Legal wrap: Valuation, the Building Safety Act and SDLT threshold implications

Welcome to your weekly round-up of the pick of the content published on EG Legal. This week, we have a bumper selection of content, including an expert look at what ostensibly good news on stamp duty land tax could mean for buyers in the longer term and an analysis of the impact of the Building Safety Act on developers. There’s more news of Covid rent arbitrations, a two-part series on valuation adapted from a Blundell lecture and plenty more below to keep you going until next week. Legal news Covid rent arbitration: Westfield Stratford news kiosks given nine months to pay Newspoint (Stratford) Ltd ran up £55,000 of arrears as a result of reduced footfall during lockdowns Covid rent arbitrations: Chelsea gym wins arrears reduction; Bill’s Restaurant doesn’t KX wellness club, near Sloane Square, amassed arrears of £1.8m during the pandemic England’s most westerly golf club wins High Court planning battle Cape Cornwall Club wins case to develop wedding venue and accommodation Legal features SDLT cut – should buyers be glad or glum? John Shallcross looks at the wider implications of the raising of the threshold for stamp duty land tax Building safety and developer pledges Guy Fetherstonhaugh KC, Oliver Radley-Gardner KC and Paul Letman explain why the Building Safety Act will cause problems for developers who do not sign the pledge Legal note: Why the quality of the evidence matters Elizabeth Dwomoh analyses a case concerning an application for a rent repayment order Closing the urban decarbonisation gap Industry players are coming together to deliver urban environmental objectives, says Matthew White Electronic Communications Code: Piggy in the middle The Upper Tribunal has identified a structural issue in the Telecoms Code – Laura West shares the details Keeping true to the principles of valuation An edited version of Mark Sefton’s joint paper delivered at the 47th annual Blundell Lecture Series The fundamental principles of valuation An edited version of Maggie Stobo’s joint paper delivered at the 47th annual Blundell Lecture Series Why the Model Commercial Lease is an industry role model Warren Gordon, Michael Callaghan and Dion Panambalana run through recent changes to the Model Commercial Lease Building safety: Gateway consultation open for comment Gillian Thomas outlines what developers need to know with the new stop/go decision points Practice points Car parking bay not a danger triggering duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 Juj v John Lewis Partnership plc Anticipatory injunction granted to restrain trespass and nuisance along the entire route of HS2 High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd and Secretary of State for Transport v Four Categories of Persons Unknown and others Sale of property falls foul of pre-emption agreement Fairhaven Shipping Company (UK) Ltd v Rolf Hugo Munding No exchange of contracts unless the signed parts are delivered Aslam v Rehman Purchaser’s lien relates to the subject matter of the contract not rental income Bevan and another (as joint liquidators of Pinnacle Student Developments (Leeds) Ltd) v Valeo USL Ltd and another Dispute resolution procedure insufficiently clear or certain to be condition precedent Children’s Ark Partnerships Ltd v Kajima Construction Europe (UK) Ltd and another Possession: succession when tenant moves permanently into residential care Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Mailley Rent repayment order: landlords using undisclosed agents Cabo v Dezotti Case summaries Juj v John Lewis Partnership plc Occupier’s liability – Duty of care – Car park Global Guardians Management Ltd and others v Hounslow London Borough Council and others Housing – House in multiple occupation – Civil penalty Fairhaven Shipping Co (UK) Ltd v Munding Sale of property – Pre-emption agreement – Interpretation Aslam v Rehman Sale of land – Land registration – Exchange of contracts Absolute Living Developments Ltd (in liquidation) v DS7 Ltd and others Property – Settlement agreement – Interpretation   For more legal articles and to search our extensive archive, visit EG Legal  To send feedback, e-mail jess.harrold@eg.co.uk or tweet @EGPropertyNews