The Government has confirmed that councils will have the power to hold high street rental auctions from 2 December. Lucy McDonnell and Megan Forbes look at how the regime will work, including from a planning perspective. Read more
The Government is to set target dates for unsafe buildings in England to be fixed as part of a new Remediation Acceleration Plan to be unveiled today (2 December).
The Government is to consult on a raft of changes to the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme including extending the length of time someone has to be a tenant before they can buy their home and protecting newly built social homes from sale through exemptions.
The Law Commission has released its first consultation paper on the right to renew business tenancies under Part 2 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, also known as 'security of tenure'.
Cheshire East Council has been fined £500,000 after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the death of a dog walker in August 2020, killed by a falling tree, might have been avoided had the public area been better managed.
Woking Borough Council's former monitoring officer failed to challenge the former chief executive officer and former s151 officer over decisions to borrow large sums of money with no credible plan for repayment, a public interest report on the council's governance arrangements has concluded.
The High Court has refused an application by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to stay three judicial review claims challenging various provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
The scale of the cladding crisis has "proved much bigger than the government initially understood", and up to 60% of buildings with dangerous cladding remain to be identified, a National Audit Office (NAO) report has suggested.
The Supreme Court has this month refused an application for permission to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s judgment in a dispute over the deregistration of town and village greens (TVGs).
The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) is seeking permission to intervene in a Court of Appeal case relating to housing energy efficiency standards, which the watchdog said would set a precedent concerning how the government takes account of environmental issues in its policies.
The London Borough of Haringey has successfully defended a judicial review claim brought by a private homeowner in a lengthy dispute concerning its decision to fell a street tree thought to be causing subsidence.
Is a roof garden a "storey" for the purposes of higher-risk buildings? Alex Martin Diaz and Corinna Whittle analyse a recent tribunal case and the government’s response to the ruling.
A recent High Court case has provided a reminder that care must be taken to distinguish between “commencement” cases and “continuous use” cases based on immunity, writes Roderick Morton.
Robert Bowker considers how the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has dealt with fire safety cases where an improvement notice under the Housing Act 2004 has been served and an application for a remediation order under s. 123 of the Building Safety Act 2022 has been made.
Jen Ashwell considers some of the key recent CPO and compensation decisions and highlights key takeaways that will be of interest to acquiring authorities, claimants (and their advisors) and local planning authorities.
The High Court has granted Thurrock Council and Essex County Council a five-year injunction subject to yearly review against persons unknown in response to protest activity by Just Stop Oil.
A resident who objected to the London Borough of Enfield selling part of a park to Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has been refused permission to appeal in his challenge to the disposal.
External auditors at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead have voiced "significant concerns" over the council's governance arrangements in light of delayed financial statements, alongside concerns about debt associated with a wholly-owned property company.
External auditors have flagged "significant" weaknesses in control processes relating to Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council's disposal of assets, and have suggested that members were not "seriously considering" officer recommendations concerning the council's finances.
Private and social rented homes are set to be required to achieve Energy Performance Certificate C or equivalent by 2030 in a series of Government measures to improve home energy standards.
The London Borough of Newham has a lost a £1.6m case over an attempt to judicially review a decision by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on whether a floating hotel is a building for Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) purposes.
London’s leading grant-giving charity has issued judicial review proceedings against the government, arguing that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LFRA 24) will “jeopardize the financial stability and operational capacity of a handful of charities that depend on property assets for funding”.
Officers at Fareham Borough Council have "regrettably" recommended councillors to lift a set of tree preservation orders to avoid hefty compensation claims, just months after the council's leader called legislative reforms on the matter
The Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, and Building Safety Minister, Rushanara Ali, have set out expectations for regulators and partners to “increase the pace” of remediating unsafe buildings, following a fire at a block of flats in Dagenham.
Commissioners have called for a "rigorous" lessons learned process at Birmingham City Council after the financially beleaguered local authority agreed to sell more than 700 properties at an estimated loss of around £320m.
The Charity Commission has seen a significant number of cases where local authorities have failed to comply with their legal duties as charity trustees and the watchdog has had to take action following receipt of complaints from the public, its new chief executive has warned.
