New possession ground; agent loses £42K commission; suspended by taxman; & a casual mistake
IMMIGRANT POSSESSION
Landlords and their agents who are involved in the letting of premises in England to occupiers disqualified from being there because of their immigration status risk conviction for newly created offences under s 39 of the Immigration Act 2016 which came into force on 1 December 2016 (SI 2016/1037) There is a ‘reasonable steps to terminate’ defence open to landlords and ss 40 and 41 which were given life on the same date facilitate notice and a mandatory order for possession. A revised prescribed form 3 notice seeking possession is introduced (SI 2016/1118).
ONE TERM SHORT OF A CONTRACT
The property developer still had eight flats to get rid of in his Hackney block. He was put in touch with an estate agent who it was agreed would try and find a buyer at 2% commission. But he did not say what event would trigger the liability to pay. Within six days he had negotiated the “subject to contract” sale of the lot to a housing association. The
