News and Articles

We are looking forward to welcoming delegates to the PLA’s Annual Conference on 23 and 24 March 2017 at Keble College, Oxford.  Once again, the Conference has nearly sold out and a full list of delegates attending can be found here.

On 1 March 2017, the Supreme Court decided that property owners seeking to carry out refurbishments can claim business rates relief.

The PLA has fully endorsed an industry-wide letter to the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, concerning proposed changes to the business rates appeals system. New Regulations governing rates appeals are proposed to come into effect from 1 April 2017. However, the Regulations have yet to be laid before Parliament. Further, the Department of Communities and Local Government has failed to respond to the outcome of its own Consultation on the appeal changes which closed on 11 October 2016. The situation is now time critical with the 1 April 2017 Revaluation about to come into effect at the same time as the new appeals regime.

Caroline Shea QC, Falcon Chambers

If, like me, you’ve already broken your New Year’s resolution to get fitter and healthier – don’t despair.   Remember your PLA annual membership still provides you with far greater benefits than you’ll ever get from your local gym.

There are whole books written on restrictive covenants in relation to property, and so instead of a whistle-stop tour of the area, this part of the seminar concentrates instead on remedies for breach. This is the most transferable aspect of this area of law, and the same principles are of application generally within litigation.

Over the last 45 or so years, the House of Lords and Supreme Court have examined the relevant principles of contractual interpretation in some landmark authorities

Restrictive covenants can appear in both leases and in relation to freehold land. They are contractual obligations that prohibit certain specific conduct. Unlike normal contractual promises, which bind only the original parties, these can bind subsequent owners of the affected land.

It was generally thought that there were but a few well defined categories of contract that required the parties to deal in good faith (partnership and insurance being prime examples) and in all others laissez-faire prevails. In 2013 all that changed. Or did it?

What follows was  prepared by the Law Reform  Committee of the Property Litigation Association (PLA) with the benefit of contributions from the wider  membership. Some of the proposals are fundamental and/or wide ranging whilst others relate to more discrete areas of legislation and cause difficulties for those we represent.