A village green can be registered if ‘a significant number of the inhabitants of any locality... have indulged as a right in lawful sports and pastimes on the land for a period of at least 20 years’.

If someone claims adverse possession and applies to be registered as the proprietor, then notice of the application will be given to the existing registered proprietor. A counter-notice should be served within 65 business days, failing which the applicant will automatically be registered as proprietor.

The Law Society has published a revised version of its model s106 agreement (this updates the previous version by referring to the new statutory tests, and gives guidance on procurement issues, as well as containing a dispute resolution clause).

Can T wait until after the end of the tenancy to ambush L with a claim under the tenancy deposit legislation (ie that L pay the usual penalty of three times the deposit for failure to register)?

It seems that mortgagees are increasingly reluctant to disclose the balance due to them when asked to do so by a judgment creditor who is seeking an order for sale following a final charging order. A note in the NLJ asks what is the most efficient means of procuring this information (which should be supplied in the supporting evidence)?

A reminder of the two main reliefs available to property traders and house-building companies:

House-building company buying an individual’s home: if a house-building company or property trader buys a home from an individual who is buying a new home from them, the purchase will be exempt from SDLT, provided the individual:

What happens if a lease is assigned and the assignee becomes insolvent, with the liquidator then disclaiming the lease? Does the AGA entered into by the assignor remain binding (so L can enforce the AGA against the assignor)?

T had a shop lease which he assigned to T2, with T entering into an Authorised Guarantee Agreement (AGA) with L, guaranteeing T2’s performance of its lease obligations. Eventually, T2 went into liquidation, and the liquidator of the company disclaimed the lease under s178(4) Insolvency Act 1986. As the Act makes clear, such a disclaimer ‘operates so as to determine... the rights, interests and liabilities of the company in/or in respect of the property disclaimed’.

Take great care when granting short-term lettings, since otherwise there is a danger that T will acquire security of tenure under the business tenancies legislation (LTA 1954).

The dangers are well illustrated by a recent case where the landowner was awaiting planning permission for the redevelopment of his premises. In the interim he granted a three-month fixed-term tenancy to T, who, in turn, granted long sub-leases to sub-Ts. Those sub-Ts ran their businesses from the premises and made various repairs to the buildings. They then argued that L was not entitled to recover possession since they had periodic tenancies, and not tenancies at will.

If arrears of ground rent arise on a long tenancy, then a draconian remedy for L is to threaten forfeiture of the lease. But, L must first send T a prescribed notice. However, it is now suggested that the wording of that prescribed notice is misleading and may confuse Ts.

There are special provisions for forfeiture in relation to small amounts of rent over short periods of time. Section 167 of Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 says that L ‘may not exercise a right of... forfeiture unless the underpaid rent (a) exceeds the prescribed sum [£350], or (b) consists of or includes an amount which has been payable for more than a prescribed period [three years]’. Thus, L cannot forfeit a lease unless either the rent due is in excess of £350, or has been payable for more than three years.

How do you value the premium to be paid by T to L on an enfranchisement? Strictly speaking, the premium is made up of three elements: (i) the diminution in value of L’s interest; (ii) L’s share of the marriage value; and (iii) any compensation payable. In practice, of course, this is specialist valuation work and few solicitors can claim to understand the complexities involved. However, we do recommend an excellent introductory article which contains an explanation of the steps involved, together with sample calculations.

Before serving a break notice, carefully check all the provisions in the lease – not just those relating to the break clause itself.

The importance of this is illustrated by a recent case in which a lease break clause said ‘T may terminate the lease... by giving to L not less than nine months prior written notice’.

Legal Action Housing has recently reported a number of unlawful eviction and harassment cases. One illustrative case involved a T who was granted a one-year assured shorthold in May 2008 (£985 pm, with one month’s rent as deposit).

Sales and leasebacks of real estate remain an often used mechanism to raise capital, improve operational cash flow, and, all being well, returns on investment. They range from a simply structured transaction involving a straight sale and leaseback, often through auctions, to the most complex structures involving large multimillion-pound portfolios with complex arrangements for the substitution and re-purchase of the property by the original seller company, backed up by bond issues.

With the property market where it is, is this a time to even contemplate a sale and leaseback? If so, what should companies be thinking about before embarking on such an exercise?

If development land becomes an eyesore, then it is worth remembering that an LA may serve a notice on the occupier (or land owner) when litter or refuse accumulates on open land ‘so as to be detrimental to the amenity of the locality’.

As part of the attack on the seeming monopoly of the large supermarkets, there are special arrangements allowing the release of some restrictive covenants benefiting those large retailers (ASDA, Co-op, M&S, Morrison, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose).

If a couple buy in joint names then there will be a presumption that they are joint tenants with 50/50 shares. A recent CA decision shows that there will be a heavy burden on the party who wants to argue that the beneficial percentages have since altered.

Planning Policy Statement 3 deals with housing. Two important changes have been announced:

garden grabbing is to be thwarted through the reclassification of domestic gardens so they are no longer ‘previously developed land’ or brown-field land;

Last year, the High Court ruled that various commission clauses in Foxtons’ contracts with residential Ls were unenforceable. This was an important decision, since it was reckoned that there were some 15,000 letting agents using similar conditions. Accordingly, many expected a large number of claims for refunds against those agents.

In particular, the High Court outlawed a commission clause that entitled Foxtons to an estate agent’s commission if L sold the rented property to T (even if Foxtons was not involved in the sale). In the High Court’s view, such commission arrangements were patently ‘unfair terms’ under the Unfair Terms and Consumer Contract Regs 1999.

A claimant was walking across a field in which there was a herd of cattle with calves (ranging in age from six to nine months). Since the original right of way had become overgrown with nettles, she followed a well-trodden alternative route. But, the cows attacked her, causing serious injury. The farmer argued that the deviation from the footpath meant that the claimant was a trespasser. However, the county court judge disagreed; in his view, she was not a trespasser and therefore the farmer remained liable under OLA 1957. The farmer was liable for not having properly considered the risk that the cattle posed to members of the public, and for failing to adequately notify walkers of the dangers of cows with calves.

A reminder that the threshold for qualifying first-time buyers of residential property is £250,000. In summary:

the effective date must be on or after 25 March 2010, and before 25 March 2012;

the consideration must be no more than £250,000;

the buyer must intend to live in the property (as their only or main home);

the buyer must not previously have owned property or land either in the UK or anywhere else in the world (this includes property bought with anyone else).

A correspondent in the Gazette highlights the extortionate fees being charged by some leasehold management companies. One example given is on a sale where the freeholder charged £145, and the management company £250 + VAT for supplying standard documents.

One uncertainty about the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 is the question of whether a consensual grant of a farm tenancy before 14 November 1976 (the date of the coming into force of the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976) will count as one of the two permitted statutory successions, in the same way as would a similarly consensual grant of a tenancy after that date.