Monthly Archives: March 2023

The Supreme Court has decided by a majority of 3:2 in Fern and others v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery that the public viewing gallery on the 10^th floor of the Tate Modern has caused a nuisance to neighbouring flat owners.

What is Nuisance

Nuisance falls broadly into two categories, public nuisance such as unlawfully blocking a highway, and private nuisance, the category under which this case was brought. Read more…

From 1 April 2023, commercial landlords risk being fined if their property is “substandard” (i.e. it has an EPC rating of “F” or “G”). It has been an offence to grant a new lease of a substandard commercial property since 2018 but from 1 April 2023 the net widens significantly to include existing lettings. Landlords therefore need to review their stock, consider what measures are needed to upgrade the property, and whether it is possible to do so if there is a tenant in occupation. Various exemptions are available and, while these are worth considering, they can only defer the deadline rather than make the problem go away. Landlords also need to bear in mind that the minimum rating is likely to rise to “C”, or even “B”, in the near future. Read more…

Variable service charge provisions are common in residential long leases to enable reapportionment. In Aviva Investors’ Ground Rents v Williams, the Supreme Court confirmed that the effect of section 27A(6) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (Act) is not to transfer the landlord’s discretionary decision-making powers to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT). Read more…

The Supreme Court has handed down its decision in Sara Hossein Asset Holdings Ltd v Blacks Outdoor Retail Ltd [2023] UKSC 2.

In 2018, following the early termination of a previous lease, Blacks Outdoor Retail entered into a further one year lease with its landlord, Sara Hossein Asset Holdings, expiring in May 2019. Read more…

With most employers now allowing a flexible working regime, serviced offices have become an increasingly popular office-based solution for businesses in the post-pandemic period.

As a result, serviced offices or workspaces have become an attractive alternative occupation model for landlords to the fixed lease, and there has been an increase in lease and management contract arrangements with serviced office providers. Read more…