Property cases

In Target Holdings Ltd v Redferns [1996] 1 AC 421, the House of Lords proceeded on the basis, first, that the money given by the finance company lender to its solicitors was “to be held on a bare trust and transferred to the mortgagor once the property had been purchased and charged to (it)” and, secondly, that the payment away of some of the majority of that money “before the prospective mortgagor had purchased the property” and “without having received any charge on the property” amounted to a breach of trust. This form of liability is not fault-based.

The legislation limits residential service charge recovery unless there is the requisite consultation before qualifying works.

An Englishwoman’s home is not her castle.

A sale contract must clearly state if VAT is payable on the price.

Developers can suffer from badly drafted agreements.

Bad behaviour by business tenants can lead to loss of their right to renew their Leases.

Be careful who you deal with.

A landowner is not an insurer of nature.

Provisions in residential leases enabling landlords to determine each tenant’s service charge proportion may be void.

In the rush to secure a property, it can be easy to overlook the small print in a conditional lease in relation to dilapidations – with potentially expensive results.