Wilson v Lesley Place (RTM) Company Ltd [2010] UKUT 342 (LC) I confess to being a bit bitter about this case. The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) is hideously overworked. It can (and often does) take over a year for an appeal from an LVT to get before the...
New duty advice scheme at the London LVT
Yesterday the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) announced in a press release that it would be operating a morning duty advice scheme at the London offices of the LVT from 21 September 2010. This news follows hot foot on the announcement that from 16...
A broken engagement
Dibble v Pfluger [2010] EWCA Civ 1005 concerns an appeal in a joint property case, largely decided on its facts. It has one interesting point of note for anyone who practices in this field: the couples were engaged to be married for much of the period of...
Unhappiness in the (e)state of Belgravia
Donath v Trustees of the Second Duke of Westminster Will Trust [PDF] is a first instance decision of the LVT. We do not normally reports such things but it concerns an application to vary an old-style estate management scheme. So rarely does one see estate...
Service charges due and payable?
Staunton v Kaye & Anor [2010] UKUT 270 (LC) This is a rather confused matter from the Upper Tribunal (Lands) sitting in Manchester. It is made all the more confused by a transcript which muddles parties and at one point suggests the LVT was in error in...
Fee hike for appeals from the LVT
The ministry of justice has just published its response [PDF] to its consultation on fees for the Lands Tribunal — now of course the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber). This is bad news if you are an appellant. The fee for seeking permission to appeal from the...
An ugly metaphor
This is the Strata Tower, less than proud winner of Building Design's 2010 Carbuncle Cup, awarded to the ugliest new building in the country for its 'odour of boy musk', 'grim stridency' and for auditioning for a 'James Bond title sequence in the Elephant...
Alas poor Commonhold…
Commonhold was introduced by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 and, in essence, is a new way (i.e. not freehold or leasehold) for flat owners to collectively hold the building containing their flats. It's not proved very popular, with only c.20...
What is a service charge?
In two joined appeals to the Lands Chamber of the Upper Tribunal brought by Southern Housing Group Ltd and Family Housing Association (Wales) Ltd ([2010] UKUT 237 (LC) - not yet available via the tribunal's website or on bailii), the tribunal considered...
You know it when you see it
What is a house? Rather like the well-known elephant test, this point consistently comes before the higher courts - and many other great thinkers - and, in Day v Hosebay Ltd; Howard De Walden Estates Ltd v Lexgorge Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 748, the Court of...
Size doesn’t matter
Craftrule Ltd v 41-60 Albert Palace Mansions (Freehold) Ltd [2010] EWHC 1230 (Ch) is the first higher court decision on the meaning of "self-contained part of a building" in the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. Qualifying long...
And here’s to you, HHJ Robinson*
Three decisions of HHJ Robinson, sitting as a judge of the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) for your delectation. In Masri v The Wellcome Trust Ltd [2010] UKUT 138 (LC) the respondents had originally demanded c.£19,000 of charges but, after recording a number...