Council Tax – Local Government Law
‘Coll (Listing Officer) v Mooney [2016] EWHC 485 (Admin) is a statutory appeal by the Appellant Listing Officer against the decision of the Valuation Tribunal for England (“VTE”) in which it ordered...
View ArticleJudge concerned at council tax enforcement and Valuation Tribunal appeals...
‘A High Court judge has expressed concern at “the substantial degree of uncertainty that exists” in relation to how the courts, both magistrates and the bankruptcy county court, should deal with the...
View ArticleSinclair Gardens Investments (Kensington) Ltd v Ray [2015] EWCA Civ 1247 –...
‘A previous decision of the Upper Tribunal is admissible evidence of what it decided and it is a question of what weight a subsequent tribunal should give it. The extent to which the previous decision...
View ArticleDeferment Rate Revisited – Tanfield Chambers
‘The deferment rate is a key input in every enfranchisement claim whether it relates to the enfranchisement of a house, block of flats or the extension of a flat lease. The current deferment rate was...
View ArticleCourt of Appeal: lender entitled to recover full refinancing loan in...
‘A lender was entitled to recover the full amount of a refinancing loan it granted after relying on a negligent property valuation, and not just the ‘top-up’ funding, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’...
View ArticleSloane Stanley v Mundy and others – Tanfield Chambers
‘The claims involved the valuation of premiums under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. The UTLC listed three applications for the specific purpose of considering the validity...
View ArticleCouncil tax, periodic tenancies, and the end of L&T law avoided – Nearly Legal
‘We’ve seen the issue of who is liable for Council Tax when a tenant has left a property before the end of a periodic tenancy arise before. Here, the Upper Tribunal decided that a statutory periodic...
View ArticleForm over substance? The ‘But For’ Test after Tiuta – Hardwicke Chambers
‘The case throws up an interesting issue as to both the application and scope of the ‘but for’ test in professional negligence claims by lenders against valuers where there has been re-financing of the...
View ArticleCourt confirms surveyor’s margin of error in negligence cases should not...
‘A surveyor facing a professional negligence claim will only be able to argue a margin of error greater than 15% in the most exceptional of circumstances, the High Court has confirmed.’ Full story...
View ArticleRather too certain to be uncertain – Nearly Legal
‘This was Leeds’ second appeal of a Valuation Tribunal decision on council tax liability. We covered the first High Court appeal here. Full disclosure, I acted for the intervener in this second appeal,...
View ArticleJudge finds council sold seafront land at undervalue but refuses to quash...
‘Canterbury City Council sold land on the seafront in Whitstable to a property developer for less than best consideration but the case was not appropriate for a quashing order, a High Court judge has...
View ArticleSupreme Court rates on redevelopment decision will be welcomed by developers,...
‘Developers will welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to reduce the rateable value of unoccupied office space undergoing substantial redevelopment works, according to property law experts at Pinsent...
View ArticleRule 16.3(7) – Statement of under value to be included in the claim form? – 4...
‘Sir David Eady J delivered a judgment on 30 March in the case of Mohamed Ali Harrath v Stand for Peace Limited and Samuel Westrop [2017] EWHC 653 (QB) (available here) in which he held that a claimant...
View ArticleRegina v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – WLR Daily
Regina v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2017] EWHC 1245 (QB) ‘The claimant, a 24-year-old man, suffered from physical impairments caused by injuries suffered during his birth at the...
View ArticleFailure to pay correct court fee not an abuse of process – Litigation Futures
‘The Court of Appeal has refused to consider a circuit judge ruling which held that failure by a solicitor to correctly value a personal injury claim and pay the right court fee did not amount to an...
View ArticleHigh Court overturns dishonesty finding against solicitor due to “serious...
‘The High Court has overturned a finding of dishonesty made by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) against a prominent solicitor because the allegation was not tested during the hearing – which...
View ArticleJohn Lyon’s Charity v London Sephardi Trust [2017] EWCA Civ 846 (CA) –...
‘On 29 June 2017 the Court of Appeal gave judgment on an interesting question of statutory construction concerning the valuation provisions in section 9 of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (“LRA67”) and...
