Property Litigation

Property disputes cannot always be avoided and are sometimes necessary. We approach disputes proactively and strategically with the intention of resolving them quickly and pragmatically. Sometimes this is possible through negotiation and mediation but when necessary we use our extensive Court and Tribunal experience in order to protect our clients’ interests.

Our property litigation services

The team acts for clients across all of the firm's sectors resulting in a unique client base ranging from high-net-worth individuals and families, to privately-owned businesses, educational and not for profit organisations and financial institutions. The team regularly handles complex, valuable and high-profile disputes including:

Commercial and residential landlord and tenant disputes
Contractual interpretation, including development agreements and agreements for sale and purchase
Enforcement, removal or modification of restrictive covenants
Adverse possession and trespass
Rights of way, boundary disputes, rights to light and party walls
Determining beneficial interests in property
Property related insolvency
Collective enfranchisement, lease extensions and tenants' right of first refusal
Professional negligence
Planning and construction disputes, and
Agricultural property disputes.

Our expertise in property litigation

We help our clients to navigate disputes when they arise, providing high-quality bespoke advice. We can also share with our clients the benefit of our long-established links with other property professionals such as specialist surveyors and valuers to act as experts and advisers when needed. Our approach helps us to deliver tailored solutions to our clients’ issues and disputes when they arise.

Recent work highlights:

Adverse Possession - Advising an individual in relation to land they were hoping to develop. Once architects began to draw up the proposed plans it transpired that the land which had been continually occupied by our client had not been transferred to them correctly. We issued an application for adverse possession which was contested. The matter was determined in our client’s favour at the First Tier Tribunal (Land Registration) and a large proportion of their legal costs were recovered.
Professional Negligence – Obtaining a high settlement for a well-known national developer in relation to in excess of 100 leases which were granted with numerous errors in relation to service charge provisions.
Beneficial Ownership – Acting for a high net worth individual in Court of Appeal proceedings concerning the ownership of a high value residential property in Surrey.
Commercial Rent Arrears – Instructed by a large restaurant chain in relation to arrears of rent caused by the forced closure of units during the Covid-19 pandemic. Defending summary judgment proceedings and obtaining favourable settlement terms.
Property Development – Instructed by a large property development company to assist in recovering a £1.3m deposit following a dispute regarding completion.
Agriculture – Acting for a large farming company in relation to an Environment Agency investigation into potential breaches of abstraction licences and successfully avoiding prosecution.