Finding a place to call home is something that most of us will spend a good portion of our lives doing, but sadly life isn’t always a bed of roses with home ownership.
Whether you rent your ideal two-bedroom flat or you are lucky enough to have bought your dream five-bedroom home, things can get complicated when it comes to disputes with a neighbour or landlord.
From arguing over where the boundary lies on a property, to disagreeing with your landlord about work that needs doing on your home, seeking legal advice where property is concerned can often be a great way to fairly settle disputes, often without the need or costs of going to court.
Slater Heelis is a firm of solicitors based in Sale and Manchester that last year celebrated a significant milestone of 250 years in business. The company has many experienced partners who specialise in a range of legal matters, including property litigation.
Daniel Stern, partner and head of property litigation, specialises in both residential property and commercial property dispute resolution. Having joined Slater Heelis in 2016, and starting the team then, Daniel now runs a busy and growing experienced property litigation service and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in property-related issues.
Specialists in boundary disputes
Speaking about how important it is to get legal advice on property-related issues, Daniel said: “It’s important to seek advice from a solicitor right at the outset.
“A good solicitor will guide you down the best route to resolve your dispute at the minimum cost, and get the right outcome to avoid court proceedings.”
According to research conducted by Opinium and Churchill Home Insurance in 2022, almost 11 million Brits (23%) have been involved in a property boundary issue with a neighbour.
The research also found that the average space people argue over is just 2% of the average garden, to which, Daniel said: “To the outsider, they can often be seen as spending a lot of money for what seems to be a very small portion of land. But to the parties involved in the boundary dispute, it is usually very important to them and sometimes it can be a matter of principle and they can feel very aggrieved.”
As boundary disputes, with specialist legal advice, can often be resolved without going to court, Daniel said: “When you go to court about a boundary dispute, it can unfortunately be an extremely uncertain position and there’s no telling which way the court is going to rule.
“It is fairly well known that the courts will sometimes take a dim view of people litigating over small portions of land and even if you were to win your case, you may not recover your costs from the other side because the court may consider the costs to be disproportionate to the dispute.
“When you go to court there will always be a winner and there will always be a loser. Whereas, if you can settle it outside of court with our help, either both parties will feel they’ve won or both parties will feel they’ve lost, but it will cost them a lot less to get to that position.”
Is your new build not on track for completion?
Daniel and the team at Slater Heelis come across all kinds of issues, disputes and complications, so they know how to go about putting you in a position to achieve the best possible outcome, including issues with housebuilders.
Something that has recently become a significant issue across the UK, including Manchester, is problems with new build homes and apartments, and developers not finishing the work to an agreed deadline, which can leave the purchasers in a state of limbo.
Daniel said: “We have particular expertise in acting for buyers of new build properties where the developers haven’t completed the build in time, and the buyers have paid a significant deposit.
“We have a very good record of success in recovering those deposits for buyers from developers who have gone past the agreed date for completing the building work.”
When it comes to renting a property, Daniel and the Slater Heelis team have experience and expertise in dealing with commercial as well as residential issues. He said: “Something we often advise on is people taking up occupation of a commercial property without a written lease in place.
“That presents issues for both parties, but more often for the landlord, because if the terms of the lease are not written, it presents issues in terms of possession of the property.
“It also presents issues in terms of the tenant’s obligations on repair, as there’s no express obligation on the tenant to keep it in good condition, and there’s nothing to stop the tenant assigning or subletting to a third party that hasn’t been vetted by the landlord. For those reasons, we would always caution parties to make sure there is a written lease in place before taking occupation of any property.
“If you do find yourself in the position of having a tenant in occupation of a property with no written agreement, we can advise and protect you.”
Advice for renters
As house prices don’t seem to be coming down any time soon, renting can be a great alternative to finding your dream home at a more affordable price.
Currently, landlords hold more power over a property than tenants do. Although sometimes this can be a positive as it can allow landlords to do things such as regain possession of a property that is being mistreated, it can also often leave reasonable tenants without a home.
To address the current balance in rental property between tenants and landlords, the Renters Reform Bill is a new piece of legislation being put forward by the government.
Daniel explains: “The general consensus at the moment is that landlords have too much power when it comes to evictions. It leaves the tenant in an uncertain position. The Renters Reform Bill aims to change that.
“One of the key changes that the bill proposes is to get rid of no-fault evictions. Currently, under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, landlords can legally evict a tenant with two months notice, provided the fixed term of their tenancy has come to an end. They can do this without any given reason.
“If the tenant doesn’t then leave the property, the landlord can commence possession proceedings and ask the courts for a possession order. There are very few defences that a tenant can raise to that possession claim.
“They can’t say they haven’t found somewhere else to live because that isn’t a defence. This puts the landlords in a very powerful position.”
The property litigation solicitor explains that an alternative route to possession is a Section 8 notice. Under this, there are mandatory and discretionary grounds, which a landlord must prove in order to be granted the possession order.
The main difference between Section 21 and Section 8 is that a Section 8 order can be used in the middle of a tenancy period.
Daniel continues: “The bill wants to remove Section 21 altogether and add in new grounds for Section 8. Those grounds would be things such as if a close family member of the landlord wants to occupy the property, or if the landlord can show that they are selling the home.
“Another thing the bill proposes is that tenants will have the right to ask the landlord to keep a pet in the property, irrespective of what the lease says, which may be conditional on the tenant getting pet insurance. Currently, if a tenant wants to keep a pet at the property, it depends on what the terms of the lease say. If the lease is silent on that the landlord can refuse.”
Speaking about how the bill is a good thing because it gives more balance to the power over a property between landlords and tenants, Daniel added that there are still areas of the bill that need clarifying. He said: “The bill is an improvement but there remain grey areas that need addressing.
“At the end of the day a lease is a contract like any other. When you enter into a lease you agree to take on certain obligations and meet certain requirements. Both parties need to have certainty and clarity on where they stand.”
Explaining why it’s always important to seek legal advice early in property-related matters, Daniel added: “Getting possession of a property is not straightforward. There are lots of regulations which apply to taking possession – i.e. protecting your tenancy deposit in time.
“That’s why it’s so important, regardless of whether you’re a landlord, tenant or homeowner, to get legal advice as soon as possible so we can help you resolve the issue quicker.
“The courts are overstretched and short-staffed, so coming to us sooner can help you avoid having to wait months or even years for a property issue to be resolved and we may in some circumstances be able to regain possession without recourse to the courts.”
