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04 April 2019 / Rawdon Crozier
Issue: 7835 / Categories: Features , Property
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Notes on a scandal: freeholders & medieval robber barons (Pt 2)

Summing up his series on the unfairness of escalating ground rent, Rawdon Crozier proposes a way out of the dungeon

  • Could the Housing Act Trap render escalating ground rent a derogation from grant?

Part 1 of this speculative article explained the Housing Act Trap. Part 2 explores whether the trap might render escalating ground rent a derogation from grant and thus, as a matter of law, capable of being struck down.

Rule of law

Megarry & Wade (Law of Real Property, 5th edition) described derogation from grant as a free-standing and independent rule of law, an analysis endorsed by the Court of Appeal in Johnston & Sons Ltd v Holland [1988] 1 EGLR 264. It applies to all forms of grant and, while commonly associated with leases and other contracts relating to land, it is also encountered in contracts concerning:

  • Intellectual property, eg Gloucester Place Music Ltd v Le Bon [2016] EWHC 3091 (Ch) where the serving of notices by members of
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    MOVERS & SHAKERS

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    Bell Yard Kysen appoints senior legal PR and ex-government communications adviser, Liz Giles

    Clarke Willmott—Lee Edwards

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    Lime Solicitors—four promotions

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    NEWS
    The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, and Solicitor General, Andy Slaughter KC MP, marked the 25th anniversary of Pro Bono Week by joining lawyers, charities, students and parliamentarians at events celebrating voluntary legal work
    An indemnity costs battle with a £20m gap could reopen an important question: what weight should an approved budget carry?
    Possession claims are entering a new digital era, with procedural traps awaiting practitioners who assume familiar rules still govern every step
    Witness evidence can be compromised by AI before a solicitor sees the draft, leaving safeguards focused on authorship incomplete
    A polished legal defence may owe more to artificial intelligence than legal merit—and creditors risk paying the price in delay and expense
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