Legal News
The government's website provides guidance for landlords on changes contained in the Renters' Rights Act 2025 . Key changes which will take effect on 1 May 2026 include: The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs). All existing ASTs will...
From 1 May 2026, changes brought in by the Renters' Rights Act 2025 will provide more rights and better protection to tenants in the private rented sector. Changes introduced by the Act include: The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies. All...
A woman's family have succeeded in their challenge to a will purporting to leave her £500,000 estate to her partner after a judge ruled that the will was a forgery. The woman had made a will in 2022 leaving her estate in trust to her daughter. After...
The High Court has rejected a challenge brought by a steel company to a grant of planning permission for a development that would require it to vacate land it occupies at Chatham Docks. The owner of a site including the land used by the company had...
A couple who installed a fence around their house in place of a hedge have been ordered by the local council to remove it because it is too tall. The couple had bought the house in April 2024 and moved in four months later. While the house was being...
Under Section 71(3) of the Solicitors Act 1974 , where a trustee, executor or administrator is liable to pay a solicitor's bill, any person with an interest in the property out of which it may be paid can apply to the court for an assessment of it. A High...
A woman has succeeded in obtaining the right to continue living in an annexe next to her son's house. The annexe was situated on a farm the woman owned and had originally been a stable block. When planning permission to convert it into an annexe was granted...
The Court of Appeal has ruled that a mixed-use premises was a 'dwelling' , as defined in Section 38 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 , and the tenants therefore benefited from the controls over the levying of service charges in the Act. The tenants...
The High Court has ruled that a will made by a man who was suffering from delusions caused by late-onset schizophrenia was invalid for want of testamentary capacity. In late 2013, the man had become concerned that someone was trying to break into his home...
When disagreements arise between neighbours about the ownership of land, it is invariably best to try to reach an amicable solution rather than engage in litigation. In an unusual case concerning the ownership of a driveway , the Upper Tribunal (UT)...
The law affords testators a high degree of freedom to pass on their estates to whomever they wish, and the fact that the terms of a will may seem unfair to relatives is not enough to successfully challenge it. This point was illustrated by a recent case in...
The Court of Appeal has allowed a local planning authority's appeal against an award of costs made against it by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government after it withdrew its support for a planning application. A developer had...
Under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 , landlords may evict tenants who have an assured shorthold tenancy which is a periodic tenancy or a fixed-term tenancy that has expired by giving at least two months' notice. However, a Section 21 notice cannot be...
People have a great level of freedom to leave their estates as they choose and disappointed relatives must overcome a high hurdle to successfully challenge a will. Recently, the daughter of a woman who made a will leaving her entire estate to one of her sons...
A guide to issues relating to property boundaries is available on the government's website. The guide notes that, in England and Wales, there is usually no record of the exact boundary between two properties or the ownership of boundary features between...