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Civil way: 18 October 2019

17 October 2019
Issue: 7860 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Overcoming restriction; petty relocation; inheritance ruling dead; mousy divorces

Taking a rifle to a stifle

The current fashion is for business premises to rot away unoccupied. If it is not the local planning authority which is standing in the way of conversion to dwellings, then a restrictive covenant is the frustrating factor. An alternative to paying a multitude of arms and legs by way of an indemnity policy premium or assassinating the covenantee, is to get rid of the covenant. The discharge or modification provisions on which we were weaned that are s 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925 are available not only for freeholds but also for leaseholds (s 84(12))—and not a lot of people know that—of more than 40 years where 25 of them have expired.

And so it was in Shaviram Normandy Ltd v Basingstoke and Deana Borough Council [2019] UKUT 256 (LC), involving the former UK headquarters of IBM which have been empty since 2013 and fallen into a significant state of repair, accelerated by vandalism. The

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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