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Issue 72 – May 2010

Welcome to the second of the new style e-alerts from the Property Section and the first under a Liberal Conservative Coalition Government. In this issue you will find updates on many interesting areas and I encourage you to explore the excellent content that is included.

It would be remiss of me in this piece not to look forward after the election and see what is in store. The difficulty is that we really don’t know. We know that HIPs are to go, but we don’t know when. We know that EPCs are to stay, but we do not know on what terms. We must presume that the SDLT relief for first time buyers will remain but will it last longer than the two years as initially planned?

It was perhaps disappointing that there was not more for the property lawyers from the new government, but by the same token, the road is perhaps now clear for us to make our own progress. While the banks and lenders are of course key to a return to a healthy property market, we can now start to put in place initiatives and e-systems for the future of our profession. The future of the legal property market is in our hands now and it is certainly bright and “Orange” (albeit with a large amount of Blue!)

Christopher Bean, Section Committee Member


News 

Features



Cases and Legislation 

Collated by the Law Society Library, with cases linked in full to BAILII, where available


Cases

  • Griffiths v Salford City Council [2010] UKUT 122 (LC) (29 April 2010)
    Nationwide Indexes are national average house prices and do not relate to a specific locality. They can only be a very approximate guide, and cannot be capable of being used as a primary method of valuation for a specific property.
  • Helmut Muller (Freedom to provide services) [2010] EUECJ C-451/08 (25 March 2010)
    The provisions of Directive 2004/18 do not apply to a situation in which one public authority sells land to an undertaking, even though another public authority intends to award a works contract in respect of that land, as long as the latter public authority has not yet formally decided to award that contract.
  • Hilmi & Associates Ltd v 20 Pembridge Villas Freehold Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 314 (30 March 2010)
    A notice by which the long leasehold tenants of a property seek to exercise their statutory right to acquire the freehold of the property must be given by a number of qualifying tenants which is not less than one half of the total number of flats. The Companies Act 1985, s. 36A prescribed how a company registered under the Companies Acts could itself sign a document which was required for some formal legal purpose, i.e. by affixing its common seal, or using the signatures of two directors or a director and the secretary. The position now is governed by the Companies Act 2006, s. 44, in force from 6 April 2008.
  • Onesearch Direct Holdings Ltd (t/a Onesearch Direct) v City of York Council [2010] EWHC 590 (Admin) (19 March 2010)
    Councils are not obliged to offer open access free of charge to all unrefined property information. The judge expressed an opinion only of charges aiming to recover costs, not those aiming to make a profit.
  • Red River UK Ltd & Anor v Sheikh & Anor [2010] EWHC 961 (Ch) (30 April 2010)
    Upon acceptance of a repudiatory breach of contract, from the time of discharge both parties are excused from further performance of the primary obligations of the contract which each has to perform, and the party in default comes under a secondary obligation, implied as a matter of law, to pay damages to the innocent party for the loss it has sustained in consequence of the breach. See Photo Productions Ltd v Securicor Transport Ltd [1980] AC 827.

Legislation and Bills

  • The Assured (Amendment) (England) Order2010, SI 2010/908
    This Order, which applies in relation to England only, amends the amount of annual rent above which a tenancy cannot be an assured tenancy under the Housing Act 1988, paragraph 2 of Schedule 1. The amount is increased from £25,000 to £100,000 with effect from the 1 October 2010.
  • Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants etc) Act 2010, Ch.19
    This act, which is not yet in force, protects persons whose tenancies are not binding on mortgagees and requires mortgagees to give notice of the proposed execution of possession orders. It gives courts the power to postpone delivery of a possession order and to stay or suspend the execution of an existing possession order. The act is to come into force by commencement order.
  • The Town and Country Planning (Compensation) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2010 No. 1220 These Regulations prescribe the types of development and circumstances whereby compensation can be limited under section Section 108(2A) and (3B) to (3D) Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (inserted by section 189 of the Planning Act 2008). Section 108 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 provides for the payment of compensation in certain cases where planning permission for development is withdrawn and where on an application for planning permission for that development, the application is refused.The regulations revoke and supersede the Town and Country Planning (Compensation) (England) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/655  which were included in the March Alerter.

Consultations and other material

NB. This is intended for information only, and does not represent legal advice on which reliance should be placed.



FAQs

Member Poll 


  • On the topic of Stamp Duty land tax, we asked you:
    ‘Do you think the government’s new 5 % Stamp Duty land tax rate on properties worth more than £1 million will have a significant adverse effect on your clients?

    10 % of you said YES – an effect, but not significant
    90 % of you said NO

Forum


Discounts 

Members are entitled to 20% off selected titles from Law Society Publishing (quote promotion code PROPR) online or by telephone orders on 0870 850 1422). Recent titles include:



  • Property Development
    Comprehensive step by step guide to the acquisition of land for development, featuring model clauses, checklists and precedents, and including a CD-ROM
  • Conveyancing Checklists, 2nd edition
    New edition providing a comprehensive range of checklists that follow the steps of a transaction. Also contains an accompanying CD-ROM