Property Disputes
We understand that being experts in the management of real estate disputes is not enough. Our lawyers appreciate that our true value comes in applying our knowledge and experience to practical problems, which helps you to manage and resolve disputes quickly and efficiently.
What is involved?
We act for a wide range of commercial businesses, institutions, landed estates and individuals on all real estate and property disputes including:
- The termination and renewal of business leases
- Dilapidations disputes
- Advice regarding break rights
- Easement and covenant disputes
- Issues relating to landlords’ consents
- Telecommunications issues
- Agricultural disputes
- Obtaining vacant possession for development
- Forfeiture
- Possession claims
- Professional indemnity claims arising from negligent property advice
- Right to light issues
- Rates mitigation schemes
- The reputational and business continuity risks presented by campaign and protest groups
Why choose our property disputes team?
- We have a regular programme of training events, where we share our knowledge and expertise with our clients – building your capacity to reduce your external legal spend
- We are praised by our clients as being “responsive, knowledgeable and excellent value for money”
- We provide you with dependable and strategic advice when you need it most with an early stage assessment of a dispute to achieve the result you want: faster, better, cheaper
- We also present bespoke training for a number of our clients taking account of the nature of their businesses and issues that regularly arise
Freeths understand that being experts in the management of real estate disputes is not enough. Our lawyers appreciate that our true value comes in applying our knowledge and experience to practical problems, which helps you to manage and resolve disputes quickly and efficiently.
Our focus is on the expense, time and risk of litigation so we do not ‘get lost’ in interesting legal points with no commercial impact. We pride ourselves on understanding your specific business needs, so that we do not simply offer you a list of legal options, but a practical solution tailored to your requirements.
Call our Real Estate Litigation team now to find out how we can help you.
Key contact
Paul Tomkins
Partner & Head of Real Estate Litigation
Contact our property team
Our accreditations
We are celebrating another year of accreditations and rankings.
- Resolved a high value boundary dispute between quarreling neighbours. Our strategy out maneuvered the opponents and extinguished what was a highly emotive situation.
- Acting for Aldi in connection with an application for an injunction made by its tenant, Iceland, where Iceland was seeking to prevent Aldi from carrying out an extension to its supermarket in Cambridge. We provided both legal and commercial advice throughout and pushed the matter on such that we got to a full trial within 6 weeks at which the High Court dismissed Iceland’s application.
- Acting for a large Oxfordshire Landed Estate on a wide variety of property disputes. These included defending a claim to dedicate public rights of way over estate land through long public use, a claim to dedicate estate land as a village green, defending an adverse possession claim and advising in relation to removal of 1954 Act protected tenants to allow site development.
- Recent property disputes range from arguments over title, tenure and other property rights, through to high-value and complex claims for multi-million pound losses on commercial property transactions.
- Providing legal and tactical advice to landlords and tenants in connection with the termination and renewal of business tenancies.
- Acting for a landowner in connection with an urgent application to the High Court for an order for possession of commercial property. The property was being occupied by trespassers who were fly-tipping significant quantities of waste on the land. We prepared the application, got the application before the judge, obtained an order for possession and organised for High Court enforcement officers to enforce the order and carry out the eviction on the very same day.
- Advising a client regarding a trespass on their land in relation to substantial building works undertaken by a third party and threatening injunctive proceedings and/or a claim for damages against the perpetrator.
- Advising on diverse aspects of property litigation issues including rights of way, party wall claims, rights to light issues, dilapidation claims, applications to assign, insolvencies, forfeiture and repossession, lease renewals and applications to assign/underlet.
- Acting for a farmer on an AHA tenancy challenging a notice to quit (settled favourably at arbitration) where the client’s land was the centre of a proposed new housing development.
- Acting for a national housing developer in relation to a boundary dispute and negotiating a settlement which allowed the development to continue.
Testimonials
The size and experience of the Freeths team is very impressive. The team is technically astute, but they never lose sight of the commercial realiti...
The Legal 500, 2024
The strength of the Freeths litigation team is their collective knowledge and experience. It is evident that the team work closely together and col...
The Legal 500, 2024
A cohesive and effective team, with good communication ensuring that nothing gets missed.
The Legal 500, 2024
First class legal advice at a sensible cost. A firm which understands its clients and fosters an exceptional working relationship
The Legal 500, 2024
We have been impressed by the complementary services offered by Freeths, in construction, tax, and planning and environment and property litigation.
Chambers & Partners, 2024
Freeths made the effort to understand our business and our team, which allowed them to cut through complex situations and tailor advice to reach a...
Chambers & Partners, 2024
It's a strong team with the ability to get to the nub of the issue.
Chambers & Partners, 2024
The Freeths team are consistently thorough and detail-oriented with impressive awareness of commerciality.
Chambers & Partners, 2024
The firm has a good team with individuals you can rely on for their in-depth knowledge of the sector.
Chambers & Partners, 2024
The [Property Litigation] team has a very good understanding of all litigation related matters, and a very diverse offering that is able to act as...
The Legal 500, 2023
Meet the team
Paul Tomkins
Partner & Head of Real Estate Litigation
Andrew Dashwood-Begg
Managing Associate
Rosalyn Shephard
Managing Associate
Tristan Sharples
Senior Associate
Contact us today
Whatever your legal needs, our wide ranging expertise is here to support you and your business, so let’s start your legal journey today and get you in touch with the right lawyer to get you started.
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