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Covenants: hostile to home working?

09 June 2023 / Michael Ranson , Taylor Briggs
Issue: 8028 / Categories: Features , Property , Covid-19
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The rise of home working has created an uncertain landscape for property practitioners: Michael Ranson & Taylor Briggs report on ‘business use’ &  the modification of restrictive covenants
  • Hodgson v Cook is a recent Upper Tribunal authority on the interrelationship between home working and covenants preventing business use.
  • This article explores that case and the tribunal’s jurisdiction to modify or discharge such covenants.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about numerous changes to our daily lives, one of which was in respect of our working habits. According to the Office for National Statistics, despite ‘work from home’ guidance having been lifted as long ago as January 2022, almost a third of working adults reported that they worked partly at home and partly in an office elsewhere, with over 15% working from home exclusively, between September 2022 and January 2023.

This raises a range of legal issues, including data protection compliance, buildings and contents insurance requirements, planning control and the tax treatment of homes which have now become,

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Sports, education and charities practice welcomes senior associate

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Partner and head of commercial litigation joins in Chelmsford

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Firm strengthens Glasgow corporate practice with partner hire

NEWS
One in five in-house lawyers suffer ‘high’ or ‘severe’ work-related stress, according to a report by global legal body, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)
The Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO’s) plea for a budget increase has been rejected by the Law Society and accepted only ‘with reluctance’ by conveyancers
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
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