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NLJ this week: Court of Appeal decision increases knotweed terrors

28 April 2023
Issue: 8022 / Categories: Legal News , Property , Conveyancing
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Japanese knotweed is a plant on the rampage, scuppering property deals large and small and striking terror into the hearts of conveyancing professionals on a level akin to John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids

In this week’s NLJ, barrister and journalist Veronica Cowan looks at a recent case on the insidious plant, Davies v Bridgend County Borough Council, a claim for diminution of value.

The case is a warning to landowners they could be liable for losses previously considered irrecoverable, where there is a residual diminution in value, treatment has already occurred and there has been encroachment. Cowan writes that the decision ‘has raised the knotweed stakes’. 

Read more on the knotweed nightmare here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Ruth Clare

Freeths—Ruth Clare

National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Partner appointed head of family team

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

Firm strengthens agriculture and rural affairs team with partner return

NEWS
Conveyancing lawyers have enjoyed a rapid win after campaigning against UK Finance’s decision to charge for access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a recruitment drive for talented early career and more senior barristers and solicitors
Regulators differed in the clarity and consistency of their post-Mazur advice and guidance, according to an interim report by the Legal Services Board (LSB)
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
A Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruling has reopened debate on the availability of ‘user damages’ in competition claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Edward Nyman of Hausfeld explains how the CAT allowed Dr Liza Lovdahl Gormsen’s alternative damages case against Meta to proceed, rejecting arguments that such damages are barred in competition law
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