Channel Islands Property Newsletter
Welcome to our first property update for 2023, which brings you a roundup of the latest property news, court cases, legal updates and developments.
Our update covers some significant recent property judgments including the Supreme Court judgment in Sara & Hossein Asset Holdings Limited v Blacks Limited, a service charge dispute which had been making its way through the courts for over three years, and decisions of the Jersey Royal Court in relation to wills of immovable property.
In Channel Islands property news, there is now a three per cent stamp duty uplift for those purchasing second homes in Jersey, updates to the Guernsey anti-discrimination laws will soon be in force, and outline planning permission has been granted for the significant Leale's Yard development in Guernsey.
See below for a summary of the newsletter articles, or read our property update in full.
Explore our latest issue
Should English Courts be the jurisdiction for Jersey JCT building contract disputes?
We examine a recent building contract dispute where a construction company was instructed to build a new house, which was subsequently claimed to be defective on completion of the build.
As the building contract was subject to Jersey law rather than English law, the Jersey Court had to decide whether the dispute should be held in the English Courts, applying Jersey law, or whether the jurisdiction clause was non-exclusive, meaning that the client could bring proceedings in Jersey.
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Outline planning permission granted for Leale's Yard development
At the end of last year, an Open Planning Meeting was held for the proposed development of Leale's Yard in Guernsey.
The plans for the development include over 320 new homes, a multi-storey car park, more than 120,000 square ft of new commercial space and a supermarket.
As part of the planning process, a number of letters of representation were received by the DPA from stakeholders and members of the public.
Read our summary of the issues covered at the planning meeting.
Prevention of discrimination – Reasonable adjustments to property
We review the implications for Guernsey's commercial property owners and occupiers of the forthcoming anti-discrimination legislation.
Landlords, employers and service providers would be advised to be proactive and start considering potential issues around accessibility and associated reasonable adjustments before the new legislation comes into effect.
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Stamp duty uplift introduced on the purchase of second homes in Jersey
From 1 January 2023, Jersey buyers who purchase a property that is not to be their main residence, generally a second home or a buy to let, must pay a three per cent uplift in stamp duty (or LTT, the stamp duty equivalent for share transfer).
In order to 'police' this increase, every residential purchase must now include a statement in prescribed terms from the buyer as to whether the property is a dwelling acquired for use as their main residence.
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Supreme Court backs ‘pay now, argue later’ regime in property service charge dispute
January 2023 saw the Supreme Court handing down judgment in Sara & Hossein Asset Holdings Limited v Blacks Limited, a service charge dispute which had been going through the courts for over three years.
Blacks rented commercial retail premises from Sara & Hossein Asset Holdings Ltd under successive leases. They argued that the service charge rise was excessive and refused to make any payment until the issue had been resolved. As a result S&H sued Blacks for the outstanding service charge.
Decisions of the Royal Court in relation to renunciation of a will of immovable property where the devisee does not wish to accept the will devise
January 2023 saw the third in a recent series of decisions upon the renunciation of a devise of Jersey property under a will of Jersey immovable estate.
There are many reasons why a person might wish to renounce their interest in a property – they may not want the burden of property ownership, feel that another party should benefit in their place, or tax or stamp duty considerations might apply.
Read our summary of the decisions by the Royal Court on this issue.
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Royal Court judgement on rent and service charge accrued during Covid closure
In Waterfront (LC) Limited v Cine UK Limited 11-Oct-2022 the owner of the Cineworld premises applied for summary judgment against its tenant Cine-UK Limited (represented by Adv. Mathew Cook – Mourant) for unpaid rent and service charge.
If you want to know more about the issues covered in this newsletter, please get in touch:
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About Mourant
Mourant is a law firm-led, professional services business with over 60 years' experience in the financial services sector. We advise on the laws of the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Jersey and Luxembourg and provide specialist entity management, governance, regulatory and consulting services.
