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All land in England ultimately belongs to the Crown. In a recent case which serves as something of a cautionary tale , a couple who were the directors and shareholders of a company that had owned a property when it was dissolved have been unsuccessful in...

The licensing regime for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) exists to protect the safety and welfare of tenants. Recently, four tenants of an unlicensed HMO obtained rent repayment orders totalling £23,177. The tenants had rented a four-bedroom...

The leaseholders of a flat in a separate wing of a country house have succeeded in their appeal against a determination that they were liable to pay service charges in respect of the common parts of the house. The leaseholders had purchased the flat in...

The Upper Tribunal (UT) has rejected a landowner's appeal against the dismissal of his application for the determination of a boundary between a strip of land he owned and the garden of a neighbouring house. He had originally owned a large house with...

The Upper Tribunal (UT) has ruled that a restrictive covenant which required the owners of land to obtain approval from the vendor before a house could be built on it was personal to the original vendor and did not benefit his successors in title. The land...

Tenants who are unhappy with the service charges they are asked to pay can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) for a determination of their liability to pay service charges. Recently, a tenant who made such an application succeeded in achieving...

A person who is in adverse possession of registered land may apply to the Land Registry to be registered as its owner on the basis of ten years' adverse possession of it, ending on the date of the application. If the application is opposed by the existing...

It is always advisable to check the service charges you are asked to pay rather than simply assuming they are correct. This point was illustrated by a recent case in which four leaseholders obtained refunds of service charges relating to electricity costs...

Tenants who are unhappy with service charges they are asked to pay can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) for a determination of whether the charges are payable. Recently, the tenants of two flats were successful in persuading the FTT that the costs of...

Tenants who wish to challenge any deductions made from their deposits at the end of their tenancies should ensure they follow the dispute resolution procedures of the relevant tenancy deposit scheme. Recently, a tenant who instead applied to the First-tier...