Posted on
01-11-09
RIGGED CONTRACTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: LATEST NEWS
Background
The Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) has fined 103 construction firms a total of £129.5 million for rigging activities in relation to construction contracts.
The firms were found to have colluded by disclosing to each other their intended quotes for tender. Firms then submitted cover bids designed to obscure the project cost, rather than to win the contract. Procurers were therefore misled in relation to costs, leading to their paying an inflated price.
These ‘cover bids’ have affected numerous public projects, such as schools and hospitals.
Posted on
12-03-09
CONSENT OR NOT CONSENT - THAT IS THE QUESTION
The recent High Court decision in Alchemy Estates Limited v Astor and Another [2008] (”Alchemy”) which considered the Court of Appeal’s decision in Aubergine Enterprises Ltd v Lakewood International Ltd [2002] (”Aubergine”) serves as a timely reminder that great care needs to be taken by landlords and their solicitors/agents, when responding to requests for consent from tenants. The case itself related to a request for consent to assign. That said the same issues are also relevant when considering other types of request, e.g. to carry out alterations
Posted on
01-12-08
SOME GOOD NEWS FOR LANDLORDS
In the current economic climate, landlords need to look to all available sources for recovery of rent arrears. This includes former tenants and guarantors.
Posted on
14-11-08
In this issue of the Real Estate Technical Bulletin we look at the latest round of regulations relating to energy performance of buildings, proposed new legislation that will change the way listed buildings are dealt with, two significant cases for property developers and a stamp duty ‘holiday’ for residential properties.
Posted on
17-10-08
REMOVING OBSTACLES TO REGENERATION
A provision in the new Planning Bill is aimed at removing an obstacle to regeneration.
The Current Law
Section 237 Town and Country Planning Act 1990 - where land is acquired or appropriated by a Local Authority for planning purposes, any construction or maintenance works (”Works”) done on the land by the Local Authority (or its successors in title) may proceed even if they involve:
• interference with any easement or right (such as a right of way over the development site for the benefit of adjoining land); or
• breach of a contractual restriction on the use of the land (such as a restrictive covenant preventing use of the land for a particular purpose).
Rights or apparatus belonging to statutory undertakers or operators of electronic communications networks are not affected.
Compensation is payable under Section 237 for any such interference or breach.
Posted on
01-10-08
From 1 October 2008, an EPC will be needed for the construction, sale and rent of all remaining buildings that are not dwellings.
By way of reminder, since 6 April 2008, EPCs have been required for the construction, sale or renting out of non-dwellings with a total useful floor area over 10,000m² and since 1 July 2008, EPCs have been required for the construction, sale or renting out of non-dwellings with a total useful floor area over 2,500m².
Posted on
10-07-08
In this edition we cover The Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007 which removed business rates relief for most unoccupied properties with effect from 1 April 2008; the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) which is a certificate containing information about the energy efficiency of a building; a case concerning the right to enfranchise under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (LRA), where the House of Lords decided that a property, which had originally been designed as a house but later used commercially, was a “house” for the purposes of enfranchisement under the LRA; discharge of covenant imposed for planning purposes and finally Landlord and Tenant - Recovery of Service Charge.
