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Property case law: quarterly review (April 2025)

18 April 2025 / Fern Schofield , Gwyneth Everson
Issue: 8113 / Categories: Features , Property , Landlord&tenant , Housing
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In the first part of a new series for NLJ, Fern Schofield & Gwyneth Everson set out the facts & the significance of the most noteworthy property cases from the past few months
  • In the Supreme Court, judgments brought much-needed clarity on the doctrine of merger and on adverse possession.
  • The Court of Appeal clarified the scope of s 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978, and the High Court ruled on rights of first refusal, complex factual and legal background, and the limits of human rights arguments in property disputes.
  • The Privy Council ruled on the repudiation of lease, and the Hong Kong Court of Appeal distinguished between two types of trustees for limitation purposes.

Staying up to date with the latest legal developments is both a growing challenge and a critical responsibility for property lawyers. The first quarter of 2025 has brought a number of significant judgments that are essential to understand. In this article, we review landmark property cases from December

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found
Lawyers have broadly welcomed plans to electronically tag up to 22,000 more offenders, scrap most prison terms below a year and make prisoners ‘earn’ early release
David Lammy, Ellie Reeves and Baroness Levitt have taken up office at the Ministry of Justice, following the cabinet reshuffle
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