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04 August 2023
Issue: 8036 / Categories: Legal News , Landlord&tenant , Property
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NLJ this week: Landlord-tenant reform may make things worse

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The Renters Reform Bill aims to change the nature of the landlord-tenant relationship, improving tenants’ security while giving greater flexibility to landlords. But can it achieve this? In this week’s NLJ, Gary Scott, partner at Spector, Constant & Williams, assess its chances.

Scott covers the contents of the Bill, and airs some concerns about its impact in practice. The Bill ends ‘no fault’ eviction (or does it?) and introduces a central database of landlords to help drive out the rogues. But what about its enforcement provisions? Will they be workable? And will landlords with small portfolios give up?

Worryingly, Scott suggests the Bill may do the opposite of what it sets out to achieve—find out more here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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