Legal
Back to the drawing board: What to do if your architect serves up flawed designs?
What are your rights if an architect makes a mistake, leading to an expensive problem? Michael Young runs through the options available to developers placed in a tricky position...
The Pitfalls of Burrowing: On the dark art of negotiating non-negligence claims
HNW insurance specialist Dominic Cunningham explains why carrying out refurbishment and extension projects in Prime Central London can be a risky business, and what developers can do to safeguard themselves...
PCL solicitor suspended over AML failings
A Mayfair-based solicitor has been suspended for nine months for failing to have an appropriate anti-money laundering policy in place.
HMRC hits Purplebricks with £260k fine over AML breach
£266,793 penalty was levied for 'failures in having the correct policies, controls and procedures, conducting due diligence and timing of verification'.
A Matter of Taste: Can personal preferences permit you to refuse to approve a neighbour’s building plans?
A High Court case over an ultra-modern new-build house in Holland Park shines a light on a tricky matter of taste.
Ten ways to tackle corruption in the planning system
Transparency International has identified five key corruption risks in the English planning system, and has suggested ten practical steps that could keep local authority decisions more legitimate.
Exclusivity in residential property transactions: Is there another way?
Farrer & Co's legal team outlines four potential solutions to a persistent problem in the conveyancing system...
Interior designer in £1m spat over super-prime Notting Hill townhouse revamp
High society design & build firm Lucinda Sanford Ltd is embroiled in a high-stakes High Court legal dispute with aristocratic property owner Lord Russell over the £4m refurbishment of a super-prime home…
HM Land Registry now accepts electronic signatures
The Land Registry now accepts "witnessed electronic signatures". Individual can now sign legal documents electronically, as long as witness is present at the time to also sign the documents electronically.
Estate agents are ‘de facto agents of the Russian state’, claims Parliamentary report
There's "a growth industry of ‘enablers’ including lawyers, accountants, and estate agents who are – wittingly or unwittingly – de facto agents of the Russian state", according to the Intelligence…
Significant leasehold reform proposals promise ‘to transform the future of home ownership in England & Wales’
Commonhold should be the "preferred alternative" to leasehold, says the Law Commission in a series of three important reports that outline how to create "a better deal for leaseholders and make our homes…
Building Safety Bill promises ‘the biggest changes to building safety for nearly 40 years’
The Government has published a draft of its Building Safety Bill, including details of the New Homes Ombudsman.