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John Starr reports on two recent cases requiring a closer analysis of the payment provisions of the 1996 Act An adequate mechanism ‘Neither the application for payment submitted by CSL nor the payment notice issued by MW separated out the sums due in respect of construction operations from the sums due in respect of non-construction …
Continue reading "Construction focus: Construction focus"
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Elizabeth Small examines a decision with potential implications for any transactions involving connected or interdependent steps where full SDLT has not been paid ‘Section 75C clearly states that in interpreting the core phrase in s75A regarding the transactions that are involved in connection with the disposal and acquisition (ie the scheme transactions), the transfer of …
Continue reading "SDLT anti-avoidance: Cause for concern"
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Victoria Redman and Elizabeth Middleton analyse the potential implications of the reverse charge on VAT, which has now been postponed to 2020 ‘If a business receives construction services within the reverse charge scheme, it will now have to pay the VAT charged on those services directly to HMRC, rather than paying the supplier.’ A domestic …
Continue reading "VAT in construction: The reverse charge mechanism"
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Gavin Winter considers the options for private landowners whose property is affected by the growth of Japanese knotweed on neighbouring land ‘It is an accepted position in law that a landowner does not have a duty to report the presence of Japanese knotweed, nor eradicate or treat it in a domestic setting.’ Japanese knotweed (Fallopia …
Continue reading "Japanese knotweed: Untangling the law"
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Creating communities requires more than just bricks and mortar, as Michele Vas explains ‘With large-scale housing development comes the need to provide appropriate amenity and recreational space.’ The delivery of new homes has for some time now been a key priority for the current government, previous governments and inevitably will remain so for future governments. …
Continue reading "Planning update: Where next for stewardship?"
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Ignorance is no defence when seeking to overturn an adjudicator’s award, as John Starr finds out ‘Mr Pinto argued that it fell into one of those cases where the adjudicator’s reasoning, as it were, was so incoherent and betrayed such a lack of understanding of what the claims were all about that it hardly amounted …
Continue reading "Construction focus: Residential occupiers beware"
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Jayne Elkins reviews a book on positive covenants with continuing relevance to property practitioners It is a long-established principle of English property law that although the burden of restrictive covenants will (if the covenants have been properly drafted) run with the land and bind successors in title of the original covenant, the burden of positive …
Continue reading "Book review: Welcome reading"
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David Harris provides a round-up on government response to recent draft reports and consultations as well as other legislative updates ‘A conservation covenant is a voluntary agreement that a landowner enters into with a conservation organisation or public body to do (or not do) something on its land for a conservation purpose.’ Implementing reforms to …
Continue reading "Legislation, consultation and guidance: Where are we now?"
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Clive Chalkley and Senay Nihat discuss the decision in Debenhams in the context of surrounding case law ‘Landlords feel they have less real voting power as a result of the way in which they are categorised in the standard form of the retail CVA and less voting power leads to less influence as a valuable …
Continue reading "Debenhams CVA: The landlord strikes back?"
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Can an approved inspector be pursued when recovering damages for a defective building? John Starr investigates ‘The respondent applied to strike out the case against it as disclosing no cause of action on the ground that no duty was owed in law by an approved inspector under s1(1) DPA 1972.’ There can be many parties …
Continue reading "Construction focus: The tale of the approved inspector"
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