Elise Walker

The introduction of VAT on private school fees has triggered a wave of independent school closures, presenting both challenges and opportunities for the real estate market. In Estates Gazette, Real Estate Partner, Sophie Henwood highlights the key legal, planning and financial considerations investors must address when looking to repurpose these historic and architecturally significant properties.

Lease renewals can be a complex process, especially when the lease is contracted out of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. Real Estate Partner, Sophie Henwood, has produced a short guide for new property investors, outlining key considerations for negotiating a renewal, for both landlords and tenants.

Some landowners may still be liable for repairing the chancel of a parish church, a historic legal obligation dating back to the feudal system. In this article, Partner, Saskia Arthur and Senior Associate, Kate Symons look at the Law Commission’s consultation on reforms to the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA), which seeks to clarify how chancel repair liability should be recorded and enforced, not to abolish it, but to ensure the relevant provisions of the LRA operate as originally intended.

The Government recently published the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which proposes banning upwards-only rent reviews in commercial leases. The change is still subject to Parliamentary approval. Under the current system, rent on review can only increase or stay the same and cannot drop below the current rent, even if market rates fall. Partners, David Rawlence and Sophie Henwood, and Associate Kate Symons, outline the key aspects of the proposed ban.