Posted by Communications Director Nov 7th, 2011, in HD news, Property
Harrison Drury’s property law team has advised business rescue and recovery specialist Leonard Curtis on its lease of new premises in Lancashire.
The Bury-headquartered firm has opened an office at South Rings Office Village, a newly-built flagship office development at Bamber Bridge, near Preston.
The firm has taken a 1,400 sq ft unit on a 10-year lease at South Rings, which has been built by Roundhouse Properties.
The expansion takes the number of Leonard Curtis offices to nine. It also has offices in Manchester, London, Birmingham and Bristol and employs more than 150 staff. (more…)
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Posted by Communications Director Sep 28th, 2011, in HD news, Property
Harrison Drury has advised former England rugby captain Bill Beaumont on his company’s lease of new commercial premises in Chorley and the sale of its historic former home.
Bill Beaumont Textiles Ltd has moved out of Park Mills in Deighton Road to a modern warehousing and distribution unit on Chorley North Business Park.
The company has secured Units 3 and 4 at Chorley North giving it over 3,200 Sq M (34,700 sq ft) of space.
The family business goes back five generations to 1888 when Joseph Blackledge set up a small weaving shed in Chorley to supply niche products to local cotton markets. (more…)
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Posted by Communications Director Aug 9th, 2011, in HD news, Property
A former meat-packing factory on a Lancashire industrial estate has been given a new lease of life after being converted into new business units.
The 10,000 sq ft property at Walton Summit Business Park, near Preston, was built in the early 1990s and was used as a boning hall by meat wholesaler Kepak until it moved from the premises in 2006.
The building, which enjoys excellent motorway links, has been purchased from Kepak by Mark Thistlethwaite and Richard Sharples who have split it into four fully-refurbished units offering workshop and storage facilities along with associated office space.
The property team at Harrison Drury provided legal advice on the purchase of the building and the leasing of the new units. (more…)
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Posted by Communications Director Jul 19th, 2011, in Case studies, Dispute Resolution, Property
A property developer has been ordered to pay almost £40,000 in additional fees to an architecture practice after a successful adjudication result secured by Harrison Drury Solicitors.
The dispute arose following the delayed completion of a new housing development which, according to the claimant Core Design, resulted in significant additional work outside what it was contracted to provide under its fixed-price building contract.
The scheme of four blocks of flats on the site in Chesterfield had been due to complete in February 2008, but work was not finished until March 2009, prompting the adjudication proceedings.
Acting for Core Design, Harrison Drury successfully argued that the additional works caused by the delay amounted to a “changes in the programme of works” under the building contract and that its client was therefore entitled to payment for those additional works. (more…)
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Posted by Andrew Bartlett Jun 28th, 2011, in Property
The media appears to be bombarding us at the moment with innumerable ‘facts’ about residential conveyancing, many of which contradict each other, and some that are simply misleading.
In my experience the market is buoyant and Harrison Drury has completed more transactions in the last few months than we have for a long time, which I attribute to clients being more realistic and having a good team behind them.
Regrettably some sellers (often encouraged by estate agents seeking their business) have an unrealistic opinion of the value of their property and an unrealistic expectation that the seller of the property they want to buy will reduce their price.
(more…)
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Posted by John Chesworth Jun 24th, 2011, in Property
In these tough times for commercial tenants, the right to terminate a lease early by exercising a break clause is extremely valuable if the tenant is wishing to downsize in order to cut costs.
However, it is common for break clauses in commercial leases to be tightly drafted by the landlord’s advisers and they are often conditional upon the tenant having paid all sums due under the lease, there being no subsisting breach of the lease terms, and the tenant giving vacant possession at the break date.
In the case of NYK Logistics (UK) Limited v Ibrend Estates BV, decided last week, the Court of Appeal gave a stark reminder of what is meant by vacant possession. In that case, the tenant, NYK, was carrying out repairs to the property running up to the break date and asked the landlord for confirmation that they could remain in the property for a couple of weeks after the break. (more…)
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Posted by Owen McKenna May 20th, 2011, in Property
In the current property market, property owners are looking to their assets to see how additional income can be generated without significant cost. One option is the lease of roof space for the installation of micro generation technology, such as a wind turbine or solar photovoltaic panels, to generate income under the Feed In Tariff (FIT). Below we look at some of the practical and legal issues to be considered when assessing the suitability of a building for a lease of this nature:
Where will the technology be sited and how will it connect to the National Grid?
The landlord needs to understand which parts of the building will be affected by the installation, for example where the cables will run, how many meters there will be, and how these will be used, monitored and measured. This highlights a number of legal considerations as I will discuss further on.
How will the tenant get the technology into position?
If a crane is needed, it may have to stand on third party land which will require the necessary consent to be obtained. Also consideration will need to be given to a crane licence. It’s worth noting too that the tenant may need similar on-going access for a crane to carry out maintenance work and as a landlord this may have to be offered on a guaranteed basis. (more…)
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Posted by Colin Fenny Feb 10th, 2011, in Dispute Resolution, Property
If you’re a building contractor, you’ll be interested to hear about a recent case in the Court of Appeal which has provided useful guidance on the extent of your liability for defective works.
Even if you’re not in the building trade, the case is equally applicable to manufacturers wanting to protect themselves against future claims for defective products.
In this case (Robinson –v– P E Jones (Contractors) Limited) a homeowner brought a claim against the contractor that had originally built the property, claiming the costs of remedying defective works carried out in 1992, but not discovered until 2004.
The homeowner could not pursue a claim under the original building contract because more than six years had passed since the works were completed. The homeowner therefore sought to pursue a claim under the common law of negligence. (more…)
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Posted by John Chesworth Nov 23rd, 2010, in HD comment, Property
By John Chesworth, managing partner and head of commercial property, Harrison Drury Solicitors
If the noises are right, planning permission for the Tithebarn scheme will be granted. However, this does not necessarily spell the end for the challenges from neighbouring councils. (more…)
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Posted by John Chesworth Jun 10th, 2010, in Property
I am currently acting for many landlords who are seeking to deal with tenants who are defaulting on their obligations. What I have found surprising is the number of tenancies that commercial landlords enter into without having a properly drawn up lease. While I fully understand the wish to save money in these tough times, renting out commercial property without a properly drafted lease will end up costing the landlord more in the long run. I have set out below five reasons why you should always have a written lease when renting out commercial property. (more…)
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