View ArticleBrexit & Developments in Valuer’s Liabilities – Hailsham Chambers
‘In the run up to the referendum the mood about the consequence of a leave vote was, from an economic point of view, pessimistic. ‘ Full StoryHailsham Chambers, 3rd November 2017Source:...
View ArticleTiuta International Limited (in liquidation) v De Villiers Surveyor s Limited...
‘The decision in Tiuta continues the series of recent Supreme Court decisions that make for essential reading among professional liability practitioners.’ Full StoryHailsham Chambers, 29th November...
View ArticleDivorce: valuation of business assets and tracing hidden assets – the key...
‘A forensic accountant has a number of functions. If they are the single joint expert (SJE) in the context of divorce proceedings, their job is usually going to be to value one or more of the parties’...
View ArticleLaw firm was negligent in property purchase but clients would have gone ahead...
‘A Kent law firm was negligent for failing to advise properly on a mortgage and valuation report (MVR), but this did not cause a couple in Canterbury to buy a house suffering from subsidence, a circuit...
View ArticleSupreme Court backs Iceland in refrigeration rates appeal – OUT-LAW.com
‘An air handling system used in connection with frozen foods retailer Iceland’s refrigerated storage is part of a ‘trade process’, and therefore exempt from business rates, the UK’s highest court has...
View Article‘Grenfell’ cladding: couple could sue after £600,000 flat now worth £90,000 –...
‘A family who have seen the value of their London flat slashed from £600,000 to just £90,000 because of Grenfell-style cladding could sue a government agency that helped them buy their home.’ Full...
View ArticleAdvocate and expert – asking for trouble – Nearly Legal
‘Non-domestic rating is not something we usually cover on this blog. It is, after all, not about housing. But the decision of the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) in Gardiner & Theobold LLP v Jackson...
View ArticleUK’s pensions regulator cracks down on scams with use of new powers –...
‘The UK’s Pensions Regulator (TPR) has begun to use a number of enforcement powers for the first time in efforts to deal with issues such as pension scams, scheme valuations and automatic enrolment.’...
View ArticleProperty guardians and ‘non-domestic rates’ – Nearly legal
‘This is an interesting decision of the Valuation Tribunal on the effect of the occupation by property guardians of a commercial building. Some (though not all) property guardian companies have made a...
View ArticleValuation under evaluation: proposals for reform – Tanfield Chambers
‘Nicola Muir considers the Law Commission’s options for reforming the valuation of residential lease extensions.’ Full StoryTanfield Chambers, 18th October 2018Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk
View ArticleThe merits of and case for Land Value Taxation – OUP Blog
‘The UK, especially London, has long experienced the kind of property boom that makes prices unaffordable. A recent Confederation of British Industry survey reported that this unaffordability is of...
View ArticleNew evidence allows second valuation of works in adjudication dispute –...
‘A contractor has won a case in England over payment for work which was valued at nil by an adjudicator, after bringing new evidence to a later adjudication which the High Court said that the second...
View ArticleNew Judgment: Telereal Trillium v Hewitt (Valuation Officer) [2019] UKSC 23 –...
‘This appeal considered whether regard should be given, when ascertaining the rateable value of a property under the statutory hypothesis in the Local Government Finance Act 1988, Sch 6, para 2(1), to...
View ArticleThe New Electronic Communications Code clarified – Falcon Chambers
‘The Upper Tribunal has recently provided helpful clarification of the workings of several aspects of the new Electronic Communications Code (“the Code”) introduced by the Digital Economy Act 2017,...
View ArticleMisconduct accusation rejected despite claim value rising by £20k – Law...
‘The High Court has allowed a claimant to recover costs outside the personal injury protocol after they upped the value of the claim from £5,000 to more than £25,000. In the process, a deputy master...
View ArticleOptions for reforming valuation in leasehold enfranchisement published by Law...
‘The Law Commission of England and Wales has today [09 January 2020] published a report setting out options to reduce the cost that leaseholders have to pay to buy the freehold or extend the lease of...
View ArticleDirector must compensate creditors for cut-price purchase from insolvent...
‘Directors of insolvent companies should not be allowed to buy assets of the business on the cheap, the High Court has ruled. In Systems Building Services Group Limited [2020] EWHC 54 (Ch), the court...
