INSIGHTSNews & Events

By Laura Smallwood In this recent county court case the meaning of ‘return’ of a tenancy deposit for the purposes of the Housing Act 2004 was considered in the context of delivery by the landlord of a cheque which was not cashed or credited to the tenant’s account. Although only of persuasive value, the decision...

By Kane Deitsch NOTE: the United Kingdom, at the time of this article’s writing in June 2023, has had its bid to re-join the 2007 Lugano Convention rejected by the European Commission. If and when the UK’s application is successful, the legal framework surrounding the enforcement of maintenance orders will change substantially from the position...

By Dominique Gillan It is common practice for courts to permit persons located outside the jurisdiction of the court to give oral evidence by video or telephone. In fact, this procedure is governed by (family cases) FPR, PD22A Annex 3 and (civil cases) CPR PD32 Annex 3. There is also further Presidential Guidance issued following...

Guildford Chambers are pleased to have a number of barristers ranked as Leading Juniors in the South Eastern Circuit, in the latest Edition of The Legal 500.   George Coates – ‘George is supremely experienced and a solid tactician. He has a reassuring manner and a keen eye for detail.’ Claire Shrimpton – ‘Claire is very approachable and...

By Kimberley Clifton This article will consider: What is impecuniosity? And when does it need to be proved? Credit hire is an area of much litigation and claimants often seek to argue that they are impecunious in order to recover the credit hire rates claimed. The principle of impecuniosity means that a claimant did not...

Hudson v Hathway [2022] EWHC 631 (QB) Detrimental Reliance in Common Intention Constructive Trusts A starting point for considering a common intention constructive trust dispute may well be Lewin On Trusts 20th Edition, specifically Section 4: Beneficial Interests of Two of More Persons. The courts have increasingly recognised that, at least in the context of a...

Rowan Morton recently acted for the Claimant in a 4-day “TOLATA” claim before HHJ George in Guildford, whereby the jointly owned property (constructed by the Defendant) did not have the necessary building regulation approval, or energy performance certificate to be fit for sale or for residential rental. The Defendant had been living there for 7...

By Kimberley Clifton   Is delay sufficient to defeat an application to set aside default judgment? Unsuccessful applications There has been a flurry of recent cases from the last three years dealing with the significance of delay in applications to set aside a default judgment. The following cases are some interesting examples of applications...

Family finance 2021 – George Coates & Hannah McSorley TOLATA 2021 – Rowan Morton & Hannah McSorley Children Public Law update 2021 – Dominique Gillan & Suzanne Kelly Private Law Children update 2021 – Nicola Holland & Andrew Austin Tenancies and Covid – an end of year review Laura Smallwood – November 2021 Removing Executors...

Guildford Chambers are pleased to have a number of barristers ranked as Leading Juniors in the South Eastern Circuit, in the latest Edition of The Legal 500.   George Coates – ‘He is known for his reassuring manner and for being forthright and pragmatic in delivering his advice.’ Claire Shrimpton – ‘ Claire is an excellent advocate. She communicates...

By Laura Smallwood & Luke Trim Six months on from their webinar ‘Possession proceedings: where are we now?’ Laura and Luke reviewed the current situation and recent changes in relation to possession and other remedies, including case law on commercial tenants’ ‘COVID-19 defences’ to claims for arrears of rent and service charges, and potential replacements...

By Laura Smallwood This webinar reviewed The Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium & Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England & Wales) Regulations 2020 which came into force on 4th May 2021. These regulations provide debtors with short term protection from action by creditors and will further affect the dynamics of the landlord-tenant relationship, which has been...