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20 July 2012 / Brian Chrystal
Issue: 7523 / Categories: Features , Property
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In with the new?

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Brian Chrystal examines the impact of LA 2012 on real estate transactions

Title indemnity insurance is a very competitive business. Pricing and speed of service are important: so is being first to offer new types of cover to meet changes in the market environment such as those caused by new legislation. Sometimes, though, it’s just as important to help customers to understand how existing products will continue to offer the necessary protection, even if the law has changed. Concerns about the possible effects of the Localism Act 2012 (LA 2012) on real estate transactions are a useful example.

LA 2012 aims to give life to the broad statement made by the prime minister and deputy prime minister as part of the coalition agreement, in May 2010: “The time has come to disperse power more widely in Britain today.” LA 2012 is now being put into force, section by section, in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have to see to their own dispersal of power, it seems.

Insurance challenge

The

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NEWS
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’
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
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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