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Session 1 – Introduction and restrictive covenants
- First, a brief overview of some key topics that will not be the prime focus of the course: telecoms, vacant possession, physical constraints, rights of light.
- Examples of typical restrictive covenants.
- Assessing whether the covenant is effective – questions to ask.
- Discharging or modifying restrictive covenants – the test, the process, how long it may take and how much it may cost the developer.
- The importance of good conduct.
- Assessing whether the covenant can be challenged because it is anti-competitive.
Session 2 – Boundaries, trespass and adverse possession
- Resolving problems arising from inaccurate Land Registry boundaries.
- How to fix unclear boundaries.
- Remedies for trespass and their practical application.
- Understanding adverse possession (old regime v new regime) and its relevance in development.
- Common issues: balconies, vaults, fire escape doors – what they are and how they can be resolved.
- Strategic considerations to keep permanently ‘front of mind’.
Session 3 – Easements and rights of way
- Easements explained in all their variety: how are they acquired and how they can be lost.
- The rights that a developer can vary unilaterally.
- How and when developers can divert a route of way.
- When a developer may continue to use a right of way because the new development intensifies the use.
- Obscure examples of easements e.g. right to air, signs: when they arise and how they can be handled.
- Right to a view and right to privacy: when they exist and with what consequences.
Session 4 – Nuisance and working around sitting tenants
- Nuisance, derogation from grant or breach of quiet enjoyment: when it arises and how to prevent it.
- What a developer (whether the landlord or not) must do in practice to minimise disruption.
- Injunctions: forcing a developer to down tools and/or demolish.
- Remedy of damages: when profit shares and ransoms arise.
- The importance of good developer conduct.
- Risk mitigation measures including insurance and s203.