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26 November 2020 / Andrew Francis
Issue: 7912 / Categories: Features , Property
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Avoiding the stigma of cynical breach

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What can we learn from the Supreme Court’s judgment in Alexander Devine Children’s Cancer Trust v Housing Solutions Ltd, asks Andrew Francis
  • The Supreme Court has just emphasised the importance of the applicant’s conduct in applications to discharge, or modify restrictive covenants under s 84(1) Law of Property Act 1925. What can we learn from the judgment of that Court?

On 6 November 2020, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in Alexander Devine Children’s Cancer Trust v Housing Solutions Ltd [2020] UKSC 45, [2020] All ER (D) 37 (Nov).

This article suggests that some lessons can be learnt from that judgment. It concentrates on those lessons and does not set out the facts in any detail. For those, reference can be made to the judgment itself, as well as to the other commentaries on the decision.

In this case the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal in November 2018 which had allowed the Trust’s appeal against the decision of the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) (UTLC). It had allowed the application by Housing Solutions

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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