The London Borough of Enfield has secured interim injunctions against the occupants of boats and land on the River Lea who it has claimed obstruct progress on a £6bn development of 10,000 homes.
The leader of Fareham Borough Council has called on the Government to fundamentally review how requests to fell trees protected by tree preservation orders and involved in subsidence claims are handled.
The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has been asked to decide whether a local authority should serve an improvement notice on the owner of a house in multiple occupation if there is doubt about whether a hazard exists.
Tendring District Council has secured a High Court injunction banning Clacton Classic Air Show visitors from camping alongside the seafront overnight in tents, campervans or mobile homes.
Campaigners have failed to unseat the Law Society's chief executive and president after the pair overcame a vote of no confidence at a meeting on Thursday (24 July) which also challenged Chancery Lane's ability to represent members who undertake conveyancing.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets cannot recover the cost of rectifying structural defects in two blocks of flats from leaseholders’ service charges, the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has ruled.
A group of property search companies have failed to persuade a High Court judge that CON29DW water and drainage searches provided by nine English water and sewerage companies and separate search operations run by Severn Trent and Wessex Water fall under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) regime and should be provided at "reasonable cost" rather than commercial rates.
A BBC London investigation has found the London Borough of Lambeth used well over 100 confidentiality clauses to prevent leaseholders who have successfully challenged maintenance bills from discussing this.
Objectors to Hertfordshire County Council’s sale of land for a rail freight interchange have lost a judicial review application over the validity of the sale.
The Law Society will next month (23 July) hold a special general meeting after the Property Lawyers Action Group (PLAG) requisitioned a debate and vote on a motion of no confidence in Chancery Lane’s ability to represent members who undertake conveyancing.
Residential developer Redrow has lost a Court of Appeal case over the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ decision to allocate funds from the Building Safety Fund (BSF) to replace cladding on two blocks of flats.
How do registered providers manage risk in relation to Management Companies providing services to their Estates? Rose Klemperer, Wendy Wilks and Alice Watkins explain.
For certain land transactions involving school land, including granting leases to third parties, you may be required to obtain consent from or notify the Secretary of State (SoS). New freedoms have also been introduced in the September 2024 Academy Trust Handbook relating to finance leases. Andrea Squires, Zahraa Ilmass and Sonia Din look at the key points.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Anglo International Upholland Ltd v Wainwright [2023] 5 WLUK 613 confirmed the court’s power to grant injunctions against so-called ‘newcomers’. In the second of two articles, Helena Davies, Oskar Musial, Laura Tweedy and Gemma de Cordova consider the recent developments in newcomer injunctions and how that was dealt with in Upholland.
A recent landmark decision may allow novel and unusual methods of service in welcome news for landowners who seek to prevent trespassing by persons unknown, write Helena Davies, Oskar Musial, Laura Tweedy and Gemma de Cordova.
Spencer Vella Sultana and Wilton Thomas examine the further changes to building safety legislation likely following the report published this month as part of the second phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
Steve Gummer and Shyann Sheehy talk through the recent Construction Leadership Council guidance on a ‘Golden Thread’ of information as part of a new regulatory regime for Higher-Risk Buildings.
The Charity Commission has issued a warning to local authorities over the failure to comply with legal duties as charity trustees. Paul Hilsdon looks at the steps councils should take.
The High Court recently declined a commercial tenant's application for relief from forfeiture in a case involving a local authority. Philip Coates explains why.
Zoe McLean-Wells analyses a recent Upper Tribunal (UT) decision which considered a landlord’s ability to charge a service charge for works required to remediate inherent structural defects.
Mathew McDermott and Karolina Zielinska sit down to discuss how the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) is currently approaching the assessment of the amount of rent repayment orders that are made in a tenant’s favour.
Preparing for the annual governance statement is a good time for local authorities to undertake a governance health-check of their companies, suggests Matt Marsh.
Site providers will breathe a huge sigh of relief as the Upper Tribunal found in favour of a council in a dispute over the Electronic Communications Code and a leaking roof on a residential tower block. Daniel Cuthbert and Ella Carroll explain why.