According to a report by the housing, communities and local government committee, councils should be given powers to seize the properties of the “worst” landlords when accommodation fails to meet proper legal standards. The committee has called out a “clear power imbalance” in parts of the private rental sector. They further said that landlords should
An Irish couple who got married and then divorced now want to get remarried, however are prevented from doing so because of a legal loophole. Laura Hamilton and Paul McSherry, from Dublin, got married in Ireland in 1990 and then moved to London. In1998 they decided to get divorced in London’s High Court. Both Laura
A high-profile divorce ruling scrapping future payments signifies a sea change in how courts regard maintenance, according to a leading family lawyer. As reported by the Law Gazette, in the case dubbed the ‘meal ticket for life’, the Court of Appeal ruled that maintenance payments for Kim Waggott from her ex-husband should end after three
From April 1 the Government’s Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards came into force. This means renters may be able to save up to £1,150 a year on their energy bills. Landlords will now have to improve the energy efficiency of their properties and risk facing fines of up to £5,000 if they don’t. The new scheme
The High Court has ruled in favour of a woman who received nothing from her late partner’s £1.5 million estate. In a ruling handed down on 29 March, the High Court ruled in favour of 79-year-old Joan Thompson, saying she should be entitled to a distribution of Wynford Hodge’s estate. According to the Law Gazette,
New “digital mortgages” have been launched as the Land Registry moves the process online to save time and inconvenience for homeowners. The Land Registry announced the first mortgage deed not to have been signed with a pen and paper has been accepted as part of a trial with Coventry Building Society. It said a new
Residents living in an apartment block in Kingswood have taken the building’s owners and managers to court over “skyrocketing” and “extortionate” management fees. Residents of Grantham Apartments in Two Mile Hill claim the amount they pay per month to management company ABC Estates for general works and repairs has more than doubled in the past
A woman is urging the Scottish Government to change a law which allows her brother control of the home where he strangled their mother to death. Ross Taggart muredered his mother three years ago but still remains executor of her will. Taggart, 33, has refused to relinquish control of his mother’s £350,000 estate, despite being in prison
Three Court of Appeal judges in London are analysing the latest stage of an Anglo-Scottish legal battle between an aristocrat and his estranged wife. Charles Villiers and Emma Villiers, both in their 50s, are embroiled in a dispute about whether their arguments over money should be staged in an English or Scottish divorce court. Appeal
A businessman has pleaded guilty after he went through a bigamous third “marriage.” Magistrates heard Haroon Lorgat had an Islamic ceremony in Morocco. He went on to have a civil marriage in the UK while he was still married to his second wife. Lorgat used the divorce papers from his first marriage to convince the