Experience when you need it most

residential property disputes

Your home is somewhere to enjoy and a place to relax; but where you have become embroiled in a dispute that involves your home, you can quickly find yourself feeling stressed about what you should be able to view as your sanctuary.

Our dispute resolution and litigation team understand the distress that property disputes can cause, and are on hand to offer advice on the steps you can take to address the issues that have arisen and to bring the dispute to a satisfactory conclusion as quickly as possible.

We can provide advice on disputes concerning your home, a property that you rent or even a buy-to-let investment or holiday home that you have purchased to lease out or use yourself.

Our services

We can support you to resolve with:

  • a neighbour;
  • the Land Registry;
  • your mortgage company;
  • your spouse or another co-owner;
  • property professionals, e.g. a surveyor or architect or builder;
  • the developer of a new build property.

And we are experienced in resolving disputes related to:

  • boundaries;
  • shared paths and driveways;
  • rights of way disputes concerning private land;
  • the height of hedges;
  • building works;
  • compliance with the Party Wall Act;
  • planning permission or use;
  • the enforceability of restrictions affecting your home; and
  • the eviction of trespassers.

Rented or leasehold property disputes

If you do not own the property you live in, or where you are a leasehold as opposed to freehold owner, your ability to enjoy your home will depend to some extent on whether you have a good relationship with your landlord or the person appointed to manage your building or estate.

We frequently deal with disputes that arise where relations have broken down and tensions between landlords, tenants and managing agents have begun to rise.

Where you rent a property, we can support you to resolve disputes with your landlord about your failure to pay rent, their failure to keep the property in a good state of repair, attempts to have you evicted and your right to insist on the return of any deposit you have paid.

Where you are the owner of a leasehold property, we can assist with the resolution of disputes concerning the management of the building in which you live and any communal areas, service charge and ground rent disputes, and disagreements over your entitlement to exercise rights of leasehold enfranchisement or to obtain a lease extension.

Please note that where you, yourself are a landlord, we can also provide you with advice on the resolution of landlord and tenant disputes and also on the terms of any tenancy agreements.

Land Registry disputes

When homes are bought and sold, details of the transaction and the property concerned must be registered with the Land Registry. This is to make the processes of buying and selling easier, i.e. by logging important details about your home on a central register, which can be easily searched and therefore avoids the need for you to go hunting around for documents and plans.

In most cases, the system of registration works well, but there are situations in which the Land Registry sometimes makes mistakes and which mean that you will need to take action to rectify errors. Such mistakes may include not recording the correct boundary lines on the official Land Registry Plan, lodging restrictions against the property which are no longer relevant, or even showing the property as being subject to a mortgage which has, in fact, already been repaid.

Where issues like this arise, we can deal with the Land Registry on your behalf and compile the evidence needed to effect the changes required to ensure that the records they hold are correct.

Why choose Geoffrey Leaver Solicitors?

Our dispute resolution lawyers have extensive experience in dealing with property-related disputes, and in achieving settlement through whatever means are necessary. In most cases we can help you to come to a resolution without the need for formal action, and indeed we often find it possible to resolve disputes through a simple exchange of correspondence.

That said, where formal action is required, we will ensure that this is taken and where urgent action is needed to stop you suffering irreparable harm we will support you to apply to the court for an injunction. This may be necessary where, for example, your neighbour is carrying out building works which are causing damage to the structure of your home, or where a dispute over access to a shared driveway has resulted in you being denied access to your property.

To find out more, please contact Ken StangoeRichard MillardTrevor Coward or Guy Brooks please call on 01908 692769 or contact us.

You may also find it helpful to visit our resource hub, to sign up to our newsletter or to find out what other clients think about our service by viewing some of our most recent client testimonials.


What our clients say:

“Kenneth Stangoe has provided exceptional services in the particular field of work that he specialises in.”
Bishop Donald Bolt, National Secretary New Testament Church of God

For more information about how we can help, you can read testimonials from our dispute resolution clients


Accreditations

Chambers & Partners 2021 notes the team is well-respected and active on a wide range of contractual claims and commercial disputes, including unfair prejudice claims and fraud-related proceedings.  Local and international clientele comes from a variety of industry sectors, and also includes private individuals and SMEs. One client commends the “proactive, engaging and considerate” nature of the team.

Chambers & Partners 2020  says ‘Well-respected team active on a wide range of contractual claims and commercial disputes, including unfair prejudice claims and fraud-related proceedings.  Local and international clientele comes from a variety of industry sectors, and also includes private individuals and SMEs.’

Legal 500 2020 says contentious property work is managed by Geoffrey Leaver Solicitors LLP‘s  ‘highly committed, capable and accessible ‘ commercial litigation team, which is led by Kenneth Stangoe. Lease renewal proceedings, planning disputes, boundary disputes and rent and service charge recovery are among the areas of activity. The group acts for private clients, as well as commercial entities (including those active in the retail and leisure sectors) and public bodies.

     

The Dispute Resolution & Litigation Team

  • Ken Stangoe Partner
    Dispute Resolution & Litigation 01908 689307
    Ken is Head of the Department.  He has over 20 years' experience as a commercial litigator, with a heavy focus on property disputes, including forfeiture actions and applications for relief, right of way disputes, rent recovery for commercial landlords, trusts of land, dilapidations claims, boundary disputes, rent and service charge recovery and lease renewal applications.

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  • Richard Millard Managing Partner
    Construction & Development 01908 689382
    Richard has over 20 years’ experience acting for clients in the construction industry,  providing pragmatic advice to developers, contractors, sub-contractors, design and construction professionals, housing associations, smaller builders and homeowners.

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  • Guy Brooks Partner
    Dispute Resolution & Litigation 01908 689304
    Guy has more than 30 years’ experience in the legal profession and headed up the Commercial Litigation department of local firm Fennemores, before joining Geoffrey Leaver as joint head of the Dispute Resolution department in 2006. The Dispute Resolution department have been recognised by Legal 500 UK.

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  • Trevor Coward Partner
    Dispute Resolution & Litigation 01908 689311
    Trevor specialises in the closely connected fields of commercial litigation, partner/director disputes, insolvency, property litigation, and professional negligence. His background is one of broad experience across a wide range of commercial litigation. He is a member of Legal Counsel International, an alliance of lawyers in 17 countries.

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  • Jim McGarrity Consultant | Solicitor Advocate
    Dispute Resolution & Litigation 01908 689331 | 07711 498186
    Jim has over 40 years' experience in the law and specialises in will, probate, trust and inheritance disputes and court of protection cases.

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