Our team of property dispute specialists expertly manage all contentious issues concerning commercial and residential property. Disagreements involving land and property are common and are often very stressful for those involved due to the financial and emotional pressures. Our property dispute lawyers provide clear and practical advice to achieve a client’s long-term commercial goals. Whilst we are known for being proactive in pursuit of this outcome, and this often leads to us commencing proceedings through the Courts or Lands Tribunals, our team are expert negotiators and will seek to resolve disputes by way of alternative dispute resolution (mediation, arbitration, adjudication and round table meetings) whenever appropriate. Our team play an active role in providing strategic advice on non-contentious matters (for example, the interpretation of clauses in commercial land contracts and the enforceability of restrictive covenants) to assist clients when making an informed decision or assessing the risk of pursuing a particular course of action.
The team is recognised as having a significant property litigation presence in its own right but it also has the added advantage of providing one of the strongest property departments in the South East with property litigation advice as well as risk assessment services. The team acts on behalf of banks, developers, blue chip companies, national retailers, commercial owners and occupiers of business premises, charities, hotel and leisure operators, local authorities and other public sector bodies as well as high net worth property owners.
The commercial nature of the work undertaken by the property group and the reputation of the team means that we are regularly instructed in respect of disputes concerning promotion agreements, options over land, conditional sale contracts and overage agreements. A recent highlight was a reported case concerning overage provisions in a sale contract and the Court’s interpretation of an ambiguous contractual provision.
With the continued growth of the development sector we have significant recent experience of successfully dealing, whether by way of proceedings or Alternative Dispute Resolution, with cases involving adverse interests over land including restrictive covenants, easements, long user rights, shooting rights and rights of light and air.
The team consists of specialists in the recovery of possession for landlords, mortgagees and landowners and recent work undertaken by the team has included obtaining possession orders and injunctions against repeat trespassers unlawfully occupying both rural and urban properties. In one such recent case possession of the land was recovered within 7 days of receiving instructions. The nature of occupying land evolves with trends and advances in technology and as a result the team has been at the forefront of seeking possession of premises unlawfully occupied by those using online letting hosting sites (i.e. Airbnb) and pursuing injunctions against those subletting their property in breach of their lease and/or legislation.