Introduction
Hello and welcome to the first Gatehouse Property Team newsletter of 2024! We hope that everyone had a restful Christmas break (or at least a break!). Speaking of breaks, Laura Tweedy is having a well-earned break from editing the newsletter this month, but as usual we have plenty to share with you all.
We started the new year in Chambers by celebrating former Property Team member Morayo Fagborun-Bennett's appointment as a District Judge on the South Eastern Circuit – congratulations Morayo! Further celebrations followed when we received the fantastic news that Michael Wheater had been recommended for silk in the 2023 competition.
This month's newsletter features Jaysen Sharpe's article concerning the decision in Shokrollah-Babaee -v- EFG Private Bank Limited[2023] EWHC 3270, in which the High Court struck out a claim for damages for breach of a lender's statutory duty pursuant to the MCOB rules, and for breach of a common law duty of care. The case also provides helpful clarity in respect of the application of the 6 year limitation period under s.14A of the Limitation Act 1980 to claims under s.138D FSMA 2000.
The Junior Property Team are delighted to share the programme for their J2J webinar series, which will run between February and May this year, finishing with a summer social in June.
On that note and looking to the year ahead, the team are looking forward to attending MIPIM again between 12-15 March 2024. If you are going and would like to meet up, please get in touch.
Finally, this month's "2 minutes" segment is with Clare Anslow, interviewed by Practice Manager, Samuel Read. Clare tells Sam all about her first appearance in the Court of Appeal acting for the Respondent/ Claimant in Coates -v- Turner & Greenwood [2023] EWCA Civ 1487 and how it felt to be livestreamed!
Victoria Dacie-Lombardo – Editor
News
ThoughtLeaders4: The UK Commercial Property Litigation and Disputes Forum 2024
Jamal Demachkie is speaking on forfeiture of leases at the inaugural TL4 Property Conference on 29 February 2024.
Learn from an experienced lineup of speakers including solicitors, surveyors and consultants as they navigate the complexities of building safety, tenancy feuds and more. Get your tickets here.
What have we been up to?
Jamal Demachkie has had a busy start to the year, including a 2-day CCMC (as exciting as it sounds...) and a trial in the FtT on the interpretation of service charge re-apportionment clauses in leases at a large development in London.
James Hall and William Golightly are continuing to work on the mammoth accidental charge discharge case, the sixth and final hearing in which should take place in February. Meanwhile, James has been instructed in another accidental charge discharge case, this time for the lender. The gift that keeps on giving! And James also has a trial coming up shortly relates to breach of trust and breach of undertakings by two firms of solicitors in a bridging loan transaction involving a charity.
Brie Stevens-Hoare KC is busy thinking about valuation for overage payments and the presumption a tenant adversely possesses for their landlord ahead of an FtT trial. She is also up to her neck in drains and leaky basements. She has obviously forgotten all about last week's trip to the Supreme Court. Onwards and upwards...
Philip Marriott had a busy return from the festive break with a two-day TOLATA trial. Since then, he has been in court on a range of housing matters, including Anti-Social Behaviour Injunctions and claims against trespassers, and advised on settlement of a claim by a mortgagor for the sale of property at an undervalue.
John Clargo has been dealing with dissolved companies, business lease renewals, forfeiture and even some residential possession work.
John de Waal KC continues to be busy mediating – rights of way and a claim for an account in relation to rent received from commercial property this month.
Laura Tweedy is enjoying a month's break from editing this newsletter – thanks Victoria! She is thankful to finally have the transcript of her case (which she worked on with Gemma de Cordova) which she believes might be the first case finding that flying drones over private land is trespass. In other news she is continuing to develop her mediation practice and has been dealing with the law relating to guardians, boats, service charge and mobile homes! All good fun.
Charlotte John is kicking off the year with an exciting run of TOLATA cases, ranging from the more quotidian end of the spectrum to the spectacularly complex necessitating schedules and flow charts to follow and trace funds (imagine her as a sleuth standing in front of her detective pin board plotting the connections with pink string and you get the general vibe).
Daniel Gatty's 2024 began with a torrent of deadlines. It turns out that he was too free before Xmas with promises to get things done at the beginning of January! So he has been busy with cases concerning such diverse topics as solicitors' liability, (alleged) misrepresentation by vendors of a house and disregards when ascertaining rent under 1954 Act renewal leases.
Cameron Stocks' January was spent wistfully gazing out of a hotel room across the surf and the sandy beaches.... of Southend-on-Sea whilst enduring a 5-day neighbour dispute full of twists and turns. For the rest of the month Cameron has enjoyed a spot of diving.... into issues of dispensation for fire safety remediation works and challenges to reasonableness.
Victoria Dacie-Lombardo has had a busy month and is currently working on a dispute concerning statutory penalties for breaches of the Housing Act 2004 and a counterclaim in misrepresentation. She has also continued her tour of the County Courts in and around the M25 dealing with the usual run of possession cases and was recently successful in securing a healthy indemnity costs award for a landlord client.
Kat Mather has welcomed her second son, Oscar. They are home and recovering well and big brother Jasper has taken to his new role with gusto trying to share all his toys and food with bubba!
Shokrollah-Babaee v EFG Private Bank Limited [2023] EWHC 3270 (Ch)
The Defendant lender sought strike out or alternatively, summary judgment in a claim issued against it alleging breaches of the Mortgage Conduct of Business Rules ("MCOB") and breach of a common law duty of care in relation to mortgage offers it made to the Claimant and valuation report carried out for it by Savills.
Read the full article by Jaysen Sharpe here.
Events
Gatehouse Chambers' Junior Property Team are delighted to introduce their latest J2J webinar programme. These interactive online sessions are aimed at junior lawyers wishing to build up their knowledge of some of the issues that come up regularly in practice and more senior practitioners looking for a refresher. All of the webinars will take place via Zoom.
26th Feb – Trusts of Land and Orders for Sale – with Priya Gopal and Jaysen Sharpe
6th March – Commercial Lease Renewal – with Victoria Dacie-Lombardo and Adam Smith-Roberts
19th March – Real Property Rights and Boundary Issues – with Will Golightly and Philip Marriott
16th April – Lease Assignments and Authorised Guarantee Agreements – with Michael Maris and Adam Smith-Roberts
2nd May – Service Charges – with Philip Marriott
14th May – Residential Possession and Enforcement – with Victoria Dacie-Lombardo and Jaysen Sharpe
11th June – In-person social event at our office in Gray's Inn
Please register your interest via events@gatehouselaw.co.uk.
"2 minutes with" Clare Anslow
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