In Newham London Borough Council v Samson Estates Ltd (2019) UKUT 110 (AAC) the Council appealed successfully against a FTT decision that an estate agent was not in breach of its above duties.  The issue arose under Section 84 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 and the Redress Scheme for Letting Agency Work and Property Management Work etc Order 2014.  The Order requires a person engaged in property management to be a member of an approved redress scheme for dealing with complaints in respect of that work. The Council is an enforcement authority. The UT held that the person so engaged had to be a member of a redress scheme for all categories of property management work in which they were engaged: paragraph  19 (Judge Levenson).

The issue in Wiltshire Council v Cooper Estates Strategic Land Ltd (2019) EWCA Civ 840 was what it takes in a development plan document to identify land for potential development. If land is so identified, the right to apply for registration of a town or village green (a “TVG”) is suspended.

The reference to the “development plan” now includes development plan documents, and neighbourhood plans: Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 Section 38 (3). A neighbourhood plan must be in general conformity with the strategic policies contained in the development plan for the area: Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Schedule 4B paragraph 8 (2) (e). But it need not slavishly adopt every detail. Once made, a neighbourhood plan becomes part of the statutory development plan. The importance of development plan documents is stressed in the National Planning Policy Framework. Read more »

The main issue in R (Adamson) v Kirklees MBC (2019) EWHC 1129 (Admin) was whether the Council was obliged to obtain the consent of the Minister before deciding to dispose of certain land in its area currently in use as allotments by the claimant and others. That depended on whether the Council had “appropriated” that land for use as allotments, within Section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925, as amended. If it had, it could not dispose of the land without the consent of the Minister. The Council had not applied for such consent.

The Council wanted to use the land as part of the site of a new primary school it has decided to build. Mr Adamson is in favour of the new primary school but says it should not include the allotment land, unless the Minister agrees to that. He wishes to put the case to the Minister that the primary school site should be differently arranged so as to spare the allotment land. He and his fellow allotment holders were not satisfied with alternative allotment land offered to them by the Council.

Kerr J held that:-

1. There is no required formal procedure for appropriation: paragraph 113;
2. Whether appropriation occurred was a fact sensitive evaluation: paragraph 114;
3. A considered and conscious decision had been taken, recorded in committee minutes, that the land should be zoned for use as allotments: paragraph 115;
4. The appropriation issue must be determined in favour of Mr Adamson: paragraph 126; and
5. The claim succeeded: paragraph 153.