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Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 - Update

Anyone who has been following the journey of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill will be aware that the Bill received Royal Assent as the last piece of legislation to be passed on 24 May 2024 before Parliament dissolved in readiness for the upcoming general election. (Rather frustratingly, despite being passed on 24 May 2024, the full wording of the Act was not published online until 5 June 2024 hence the slight delay in this post!).On 24 May 2024, news outlets reported on the fact that the L...

World Mental Health Day 2023

Both generally, as legal professionals, and specifically within our firm, we understand the importance of mental health, and the significance of bringing attention to all types of mental health by way of World Mental Health Day - a date which falls today and on 10 October each year. As lawyers, we are acutely aware of some of the unique challenges that come with our demanding profession, including long hours; perfectionism and the pressures of representing our clients to the best of our abi...

"UK menopause law change rejected as it ‘could discriminate against men’" – Can we believe everything we read?

The Government has recently published its Response to recommendations made in respect of policy changes surrounding Menopause and the Workplace.One of the recommendations proposed was that: “...the Government should launch a consultation on how to amend the Equality Act to introduce a new protected characteristic of menopause, including a duty to provide reasonable adjustments for menopausal employees”.The Government rejected this, on the basis that legislation to protect against menopause d...

Are you giving your employees less time off than they are owed? (AKA: the 'Brazel Judgment' explained)

The recent Surpreme Court Judgment of Harpur Trust v Brazel (commonly referred to as “the Brazel judgment”) has impacted how holiday entitlement and holiday pay is to be calculated. This impacts both employers and employees significantly, particularly those working part-time or atypical hours, or who only work for part of the year, such as teachers....

What are your rights as an unmarried couple or parties who have purchased a property together in relation to a property dispute?

Here at Jamieson Alexander, we understand that separating from a partner is difficult at the best of times let alone when both parties own a property together and a dispute arises over how the property should be dealt with as part of any separation.  Whilst married couples can rely on family law legislation, this is not the case for unmarried couples or parties that have purchased a property together.  The legislation that applies in these circumstances is the Trusts of Land and Appoin...

An end to rising Ground Rents in Residential Leases!

In the recent past there has been much publicity (for good reason) surrounding ground rents in long residential leases. Some leaseholders entered into leases when purchasing their homes with ground rent obligations which at first seemed affordable and were not considered an issue, but which later became substantially more expensive. Those ground rent obligations that attracted the most attention were known as “doubling” ground rents, where the amount payable doubled at fixed intervals throug...

The Future of Residential Leasehold Reform?

A year ago, the government announced its forthcoming plans to reform the future of homeownership in England and Wales, being noted as the “biggest reform to property law in a generation”. In recent months, there have been some moderate developments with The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill and the Government opening a consultation, running for 6 weeks, on its latest and wide-ranging proposals to reform the leasehold and commonhold systems, although any significant reform is yet to be impl...

Court of Appeal rule in favour of Landlords and Letting Agents

As many of our landlord and letting agent clients will know, before issuing possession proceedings, we are required to review a wide range of tenancy documents.  This is to ensure that everything is in order and that all the necessary documents are valid to support a possession claim. In recent years, we have had to advise that notices or prescribed information which have not been signed in accordance with section 44 of the Companies Act 2006 may be found to be invalid during a Court hearin...

From Graduate to Paralegal – what to expect

Hi, I’m Yasmin and I have worked as a Paralegal here at Jamieson Alexander for the past 5 months. After completing my law degree and graduating from the University of Nottingham in July 2021 I started my first job in the legal profession. When I used to think about working in a law firm, I thought I would specialise in one area of the law from the start. However, I have been given the opportunity to assist on matters in various areas of the law including Employment, Debt Recovery, Conveyancing...

Independent Legal Advice

Independent Legal Advice is required when you are entering into a legal agreement and must be taken by an alternate solicitor or Chartered Legal Executive. ILA is mandatory where a party is being placed at risk but not receiving a benefit from entering into the transaction, this could be in transactions such as personal guarantees, transfer of equity or employment settlement agreements. Usually, ILA is provided in person, so that the signing of the document can be witnessed by the independent ad...

Refusal to return to work: the Health and Safety defence

How do you deal with staff refusing to return to the workplace? When will an employee be right to refuse to return? This has been an emerging issue since early 2020 and only now are Tribunal cases being heard and determined. We now have valuable insight into the Tribunal’s approach to COVID-19 related cases – and the newly discovered s.100 defence. Under s.100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, dismissals will be deemed to be automatically unfair if the sole or principal reason for the dismi...

What you need to know about a Personal Guarantee

A Personal Guarantee is an agreement whereby an individual, also knows as the Guarantor, agrees to satisfy a contractual obligation of another party if the original Party that entered the agreement fail to do so. An example of this is where an individual may need to take out a large loan with a creditor to fund a business, they may be a director or shareholder for, this loan could be for purchasing a building. The creditor would need a form of collateral that would protect them if the business c...

New Powers to Investigate Directors of Dissolved Companies

The ‘Rating (Coronavirus) and Directors Disqualification (Dissolved Companies) Bill’ will provide the Insolvency Service with new powers to investigate the directors of companies that have been dissolved to avoid the repayment of loans. The aim is to prevent directors from dissolving their companies to avoid creditors and acts as a deterrent against the misuse of the dissolution process. Extension of the power to investigate includes the relevant sanctions, such as disqualification from acti...

