Peter Petts

Areas of expertise

• Property
  • Commercial landlord & tenant

    Commercial landlord & tenant

    Peter’s expertise covers a wide range of commercial landlord and tenant work, including: rent reviews; renewal of business tenancies; service charges; dilapidations; compensation for improvements; assignment; forfeiture and relief; other breaches of covenants, and interpretation and enforceability of covenants.

    He regularly gives talks and writes on all aspects of forfeiture.

    Relevant work

    • Advising on recovery service charge in respect of a leasehold easement where the reversion of the servient land had been transferred, without the reversion of the leasehold land.
    • Defending a £50m dilapidations claim, which settled for £6.5m.
    • IQ EQ (NTC) Fiduciary Services (Jersey) Limited v Hunt [2023] EWHC 628 (Ch) – misappropriation of rental income by managing agent; taking of an account; charging order; and order for sale.
    • Advising on Sainsbury’s liability to contribute to the rent under an assigned lease, during the continuation of the same under the 1954 Act.
    • Successful claim against sub-tenant whose tenancy exceeded the term of the head tenancy and amounted to an assignment of the same, despite the 1954 Act.
    • Advising multinational retailer on forfeiture threat and relief, and limitation in respect of sums payable “on demand”.
    • Interim injunction against former managing agents to prevent them from interfering with the management of the landlord’s properties.
    • Forfeiture of a chain of public houses.
    • Successfully persuading a landlord that its purported forfeiture of woodland was unlawful.
    • Summary dismissal of tenant’s injunction against its landlord, followed by forfeiture of the lease.
  • Real property & mortgages

    Real property & mortgages

    Peter’s real property expertise includes: conveyancing and land registration; party wall disputes; easements; freehold restrictive covenants; co-ownership, trusts and proprietary estoppel; disputed boundaries and adverse possession; public and private nuisance, and mortgages and charges.

    Relevant work

    • Stenner v Teignbridge District Council [2025] UKUT 204 (LC) – Appeal in on the ouster principle in easements of storage and parking.
    • Successful claim for a declaration that the conveyance of the flat included an appurtenant passageway, pursuant to s. 62(2) of the Law of Property Act 1925.
    • Drafting deed of surrender and regrant of easements.
    • Advising on construction of the valuation clause of a pre-emption agreement.
    • Advising on the construction of restrictive building covenants and their purported deed of release.
    • Advising upon and fending off an adverse possession/jus tertii claim.
    • Proceedings in respect of the modification of a restrictive building covenant, under s. 84 of the LPA 1925.
    • Advising on party wall/trespass action.
    • Trial and appeal in respect of parking and rights of way easements: Poste Hotels Ltd v Cousins [2020] EWHC 582 (Ch).
    • Advising in respect of freehold covenant purporting to restrict the sale of land.
    • Interim injunction and committal proceedings in respect of breach of a party wall award.
    • Advising on injunction to prevent mortgagee selling land at auction.
    • Recovery of £800k in VAT under contract for sale of land as a transfer of a going concern.
    • Construction and enforcement of friendly society rules, regulated by Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, in respect of freehold property.
    • Fraudulent misrepresentation on sale of land.
    • Successfully opposing claim for drainage easement.
    • Successfully striking out and opposing appeals on security for costs.
    • Party Wall injunction and application for committal following breach.
    • Successful Land Registration boundary rectification claim.
    • Successfully opposing Land Registration adverse possession claim.
    • Advising on nuisance claim in respect of water ingress from neighbouring land.
    • Successful acting for an international gas and oil exploration company in obtaining possession of a wellhead site from anti-fracking protestors.
    • Successfully defending allegations of fraud in a sale of land dispute.
    • Adverse possession and the intention to possess.
    • Boundary dispute involving overriding interests.
    • Advising on the variation and discharge of freehold restrictive covenants.
    • Defending trust of land proceedings instigated by a purported legal advisor.
  • Leasehold & leasehold management

    Leasehold & leasehold management

    Peter’s residential landlord and tenant practice covers contractual, Housing Act and Rent Act tenancies, as well as long leases.

