Introduction
Welcome everyone to the October edition of the Gatehouse Property Newsletter! Far from bedding down for winter, the team here at Gatehouse is ramping it up a gear, with a bumper year in the directories. We are incredibly grateful to those who hold us in such high esteem to be so effusive and supportive when speaking to the researchers.
But we are not resting on our laurels: below you’ll see the fascinating range of work everyone has been getting up to. And to keep you informed, Daniel Gatty tells us how agents cannot sign trusts of land (for now) in his article about Iranian Oil v Crescent Gas, whilst William Golightly sets out a “how-to” guide to costs in possession claims. Finally, Lina Mattsson has her finger on the pulse as always, with her regular did you miss column discussing whether expert determinations are binding.
Keep your eyes peeled for our next edition (a Bumper Christmas Special!), when we will be introducing some entertaining, and possibly even useful, new features.
David Peachey – Editor
News
Gatehouse Chambers Climbs in Chambers UK Bar Rankings 2026
We are delighted to announce another successful year of results in the Chambers UK Bar Guide 2026, including 13 new rankings and 17 new increases across bands.
A huge congratulations to all our brilliant barristers, senior leadership team, and practice management team at Gatehouse Chambers.
Read the full editorial here.
Forfeiture of Leases, 2nd edition
The second of edition of Peter Petts and Jamal Demachkie’s leading textbook, Forfeiture of Leases, will be published by The Law Society this month.
This book offers comprehensive and authoritative guidance on both residential and commercial issues relating to the law of forfeiture of leases. You can pre-order your copy here.
What have we been up to?
Laura Tweedy has been loving mediating some property disputes and leading some wonderful juniors in a mansion block dispute, a forfeiture/unlawful alterations/breach of planning dispute, another one with fraudulent invoices and a 54’ Act Court of Appeal one. Work life balance has been swinging a bit too heavily to the work side of the pendulum and she is looking forward to some downtime… in Disney World, yey!
James Hall helped to resolve a very technical, high-value mortgage case involving a 17th century property at a mediation in Leeds. He also really needs to get round to writing his chapter of Risk and Negligence in Property Transactions – 2nd edition (edited by John de Waal KC) – coming to all good bookshops soon!
Philip Marriott has been looking at Land Registry priority disputes, easements in 1954 Act renewals, and all things TOLATA. Like James, he is also working on his chapter of Risk and Negligence in Property Transactions, which involves frequently checking for the expected secondary legislation/consultation on New Home Warranties under the Building Safety Act 2022.
David Peachey has been out and about arguing various applications, ranging from disclosure spats to reinstating a defence which had been struck out because the court couldn’t find the defendant’s DQ. In the latter case, the DQ had been filed five – yes five – times. He is petitioning the CPR Committee to introduce court filing by carrier pigeon. On the substance side, he dealt with a neighbour’s basement extension which “borrowed” space under a client’s house.
Upon his return from trekking through Peru, Cameron Stocks had a service charge heavy month looking at dispensation, reasonableness and fire remediation works. Cameron rounded off the month in a successful appeal to the High Court which confirmed that in proprietary estoppel claims, the Court cannot grant relief which has the effect of enforcing what would otherwise be a void contract for the sale of land by virtue of s2 LP(MP)A 1989. In the little spare time he had, Cameron finished editing the 2026 edition of the Dictionary of TLATA and Inheritance Act Claims that he co-authors with Charlotte John.
John Clargo has been dealing with restrictive covenants, boundaries, rectification of the register, easements, residential disrepair, commercial forfeiture, commercial service charges, contracts of sale, ancillary injunctions, lease extensions and – moving slightly sideways from a pure property perspective – breaches of trust, solicitor own-interest conflicts and laundering (linen for a hotel, not money). He’s back running again properly, too (that’s an entirely personal assessment).
David Lipson continues to traverse the country on numerous matters including a mediation concerning a right of way dispute, possession hearings against trespassers, and an application concerning a solicitors’ lien. The latter was an opportunity for David to revisit the County Court of the town he was born in, two decades after moving! Most recently, David has commenced a part-time secondment with a property litigation firm, focusing on landlord and tenant disputes as well as issues surrounding the Building Safety Act 2022. David will continue to maintain his practice alongside this.
