Options are versatile and powerful legal instruments which are changing the way residential property is bought, held and sold in the UK.
Put simply, options are written agreements that give the holder choice or freedom. Depending on the wording in the document, the owner gives exclusive freedom to buy, use or sell the property, or a combination of these freedoms. If the buyer chooses to buy...
Many landlords pay managing agents to manage their lettings, hoping to avoid calls on Sunday evening from irate tenants with a broken down boiler. Generally they are looking to secure some peace of mind knowing that their tenant - and their property - will be properly looked after. But some landlords get more than they bargained for, says Jenny Howe of law firm Vanderpump and Sykes.
The...
Assured shorthold tenancy agreements (the default agreement format for buy to let tenancies) 'assure' tenants that unless they break the terms of the agreement they can stay for at least six months. They 'assure' landlords that they can regain possession of their properties at the end of the tenancy.
When landlords reach that position they can issue tenants with what is known as a 'section...
Earlier this year the High Court ruled that certain terms and conditions used by the letting agent Foxtons in its contracts with landlords were unfair.
The terms in question allowed Foxtons to charge repeat renewal commission when tenants stayed on in a rental property after the initial fixed period tenancy had expired, even if the firm had played no part in persuading the tenant to stay,...
When letting a house much is taken on trust. Whatever checks the landlord makes, it remains the case that he or she is entrusting tenants who are barely known to him or her with a valuable investment. If there are problems with the rent or with the tenants' behaviour, it can take a while to go through all the necessary legal steps to put things right.
The law says the landlord must allow the...
As long as there have been locks - and they were used in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt - there have been locksmiths to pick, repair and make them.
In the beginning locks were made of wood, and the locksmiths who made them would have been been exceptional carpenters. Later, a lot later, came metal locks (the 'Smith' part of 'locksmith' refers to somebody that works with metal).
By now...
Everyone knows that the property market has taken a huge hit over the last two years and that prices have come down by nearly 30 per cent across the UK. For many this would make investing in property right now seem risky. But the wealthy and smart are taking another view.
The main reason for this is that property in the UK typically follows an 18 year cycle of rise and fall. So after a fall...
As long as there have been locks - and they were used in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt - there have been locksmiths to make them, pick and repair them.
The first locks were made of wood, and the locksmiths who made them would have been glorified if ingenious carpenters. Later, much later, came metal locks (the 'Smith' part of 'locksmith' refers to somebody who works with metal).
By now...
Procurement (or purchasing, the terms are interchangeable) is, in a nutshell, buying goods and services for companies or public bodies.
However, the range of things you can buy and the variety of employers makes it a brilliant function to work in. What no definition can convey is the importance of procurement to a company.
According to Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British...
Renting any home means entering into a legal agreement - a tenancy agreement setting out the rights, duties and responsibilities of both tenant and landlord.
Nowadays, (since introduction of the Housing Act 1988) most tenancy agreements are what are known as assured shorthold tenancy agreements (ASTs for short). These 'assure' the landlord that he or she can, if desired or necessary, regain...