View ArticleHigh Court rules directors cannot buy assets of their liquidated company on...
‘The High Court has ruled that company directors cannot buy assets from their liquidated companies at below market value.’ Full StoryLocal Government Lawyer, 30th January 2020Source:...
View Article“Football is Football”– Relegation Not Ground For Re-valuing a Football...
‘In an important new rating decision the UT has concluded in Wigan Football Club Limited v Wayne Cox (VO) [2019] UKUT 0389 (LC) that the successive relegations of a football club from the Premier...
View ArticleAvoidance Of Insurance Policy Due To Unintentional Non-Disclosure Clause:...
‘In this recent case, the Defendant was the professional indemnity insurer of Westoe 19 (formerly Colin Lilley Surveying Limited) referred to throughout the Judgment as “CLS”. CLS was a limited company...
View ArticleCash machines in supermarkets not separate hereditaments for rating purposes:...
‘The Supreme Court has upheld a Court of Appeal ruling that ATM machines are not rateably occupied separately from the host stores.’ Full StoryLocal Government Lawyer, 21st May 2020Source:...
View ArticleBusiness and Property: ToLATA update May 2020 – St Ives Chambers
‘By way of observation, the principle set out in Bagum-v-Hafiz [2015] EWCA Civ 801 whereby a beneficiary under a trust of land may effectively buy out the others interests appears to be increasingly...
View ArticleLeasehold enfranchisement – options to reduce the price – Tanfield Chambers
‘In relation to the qualifying criteria and procedure, the Law Commission was asked to make recommendations and the report on those aspects is due in the Spring. On the question of valuation, the Law...
View ArticleCase Comment: Cardtronics UK Ltd and others v Sykes and others (Valuation...
‘In this case comment, Marcus Barclay, Will Charnock and Siani McNamara, who work in the real estate disputes team at CMS, comment on the decision handed down by the UK Supreme Court on 20 May 2020 in...
View ArticleHigh Court: Counsel’s fee for ex-protocol cases not fixed – Litigation Futures
‘Counsel’s fees for valuing claims which fall out of the personal injury protocols are not subject to fixed costs, the High Court has ruled.’ Full StoryLitigation Futures, 10th August 2020Source:...
View ArticleProfession: Expert Witness – Family Law
‘The value of a family business or business interest is treated as an asset and therefore part of the matrimonial pot to be distributed when it comes to negotiating a financial settlement on divorce or...
View ArticleThe role of the surveyor-expert and their evidence in litigation – Falcon...
‘This article considers how the duties imposed on expert witnesses impact upon the functions of expert surveyors giving valuation evidence tendered in Court and in the Upper Tribunal. We will refer to...
View ArticleClaimant ‘unreasonable’ for not using portal on overvalued case – Law...
‘A costs judge has ruled that a claimant acted unreasonably in not using the portal for a claim that proved to be vastly overvalued.’ Full StoryLaw Society's Gazette, 23rd August 2021Source:...
View ArticleE v L [2021] EWFC 60 (Fam): Short Marriages, Section 25 Criteria and White...
‘The purpose of this article, is to consider the application of the section 25 criteria and in particular the issue of company valuation in the case of E v L [2021] EWFC 60, as decided by Mostyn J.’...
View ArticleHigh Court judge rejects appeal by couple over listing of property as two...
‘A couple has lost a High Court appeal over a council tax valuation dispute with Oxford City Council.’ Full StoryLocal Government Lawyer, 25th November 2021Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
View ArticleNegligence claim brought over negligence claim to proceed – Legal Futures
‘A claimant suing his solicitors for negligence in how they pursued a claim for negligence against other solicitors has failed in his application for permission to appeal a ruling that refused summary...
View ArticleEnd of the road for wishful thinking in asset valuations? – Pensions Barrister
‘Paul Newman KC has written a summary of the FTT decision in Morgan Lloyd Trustees Limited & ors v HMRC (31 March 2023). The case concerns the appropriate approach to the valuation of intellectual...
View Article‘As easy as 123’ – Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972 considered in...
‘Colin Ricciardello and Jonathan Blunden analyse the increasing number of challenges to councils’ use of s123 of the Local Government Act 1972 (the “1972 Act”).’ Full StoryLocal Government Lawyer, 4th...
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