The Practical Lawyer

There has been a very important decision on proprietary estoppel and its impact on oral agreements relating to land.

In recent months, a number of LAs have decided to end discussions with prospective developers and instead advertise projects under the Public Procurement Rules. This is because of a belated realisation that LA public works proposals may now come within the scope of the PPR provisions.

Any idea what this means: ‘a PAIF is an OEIC which will receive similar tax relief as a REIT’(?). Translated, this means that a Property Authorised Investment Fund is an Open-Ended Investment Company which will received the same tax treatment as that given to investors in Real Estate Investment Trusts.

If you file your SDLT returns using a CD-ROM or 2D barcode then be aware that they will no longer be accepted after 1 November.

To what extent can the LT take into account hypothetical situations when deciding whether to discharge a restrictive covenant?

The indications are that the courts are becoming less draconian in their enforcement of the registration of village greens. Perhaps they feel that the reforms introduced by the Commons Act 2006 now allow them to take a more even-handed approach.

To what extent can it be argued that an easement (eg right of way) is being used excessively?

If a developer wants to convert a single dwelling house into two or more self-contained flats, then there will normally be two issues to be checked. Firstly, is planning permission required? Secondly, will such a conversion be in breach of any restrictive covenant?

The Common Auction Conditions are designed for use in property auctions and are published by the RICS. They are some 20 pages long, written in plain English, and intended to be used by the general public. In general terms they are similar to the Standard Conditions of Sale and the Standard Commercial Property Conditions, but particular points to note are:

The traditional approach to assessing any claim for damages is to look at the loss that the claimant has incurred. Thus, damages will normally be ‘compensatory’, with the aim being to compensate the claimant for his loss so as to put him back in the position he was beforehand.