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NLJ this week: Lessons from the 2024 crop of real estate litigation

14 February 2025
Issue: 8104 / Categories: Legal News , Property , Landlord&tenant , Housing , Nuisance
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From moths in the attic to the right to manage, 2024 provided a plethora of landmark real estate litigation cases. In this week’s NLJ, Ben Hatton, director of property litigation, Jordan Gulwell, lawyer, and Natasha Vij, trainee solicitor, at Clifford Chance, survey the stand-out cases and set out some lessons to learn from each.

These include the £36m claim regarding moths in a Notting Hill mansion, in which the High Court has just handed down judgment. Who could have guessed these little winged creatures could cause such havoc?

Other issues highlighted in the past year include whether a roof garden is an extra storey and the scope of the right to manage a mixed-use development. Hatton, Gulwell and Vij provide a succinct and informative overview of the main cases. 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Winckworth Sherwood—Tim Foley

Winckworth Sherwood—Tim Foley

Property litigation practice strengthened by partner hire

Kingsley Napley—Romilly Holland

Kingsley Napley—Romilly Holland

International arbitration team specialist joins the team

Red Lion Chambers—Maurice MacSweeney

Red Lion Chambers—Maurice MacSweeney

Set creates new client and business development role amid growth

NEWS
Property lawyers have given a cautious welcome to the government’s landmark Bill capping ground rents at £250, banning new leasehold properties and making it easier for leaseholders to switch to commonhold
Four Nightingale courts are to be made permanent, as justice ministers continue to grapple with the record-level Crown Court backlog
The judiciary has set itself a trio of objectives and a trio of focus areas for the next five years, in its Judicial Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2026-2030

The Sentencing Act 2026 received royal assent last week, bringing into law the recommendations of David Gauke’s May 2025 Independent Sentencing Review

Victims of crime are to be given free access to transcripts of Crown Court sentencing remarks, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed
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