Latest blog posts

This is a guest post by our colleagues at Darlington Solicitors. As solicitors, we know that it’s hard enough for any business or individual to keep up with legal developments, but it’s also important to recognise the legal principle that ignorance of the law is no defence. The fact is that in statutory areas like the Party Wall etc. Act ... Read more >>

A few posts ago now I talked about some of the legal aspects of loft conversions, such as Planning Consents and Building Regulation Approvals.  In this post I am going to look at some of the practical aspects of designing and building loft conversions. The first practical aspect will be to look at whether there is enough space in the loft to ... Read more >>

Some of the terminology used when decribing a lease extension or freehold purchase can be a touch technical so we thought it would be a good idea to include them all together in this glossary. If there are any other definitions that you think will be of use to include drop us a line and we’ll update our list. The ‘Act’ The ... Read more >>

We often receive enquiries from leaseholders who either have their property on the market or are planning to do so, and have just discovered the implications of having a short lease. Quite often in my experience, estate agents when first acquiring a flat on their books will underplay the impact of a shorter lease. Click through any number of ... Read more >>

Some of the terminology around The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is confusing to the layperson so we thought it would be a good idea to draw them all together in this glossary. If there is anything that you think is missing drop us a line and we’ll update. The ‘Act’ The Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Owner   Defined by the Act as ... Read more >>

I recently received an email from an owner who wanted me to look at a party wall award he’d recently received from his appointed surveyor and tell him what my fee would be for producing an identical document. Now, assuming that he was not enquiring about photocopying services the request made no sense but being the curious type I dug a bit ... Read more >>

If you’ve been a landlord for a while, chances are you’ve come across difficult tenants in the past. You will no doubt have learnt from your mistakes but there’s no real way of knowing how someone is going to treat your property, or deal with rental payments, until they have actually moved in. A prospective tenant might look great on paper ... Read more >>