Deliberate concealment: Court of Appeal clarifies ss.32(1)(b) and 32(2), Limitation Act 1980

Many mis-sold PPI and undisclosed commission claims are barred by the 6-year limitation period under the Limitation Act 1982. However, the recent Court of Appeal judgment Canada Square Operations Limited v Potter [2021] EWCA Civ 339, extends the time period in which such claims can be brought and should, therefore, increase the number of cases which can rely on section 32 of the Limitation Act 1982. Section 32 of The Limitation Act 1982 (“The Act”) Generally speaking, section 32 of The ...

Wood and Pengelly – Court of Appeal Holds No Need for Brokers Fiduciary Relationship in Secret Commission Cases

The conjoined Court of Appeal judgment, Wood v Commercial First Business Ltd & ors and Business Mortgage Finance 4 plc v Pengelly [2021] EWCA Civ 471, handed down on the 31st March 2021, has made it much more probable that borrowers could receive compensation, if the commission paid by the lender to their broker was not fully disclosed to them. This new ruling confirms that, in a case where a fully secret commission was paid by a lender to a broker, there is no need for a stringen...

Business Interruption Cases and the Financial Ombudsman Service

The UK Supreme Court recently delivered its judgment on the Financial Conduct Authority Business Interruption test case. The decision of this case is highly important to small businesses, who may now be able to have their business interruption claims heard. We all know that there are several ways to resolve disputes - written correspondence; negotiation; using a solicitor or indeed tacking the case yourself through the Courts.  However, there is also another route, which may be lesser-known...

No 'Jab', No Job..?

COVID-19 vaccinations have been administered to over 17 million people in the UK to date, prompting a push for employers to reopen their places of work. In doing so, employers will have to ensure that they offer a safe working environment for staff and customers. What we have now seen is that, in doing so, they are asking the question, “Can and should I force my staff to have a COVID-19 vaccine?”....

'Covid Cover'​: Insurers to pay small firms for Covid-19 business interruption and lockdown losses

Yesterday, the Supreme Court handed down Judgment which found in favour of small firms receiving payments from their insurers for ‘business interruption’ during the Covid-19 Pandemic. COVID-19 and the resulting public health measures taken by the UK Government have caused heavy financial losses to businesses around the country. Many businesses have insurance policies which cover them against loss arising from interruption to their normal business activities, due to various causes. ...

Tenant eviction moratorium extended - With a few exceptions!

Since 23rd March 2020, there have been many changes made by the government, not least to the rules governing residential possession claims.  One of the most recent changes comes in the form of The Public Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction) (England) Regulations 2021 (SI/2021).  Paragraph 2 of the regulations states that no person may attend a dwelling for the purposes of executing a writ or warrant of possession or for delivering a notice of eviction.  This effectively...

MHCLG Update ends limbo on buildings without cladding at last...

The Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government announced yesterday that leaseholders of flats in buildings without cladding will no longer be required to obtain a EWS1 form before they sell or re-mortgage their property, ending a period in which leaseholders of flats in such buildings were held in limbo and many were unable to sell or re-mortgage their properties.This decision has been reached after an agreement between government, RICS, the Building Societies Association and UK Fi...

Remortgaging?

Responding to the COVID-19 crisis, the Bank of England has made two base rate cuts in quick succession, first to 0.25% just before the Budget, and now to 0.1%. This means that mortgage borrowing rates in the UK are now lower than ever before and so it’s a great time to look at re-mortgaging your property. By re-mortgaging, you can do two things: Reduce your monthly mortgage interest, and hence your monthly outgoings; and / orPull out some well-needed funds to help you through the current situa...

Witnessing Wills during the Coronavirus pandemic

As many clients are tense to have their Wills updated (or in some cases drawn up) to ensure that their Estate Planning matters are organised during this difficult time, we at Jamieson Alexander are offering video and telephone meetings to discuss Estate Planning matters. However, all Lawyers are still faced with the hurdle of satisfying the relevant Laws for the valid creation of a Will, with the main hurdle being the valid execution of the Will. The (questionably outdated) Wills Act 1837 p...

Commercial Leases and the impact of COVID-19

On 23 March, the government announced that businesses and premises which are “non-essential” must close. A table outlining the businesses and premises should be closed is available here.  Many businesses will be worrying about their ability to pay rent and may be wondering if there is way to end their Lease early. The current situation raises questions for both landlords and tenants of commercial premises.  What a landlord or tenant can do will depend on the actual terms of the lea...

Moving house? Coronavirus update to home movers

The government have now clarified their advice for home movers which is as follows: Home buyers and renters should, as far as possible, delay moving to a new house while emergency measures are in place to fight coronavirus.If moving is unavoidable for contractual reasons and the parties are unable to reach an agreement to delay, people must follow advice on social distancing to minimise the spread of the virus.Anyone with symptoms, self-isolating or shielding from the virus, should follow medica...

Coronavirus Landlord and Tenant Update 2 (26.03.2020)

Following the blanket ban on new possession claims being issued during the COVID-19 emergency period, we are slowly seeing further information through from Government and the Courts on the present position. The Coronavirus Act 2020 (“CA 2020”) was given Royal Assent on 25 March 2020.  This emergency Act provides legislation for a host of matter including almost all of the recent changes made by Government around finance, movement of people and in respect of property. These provisions do...