Housing and residential landlord and tenant
Elizabeth has a broad residential landlord and tenant practice with particular expertise in possession claims, service charge disputes and all aspects of housing law. She also writes articles and provides seminars to clients and pro-bono charities in this area.
Elizabeth is frequently instructed to appear in the High Court, County Court and First-tier Tribunal on behalf of private landlords, social landlords and tenants at trial, on interlocutory applications, including ex parte applications for injunctions. Her expertise encompasses the following:
- Disrepair
- Breach of covenant
- Service charge disputes
- Possession claims (including s.8 Housing Act 1988, s.21 Housing Act 1988, s.83 Housing Act 1985, Notice to Quit and trespass)
- Sham tenancy agreements
- Unlawful evictions
- Anti-social behaviour
- Tenancy deposits under the Housing Act 2004
- Injunctions under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
- Homelessness appeals
- Licensing of HMOs
- Rent repayment orders under the Housing and Planning Act 2016
Recent work
- Advising a tenant on their chances of success in a potential claim for unlawful eviction and breach of the tenancy deposit scheme by their former landlord.
- Acting for a landlord in resisting an application for a rent repayment order by their tenant who was an occupant of an HMO.
- Advising and drafting proceedings on behalf of a tenant against his landlord’s claim for possession on the basis that the incorrect notice had been served as his purported licence was a sham and he was in fact an assured shorthold tenant.
- Acting for a local authority in successfully defeating a tenant’s challenge on the reasonableness of his service charges during a two day hearing in the First-tier Tribunal, Property Chamber.
- Drafting section 42 notices for leases extension under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.
- Acting on behalf of a tenant who was awarded damages of over £20,000 in respect of his claim for unlawful eviction against his landlord.
- Acting for a tenant in successfully discharging an anti-social behaviour injunction and resisting a claim for an outright possession order after a 10 day trial.
- Acting for a local authority in judicial review proceedings following its refusal to accommodate an individual pending a s.202 review into whether she has priority need under the Housing Act 1996 as amended.
Commercial landlord and tenant
Elizabeth practice encompasses all areas of Commercial Landlord and Tenant disputes. She regularly advises in relation to disputes arising under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 as well as non-statutory protected commercial tenancies. Her expertise includes:
- Business tenancy renewals under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
- Terminal dilapidations
- Breach of covenant
- Break notices
- Forfeiture claims
- Licences
Recent work
- Acting for a leaseholder in negotiations for the grant of express easements over retained land.
- Advising and negotiating a favourable settlement for a commercial landlord in a complicated Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 tenancy renewal case where the tenant had persistently delayed in paying rent and failed to carry out repairs.
- Acting on behalf of a landlord in a case involving extensive terminal dilapidation.
- Acting for a nationwide commercial landlords in complex forfeiture proceedings.
- Acting for a commercial landlord who sought to regain possession of the residential part of a mixed use premises in circumstances where the tenant alleged his tenancy at will had been converted into a statutorily protected periodic tenancy.
Real property
Elizabeth has experience in advising and representing clients in all aspects of Real Property. In particular her expertise includes:
- Easements and rights of way
- Boundaries, restrictive covenants and easements
- Land registration and title disputes
- Trusts of land (including claims under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996)
- Mortgages
- Charging orders and orders for sale
Recent work
- Acting for administrators of a deceased person’s estate in claim for a beneficial interest in property owned by the deceased and his brother.
- Acting for mortgagor in successfully resisting a claim for possession by the mortgagee in circumstances where the mortgage arrears could be cleared within a reasonable period.
- Advising and drafting a pre-action letter for a creditor in an application for an order for sale of a multi-million pound property under Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.
- Advising a client in her claim for a beneficial interest under a constructive trust in property owned by her child.
- Advising a freeholder in relation to a right of way over neighbouring land.