    Peter has a wealth of experience before the LVT and the Land Registry Adjudicator, now the Property Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal.

    Relevant work

    • Injunction proceedings in respect of a landlord’s failure to repair, including interim injunction for inspection.
    • Advising on a landlord’s repairing obligations in respect of defective magnesite screed.
    • Advising a shareholder of an RTE company in respect of company’s failure to account to them for profits made.
    • Summary dismissal of forfeiture claim for breach of statutory requirements.
    • Determination of breach and forfeiture of a St John’s Wood lease.
    • £1m service charge dispute.
    • Chancery Division injunction to prevent the sale of a property by LPA receivers.
    • Advising on validity of service charge demands, consultation and limitation.
    • Advising six figure service charge dispute and liability on assignment of the term.
    • Advising a landlord on numerous leases of some 900 properties, including the cost, provision and recovery of privately provided utilities and the impact of the statutory service charge regime.
    • The recovery of the landlord’s LVT costs as administration charges under the lease.
    • Contested Rent Act possession claims founded on cessation of occupation as a resident, and nuisance or annoyance, waste and neglect.
    • Landlord’s licence to alter and recovery of the landlord’s costs.
    • Jackson v JH Watson Property Investment Ltd (2008) 11 EG 94; (2008) 2 EG147 (CS); (2008) NPC 1. Neighbouring landlord not liable to tenant for nuisance existing prior to the granting of the lease: caveat lessor.
  • Housing (social & privately rented)

    Housing (social & privately rented)

    Peter undertakes all forms of private residential landlord and tenant work.

    Relevant work

    • Injunction proceedings in respect of a landlord’s failure to repair, including interim injunction for inspection.
    • Advising on a landlord’s repairing obligations in respect of defective magnesite screed.
    • Advising a shareholder of an RTE company in respect of company’s failure to account to her for profits made.
    • Summary dismissal of forfeiture claim for breach of statutory requirements.
    • Determination of breach and forfeiture of a St John’s Wood lease.
    • £1m service charge dispute.
    • Chancery Division injunction to prevent the sale of a property by LPA receivers.
    • Advising on validity of service charge demands, consultation and limitation.
    • Advising six figure service charge dispute and liability on assignment of the term.
    • Advising a landlord on numerous leases of some 900 properties, including the cost, provision and recovery of privately provided utilities and the impact of the statutory service charge regime.
    • The recovery of the landlord’s LVT costs as administration charges under the lease.
    • Contested Rent Act possession claims founded on cessation of occupation as a resident, and nuisance or annoyance, waste and neglect.
    • Landlord’s licence to alter and recovery of the landlord’s costs.
  • Development & planning

    Development & planning

    Peter undertakes all aspects of work covering the creation or transfer of interests in land and associated incorporeal hereditaments.

  • Trusts of land

    Trusts of land

    Peter undertakes all aspects of work concerning trusts of land.

    Relevant work

    • Proceedings defending a constructive trust/proprietary estoppel claim.
• Property Professionals

  Property Professionals

  Peter undertakes all property related professional negligence work.

  Relevant work

  • Christie v Mary Ward Legal Centre [2025] EWHC 330 (KB) – Successfully defending a solicitors’ negligent forfeiture advice claim, pro bono, and obtaining a £250,000.00 Access to Justice costs order.
  • Advising on surveyor’s negligence in failing to identify defective magnesite screed, and limitation.
  • Advising on surveyor’s negligence in failing to identify subsidence.
  • Advising on surveyor’s negligent mundic testing and third party indemnity.
  • Solicitor’s negligence in advising client on easements affecting property.
  • Property manager/Surveyor’s negligence in complying with the lease provisions when demanding service charge.
  • Solicitor’s negligence/fraud in acting for a mortgagee on the purchase of a property.
  • Surveyor’s negligence claim in failing to advise on a structurally unsound property.
  • Managing agent’s negligence in complying with the statutory residential service charge regime.
  • The negligence of a surveyor who held himself out as having expertise in medieval properties.
  • Advising and managing the clients’ expectations as to the level of damages, where the Defendant surveyor had admitted liability.