirement Housing ‘Leasehold Retirement Housing’ is not a term with particular legal significance, in contrast to ‘business tenancies’ within the meaning of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and ‘assured shorthold tenancies’ within the meaning of the Housing Act 1988. It refers instead to a category of accommodation packages aimed at the retirement market. An overview of this market can be found in Practice Note: Remaining independent—alternative accommodation for people developing care and support needs. In the private

Under the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016), SI 2016/1024, we are not aware of any explicit restriction preventing the person who verifies the contents of a bankruptcy petition from also signing the certificate of service of the petition. IR 2016, SI 2016/1024, r 10.10 specifies that the petition must be verified by a statement of truth, which can be authenticated and dated either by the petitioner or another authorised person. The rule does not address

Until 31 March 1990, a general rate was levied under the General Rate Act 1967 on every occupier of land and houses. From 1 April 1990 to 31 March 1993, community charge (or poll tax) was levied in respect of domestic properties by the relevant charging authority. Community charge was itself replaced by council tax with