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17 October 2019
Issue: 7860 / Categories: Features , Procedure & practice , Civil way
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Civil way: 18 October 2019

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Overcoming restriction; petty relocation; inheritance ruling dead; mousy divorces

Taking a rifle to a stifle

The current fashion is for business premises to rot away unoccupied. If it is not the local planning authority which is standing in the way of conversion to dwellings, then a restrictive covenant is the frustrating factor. An alternative to paying a multitude of arms and legs by way of an indemnity policy premium or assassinating the covenantee, is to get rid of the covenant. The discharge or modification provisions on which we were weaned that are s 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925 are available not only for freeholds but also for leaseholds (s 84(12))—and not a lot of people know that—of more than 40 years where 25 of them have expired.

And so it was in Shaviram Normandy Ltd v Basingstoke and Deana Borough Council [2019] UKUT 256 (LC), involving the former UK headquarters of IBM which have been empty since 2013 and fallen into a significant state of repair, accelerated by vandalism. The

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Cripps—Radius Law

Cripps—Radius Law

Commercial and technology practice boosted by team hire

Switalskis—Grimsby

Switalskis—Grimsby

Firm expands with new Grimsby office to serve North East Lincolnshire

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Slater Heelis—Will Newman & Lucy Spilsbury

Property team boosted by two solicitor appointments

NEWS
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NLJ this week: Tightening the screws on JCT terminations
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
NLJ this week: Old rules, fresh warnings in employment law
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
NLJ this week: The rise of the ‘ChatGPT client’ rattles the profession
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
NLJ this week: Surrogacy children caught in succession gap
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
NLJ this week: Online safety law at a crossroads
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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