Victoria Dacie-Lombardo has had a busy Autumn so far and is enjoying being back in Court after the summer break. Out of court, she has been led by Laura Tweedy on an interesting money claim concerning allegations of theft and vicarious liability. Elsewhere, she has been dealing with a thorny possession & co-ownership dispute between family members. Like John Clargo, she’s also back running again and enjoying getting outside first thing in the morning (or so she tells herself when the alarm goes off).
Jamal Demachkie has been completing some last-minute edits to the second edition of his and Peter Petts’ Forfeiture of Leases book, due for release in November. He has also been advising on a series of development disputes and rent review clauses.
Jack Dillon has been to the KB to stop (at least for now) a Grade II Listed pub being demolished without listed building consent, had a consequential hearing following trials between co-owners and against a lender in January (correct, 9 months ago), advised a campaign group trying to stop a tunnel being closed, dealt with a 1954 Act renewal being opposed on the redevelopment ground, advised on a merger point (occupational tenancies merging with overriding lease) in a franchising dispute, and has been pleading a conveyancer’s negligence case about a property that is being held together with haulage straps.
Lina Mattsson has had a busy month preparing for a High Court appeal following a ground (f) trial and spent two days before Master Clark seeking summary judgment in respect of a ransom strip in Cornwall. She has also been advising on the random value (or not) of a culvert, bono vacantia land and some juicy boundary disputes.
Amongst other things, Daniel Gatty’s month has featured the alleged implied surrender of a lease, an unjust enrichment claim arising out of a property transaction that went awry and a couple of cases concerning rights of way. Like James, he needs to get a move on and write his chapter, on commercial leases, for the second edition of Risks and Negligence in Property Transactions.
This month, Gemma de Cordova has been busy advising a range of clients in respect of breaches of leasehold covenants and the merits of pursuing an injunction; rights of way impacting the ability to pursue a commercial development; and the construction of some interesting service charge provisions.
When not sitting in the Crown Court, Andrew Skelly has been grappling with rights to light issues in a large mixed-use development; drafting restrictive covenants to prevent use of the subject land for specific trades; and preparing submissions on costs in respect of the successful determination of a boundary, and in respect of a successful s.84 application to modify restrictive covenants.
It’s a matter of trust
In this, the 100th anniversary year of the Law of Property Act 1925, the Court of Appeal has resolved a question under s. 53(1)(b) of the 1925 Act that has gone unanswered for all 100 of those years, at least at appellate level. Indeed, the same question arose under s. 7 of the Statute of Frauds 1677. So, it has awaited a clear answer for 348 years.
- 53(1(b) of the 1925 Act reads as follow:
“(b) a declaration of trust respecting any land or any interest therein must be manifested and proved by some writing signed by some person who is able to declare such trust or by his will.”
The question that has taken so long to be authoritatively determined is whether a document signed by the settlor’s agent with the settlor’s authority is sufficient to prove a declaration of trust for the purposes of s. 53(1)(b).
Article by Daniel Gatty
Costs in English possession claims
As we approach the two-year anniversary of the introduction of the extended fixed costs regime (“EFCR”), what better time to dig into the dry but important question of costs in possession claims? In many cases, the answer is that the EFCR does not apply but finding the reasons why can require a circuitous route through CPR Part 45 and its matching Practice Direction. This short article aims to draw together the technical elements together in one place, at least in respect of the most common possession claim scenarios, as well as answering a few common queries arising from costs in possession claims.
Article by William Golightly
Did you miss? Crea v Camp [2025] EWHC 2638 (KB)
This case concerned a typical boundary dispute between adjoining owners, the Creas and the Camps. The parties had agreed to instruct a joint expert to “assess” the boundary. The agreement was recorded in emails. The Creas first proposed a jointly instructed surveyor:-
- As a surveyor has to be involved to assess the wall we will also ask him to assess the disputed boundaries. We suggest this is done jointly …”
The Camps responded:-
We are advised that the best way forward is to jointly instruct a Boundary Surveyor (who must be impartial by law) and agree beforehand to accept their result. They would need to be briefed by both parties and provided with all known documents to avoid duplicate costs.
Article by Lina Mattsson
Contact us
If you would like to discuss any of the topics in this newsletter, please contact the H Team at hteam@gatehouselaw.co.uk or get in touch with one of our Practice Managers.
Patrick Sarson, Senior Practice Manager
Jim Findley, Practice Manager
Samuel Read, Practice Manager
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This edition of the property newsletter was edited by David Peachey. Comments or queries about this newsletter? Please get in touch with him!