by Helen Lisney, Legal Officer Often Council’s will be asked to grant rights of way over their land. Below are the two main ways of granting such rights and the implications for each of them. Easement An easement is a right benefitting a defined area of land. An easement of right of way is a […]
by Kerryn Woollett, Senior Solicitor Rex (Imam) v Croydon London Borough Council [2023] UKSC 45 The Appellant was a full-time wheelchair user. Since September 2014, Croydon London Borough Council provided her with temporary accommodation under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996. The accommodation consisted of a two-storey property with a through floor lift. The […]
by Kate Hiller, Legal Team Manager On 26 March 2024, the Cabinet Office published a number of guidance documents to accompany the Procurement Act 2023 and the Public Procurement Regulations 2024 that were laid before Parliament the day before. At first glance, they do appear quite helpful. It is appealing that they are all relatively […]
by Kerrie Culverwell, Senior Property Solicitor Following from Helen’s article concerning encroachments onto Council Owned Land. I thought it would be helpful to discuss adverse possession – which Helen notes as being a potential consequence of encroachments that are left unchallenged. Often referred to as “squatters rights” adverse possession is the act of occupying another’s […]
by Helen Lisney, Legal Officer Encroachments onto Local authority owned land are surprisingly common – e.g. some people whose houses back onto parks, open space, or fields owned by councils seem to think it is perfectly acceptable to increase the size of their gardens by moving their fences to incorporate the extra land. It is […]
by Kerrie Culverwell, Senior Property Solicitor As I start to wrap up for the eagerly anticipated Christmas and New Year break, it is also an opportunity to reflect on the last seven weeks of my starting with North West Leicestershire District Council (NWL Legal). My previous role was also in a Local Authority, but this […]
by Kate Hiller, Legal Team Manager This year we embarked on recruiting our new trainee and found that the world of legal qualifications had changed, and we were now looking for a legal apprentice. With support from our colleagues in HR and our chosen training provider, we navigated our way through a new way of […]
by Helen Lisney, Legal Officer The Right to Buy is governed by Part V of the Housing Act 1985 (the Act). Section 118 of the Act states that a secure tenant has the right to buy, subject to the certain conditions and exceptions. What is a secure tenant? Section 79 of the Act provides that […]
by Kate Hiller, Legal Services Team Manager When our clients have a contract that they need, they often come to us with an idea of what they want but it is worth remembering that they may not know what is involved in getting a contract over the line. Drafting or reviewing a contract is only […]
by Kerryn Woollett, Senior Solicitor Changes to costs are being introduce from 1 October 2023. Part of this reform, is the creation of a new fourth litigation track, the intermediate track, which will deal with claims worth between £25,000 and £100,000. The changes are being introduced by the Civil Procedure (Amendment No.2) Rules 2023. Implementation […]
