Commercial Property Updates from October 2023

This 30-minute update cements your learning of new developments in the past month, and perhaps picks up on some that busy practitioners may have missed.

This update will cover:

Jurisdiction under Party Walls Act - Takhar v Mohamed [2023] EWHC 2190 (KB)

The parties could not confer jurisdiction on the County Court to decide a dispute under the Party Walls Act, if that jurisdiction did not in fact arise. However, the court did have jurisdiction to decide the dispute on the basis that it arose out of the schedule to a Tomlin Order entered into between the parties, which was a contractual matter.

When is rent due? - Sunset Limited v Al-Hindi [2023] EWHC 2443 (Ch)

This case is a reminder that there may be formalities to be considered before rent is regarded as having fallen due, and that this will naturally affect the available remedies. While this case concerns residential landlord and tenant law, there is a lesson in the commercial context too.

Implementation of Building Safety Act 2022

A brief outline of how the new design and construction regulatory framework will operate.

Undue influence – mortgage transaction - Waller-Edwards v One Savings Bank Plc [2023] EWHC 2386 (Ch)

Cases on undue influence are usually to do with residential property, but do not have to be, and there are examples of cases arising in the context of commercial transactions. This decision came down to issues of fact, but also involved a decision on a little-known provision of the Law of Property Act 1925.

Whether deed delivered in escrow - Abbas v Hussain [2023] EWHC 2322 (Ch)

In a case turning on its facts, an argument that a transfer of part had been delivered in escrow, so as to justify failure to register, was rejected.

The learning objectives for this session, surveying developments in October 2023, are:-

• Jurisdiction under Party Walls Act - Takhar v Mohamed [2023] EWHC 2190 (KB)
• When is rent due? - Sunset Limited v Al-Hindi [2023] EWHC 2443 (Ch)
• Implementation of Building Safety Act 2022
• Undue influence – mortgage transaction - Waller-Edwards v One Savings Bank Plc [2023] EWHC 2386 (Ch)
• Whether deed delivered in escrow - Abbas v Hussain [2023] EWHC 2322 (Ch)