Mark Ridley

If you own a leasehold property and your landlord is thinking of selling the freehold, you may have the right of first refusal to purchase it. There are a number of advantages for leaseholders when they also own the freehold in their building, so purchasing...

Problems often arise with new build properties and it is standard practice to compile a list of snagging items that need dealing with when you move into your new home. But what happens when the problems are more serious? It is expected that there will a...

Many properties have restrictive covenants included in their title. These restrict what can be done at the property. If a restrictive covenant is breached, then it is open to the person with the benefit of the covenant to bring enforcement action.

The UK public, when encountering a commercial dispute, often think that Trading Standards will be a lifeline for their claim and make the process quicker and easier. But is this accurate and who are Trading Standards? In reality what can they do? Trading...

Have you ever been asked to guarantee a loan so that your friend or someone in your family can borrow money? Or have you guaranteed a loan to help someone? It is not unusual for people to ask those close to them to do this and most will agree so that they...

Home Extensions and Conversions – Avoiding the Nightmare Scenarios Moving house can be stressful, expensive, and difficult, particularly in a tough market. Home renovation projects offer an alternative and they seem to be as popular as...

Land borders have a rich but unfortunately volatile history. We might be tempted to think that we live in relatively peaceful times, and that could well be true, however, few would deny that landlocked nations defined by lines drawn on a map have...

Recently, in the case of Cowan v Foreman & Ors a widow has been refused permission to claim against the estate of her late husband after filing her application nearly 17 months out of time. This judgment made clear that the court would...

When faced with a professional who is proven to have given negligent advice, a court’s first objective will be to try and make an award which places the claimant in the position they would have been in, had the professional not been negligent. This...

A contract is an agreement which the law considers to be enforceable. It can be made up of express terms (terms that are stated orally or in writing) and terms which may never have been stated but can be deemed to be implied. A party to a contract may...

Choose your words carefully. That was the message from the High Court recently in the high-profile case of Phones 4u Ltd (In Administration) v EE Ltd . The court ruled that EE were not allowed to claim damages arising from alleged breaches of...

Have you considered liability for costs? Any person or company pursuing or defending a claim in litigation, must consider costs. Not just their own, but also the costs of their opponent. This is because courts can require...

All business owners would agree that court trials can be expensive. The costs are inflicted not just on the parties in dispute, but also on the court system, which, being part of the public sector, does not have endless resources to indulge...