Commercial Property Law Update 2025

The law is evolving all the time. In this talk Bryan will analyse the most important property cases in the last 12 months and distil the key information to provide practical knowledge and takeaway points. The session will transcend the world of commercial property with focus on areas including:

• Forfeiture
• The redevelopment and own occupation grounds of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
• Renewal lease terms – 'give me a break!'
• Adverse Possession
• Building Safety – whose liability is it anyway?
• Expert Evidence
• Trespass and nuisance
• Knotweed

Bryan Johnston, Partner and Head of Real Estate Litigation, Dentons

When a commercial lease with security of tenure under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 comes to an end, the tenant is entitled to a new lease – but on what terms? How best to advise and protect a client who wants new lease terms.

• Rent: the right expert, the right evidence, the right rent: W (No 3) v JD Sports: Dukeminster; S Franses v Cavendish
• Break clauses - positioning your client and the evidence to consider: all the recent cases
• MEES compliance & ‘greening’ the lease – can the repair and service charge clauses be future proofed?: Poundland: Saville-Edells; Clipper Logistics
• User clauses, alienation clauses, guarantor clauses: can these ever be changed and if so, to what extent?

Sarah Thompson-Copsey, Non-Practising Solicitor, Legal Lecturer and Trainer

• The state of the property insolvency market - any green shoots?
• Commercial tenant’s rescue remedies - the rise of the restructuring plan
• Pre-packaged administrations - all quiet on the western front - or not?
• Getting ahead of the game as a commercial landlord - recognising the warning signs of insolvency
• The other side of the coin - should commercial landlords instigate insolvency proceedings?
• Top practical tips when advising clients in this arena

Steve Allinson, Solicitor and Licensed Insolvency Practitioner

• Defining EPCs vs Environmental Performance – which is more onerous?
• Definition of Premises and Schedules of Condition – what is a Tenant required to yield up?
• Restriction on EPC preparation – how important is this?
• Statutory Compliance – how does MEES compare with other legislation covered?
• Reasonable modernisation – can a landlord claim for return of a fundamentally better property

Ben Strange, Director, Mobius Building Consultancy

• Selling land: ‘caveat emptor’ the limits – or how to avoid a claim for misrepresentation – lessons from Patarkatsishvili v Woodward-Fisher
• Boundaries and adverse possession – practical advice on untangling the inextricable link following the Court of Appeal decision in Clapham v Narga
• “A building”? What to consider in buying and selling mixed use buildings and blocks of flats: SGL v FSV Freeholders
• Dilapidations - sidestepping the second limb of s18 and maximising the landlord’s damages claim: Peachside v Koon Yau Lee

Sarah Thompson-Copsey, Non-Practising Solicitor, Legal Lecturer and Trainer

In this presentation Ian Quayle, co-author of the Building Safety Act 2022 - A Guide for Property Lawyers, published by the Law Society, explores the key issues the Act has generated for busy commercial property practitioners. He will explore:

• An overview of the Act and the role of the Building Safety Regulator in the construction or conversion of higher risk buildings
• Acting for landlords and remediation and remediation contribution orders - lessons from case law
• The potential problems with the acquisition and management of relevant and higher risk mixed use buildings
• Commercial leases issues for commercial landlords and tenants

Ian Quayle, Chief Executive, IQ Legal Training

5.00pm CLOSE OF PROCEEDINGS