Whether you manage a significant property portfolio, occupy a building as part of your business operations or are a landlord or tenant, it is likely that at some point a property problem will arise. Early identification of such problems and the ability to provide cost-effective and practical solutions is essential if you are to safeguard your interests effectively.
With more than thirty five years’ property litigation experience, RadcliffesLeBrasseur is one of the few firms with a specialist Property Litigation Team. We have been recognised as a ‘highly regarded firm’ for property litigation by both the Chambers Guide and the Legal 500. This is often a highly technical area of the law requiring the expertise of specialist property litigators. It is not an area that should be handled as a sideline to a firm’s property or litigation departments, and it is for this reason that we established our Property Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group.
The Group is headed by Andrew Parsons. The Group consists of three partners and eight professional staff providing commercial advice to help clients identify, manage and resolve property disputes - whether advising landlord or tenant, investor or lender, freeholder or property manager.
Our clients range from individuals to institutions, charities, commercial businesses, pension funds, leisure companies, IT companies, the NHS, banks, life assurance companies and retailers.
The Group provides advice on:
- Agreements relating to land
- Agricultural land
- Assignment and sub-letting
- Breach of covenant issues
- Construction disputes
- Dilapidations and repairs
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 Part II – business tenancies
- Long leases and enfranchisement
- Management issues for landlords
- Nuisance and trespass
- Professional negligence
- Property aspects of insolvency
- Liquor and entertainment licensing
- Mortgages
- Release and enforcements of covenants
- Rent arrears and service charge disputes
- Rent reviews and arbitrations
- Residential leases
- Right to manage issues
- Rights of light and rights of way
Construction Law
Our specialist construction law unit, headed by Partner, Gordon Hall, acts for a wide range of construction industry clients including contractors, surveyors, architects, engineers and their insurers. The unit provides a full range of legal services to the construction industry
Our approach
By working closely with our clients and their other professional advisers, we seek fully to understand problems and find workable solutions. We keep firmly in mind the financial issues involved and every opportunity is taken to give advice which will avoid or lead to the early resolution of disputes.
Most matters are settled out of Court and many are resolved before the issue of proceedings. However, where Court action is unavoidable, we are familiar with High Court, County Court, Lands Tribunal and Leasehold Valuation Tribunal procedures. We are mindful of PR issues when handling contentious matters and are familiar with handling media relations on behalf of our clients.
Speed is often essential in transactions where legal work must be completed within tight timescales. To this end, RadcliffesLeBrasseur provides its clients with the benefit of sophisticated computer systems and a property database which enhance the speed of progress of transactions - a particular benefit to clients with a large number of property interests.
We have extensive experience not only of commercial property litigation, but also of residential landlord and tenant matters. This sets us apart from many firms today who only advise clients who own or manage commercial property.
Examples of work
The Property Litigation Group has been involved in several reported Court of Appeal cases.
Recent examples of work undertaken by our specialist Group:
- securing possession of valuable premises for a pension Fund where residential tenants were holding over after the expiry of long leases
- advising a commercial landlord in relation to the exercise of a conditional break clause in relation to warehouse premises
- acting in a leading case in the Court of Appeal dealing with security by deposit of title deeds
- successfully opposing a claim by a guarantor that property had been sold negligently for an undervalue
- advising a freeholder on a claim for damages for the failure of a proposed tenant to complete a lease of substantial office premises
- acting for a large landowner in successfully obtaining approval of the LVT for an Estate Management Scheme
- defending a landlord against a claim for damages for misrepresentation in relation to purchase of land
- opposing a claim by a landlord for refusal of a new business tenancy on grounds of substantial disrepair.