Steven Woolf

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Practice overview

Steven is primarily a specialist property barrister with over 30 years' experience.

Steven has many reported cases in the House of Lords, Court of Appeal, High Court and Upper Tribunal with the seminal case of London Borough of Barking & Dagenham v Persons Unknown relating to the application of injunctive relief in cases involving trespass and nuisance being one of the most recent.

Steven also has a thriving successful commercial practice which has developed significantly in recent years and is reported in leading cases in the areas of Professional Negligence and Partnership Law.

Cases in which he has been involved have frequently been reported in the Legal Action Group (LAG) journal, Family Law Reporter, Times Law Reports, New Law Journal, and Family Law Cases.

Steven was formerly Chair of Governors of the secondary Jewish Free School.

Recent work

University of Brighton v Persons Unknown [2023] EWHC 1485
Djurberg v Thames Properties (Hampton) [2023] EWHC 1444
Barking and Dagenham v Persons Unknown [2022] EWCA Civ 13
London Borough of Bromley v Persons Unknown & London Gypsies and Travellers [2020] EWCA 12
Hillingdon London Borough Council v Persons Unknown & Others [2020] EWHC 2153
London Borough of Sutton v (1) Persons Unknown Occupying Land and (2) Persons Unknown Depositing Waste [2018] 11 WLUK 819
Naresh Bhatija v Lloyds TSB Bank PLC [2014] EWHC 4092 (Ch)
A claim in negligence against a Bank for failing to honour a direct debit.
Charlie Properties Ltd v (1) Risetall Ltd (2) Warmhaze Ltd [2014] EWHC 4057
A claim relating to trespass over a right of way and land.
Eastleigh Borough Council v (1) Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government (2) Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd [2014] EWHC 4225 (Admin)
An appeal against the decision of a Planning Inspector.
Re Davie’s Application [2016] UKUT 462
Cheema v Jones [2017] EWCA Civ 1706

Areas of expertise

Property
- Commercial landlord & tenant
  Commercial landlord & tenant
  Steven is extremely experienced in this field, which involves daily analysis and interpretation of technical lease terms and their effect on the use of commercial premises, the covenants that landlords and tenants offer to each other and the operation of termination and renewal provisions.
  
  Recent work
  
  Numerous 1954 Act related cases.
  
  Acting for a landlord against a tenant who used the premises for purposes other than commerce.
  
  Recovering a hotel from unlawful forfeiture.
  
  Acting for a tenant seeking to establish a proprietary right to commercial lease.
  
  Acting for a tenant seeking damages against a shopping centre developer due to dust and smoke nuisance.
  
  Acting for a tenant seeking to avoid substantial service charge demands relating to underground work.
  
  Acting for landlord in relation to terminal dilapidations at a brewery.
- Real property & mortgages
  Real property & mortgages
  The main area of Steven’s property work is land related, in particular boundary disputes, rights of way and Adverse Possession.
  
  Steven has experienced a significant increase in land related litigation over the last five years. These disputes are most often very personal, involving the classic legal truism, an Englishman’s home is his castle. Steven’s sensitive and pragmatic approach to litigation has resulted in favourable results for clients from as far afield as Pembrokeshire in West Wales to the Yorkshire Dales.
  
  In recent months Steven has been at the vanguard of assisting local authorities with obtaining Borough wide “green space” injunctions seeking to protect parks, sports fields and other green spaces from unlawful fly-tipping.
  
  Steven has many land related cases ongoing at any one time and therefore it is difficult to find the highlights, but the following are good examples of his recent work.
  
  Recent work
  
  Acting in a dispute relating to the extent of land adversely possessed for near on 50 years.
  
  Acting in a dispute where the neighbour literally tore up trees that had been in place for hundreds of years and bulldozed a pond leading to subsidence to the surrounding land.
  
  A dispute relating to the acquisition of a prescriptive right of way.
  
  Acting in a dispute relating to the escape of sewage from a caravan park onto farmland.
  
  Acting in a dispute relating to the title to ancient woodland.
- Leasehold & leasehold management
  Leasehold & leasehold management
  Steven has considerable experience in all types of residential occupation from bare licenses to 999 year leases. The majority of this work would be possession and enfranchisement related. In addition, Steven has acted for landlords and tenants seeking consent to alterations, extensions to leases and service charge related disputes.
  
  Recent work
  
  Whether storage area was appurtenant for the purposes of enfranchisement.
  
  Whether it remains possible to occupy two homes.
  
  Liability of the leases for electrical installations in new residential development.
  
  Forfeiting of a residential lease following persistent arrears of service charge.
Commercial litigation
Commercial litigation
Steven has over the last five years developed a significant successful commercial law practice. These disputes substantially involve the interpretation of commercial agreements which with Steven’s background as a property lawyer has proven invaluable.

The description commercial disputes covers a huge variety of subject areas, from banking to partnership and from insolvency to contract. Steven has much experience in all these areas, regularly acting for clients who have been the victims of breaches of agreements. Steven’s ability to grasp the facts and apply this to the law has enabled him to be able to advise clients with sound, comprehensive advice.

Recent Work:
- Acting for a photo-copier supply company in relation to numerous hire purchase agreements.
- Acting for an internet business which had their telecommunications disconnected for three weeks.
- Acting for an International Steel trader in an action for the recovery of steel portside.
- Recovering a high worth luxury motor vehicle.
- Enforcing restrictive covenants and non-solicitation agreements.
- Volume litigation against brokers and lenders mis-selling mortgages.

Directory recommendations

Steven is recommended for Property Litigation in Legal 500, which states: “Steven is exceptionally versatile and knowledgeable, and has a great talent for dissecting and disseminating information into a comprehensible, readily accessible format.” (The Legal 500, 2025)