Completion deadline

Posted by Justin on Aug 26, 2012 in Nelsons' Column | 0 comments Under the Standard Conditions of Sale (Fifth Edition, as for all previous editions), if the completion money is received by the seller’s conveyancer after 2.00pm, the buyer is liable to pay interest covering the period until the next working day.  This does not stop completion taking place after 2.00pm, but it does mean that the buyer has to pay interest.  As a shorthand, however, I refer...
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Public houses and public highways – what is the connection?

Posted by Justin on Aug 3, 2012 in Nelsons' Column | 0 comments I have received a strange enquiry today, asking for “chapter and verse” for saying that – in the 18th and 19th centuries, a public house (as opposed to an inn, tavern, hotel or club) had to front onto a public highway. The reason the enquiry is relevant is that a community project acquired a site that included a burnt down public house. The project sold off the public house...
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Will I be named and shamed?

Posted by Justin on Jul 25, 2012 in Nelsons' Column | 0 comments Apparently, HMRC/the government plans to “name and shame” people who engage in legal tax avoidance (not tax evasion, which is illegal) and their advisers. This is odd: why should people or their advisers be ashamed of legitimately arranging their affairs to reduce their tax bill? Is there some moral obligation to pay tax unnecessarily? It is also quite worrying. I do not normally...
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It’s good to talk – to the neighbours

Posted by Justin on Jul 21, 2012 in Nelsons' Column | 0 comments When buying a new home, the legal searches, surveys, etc, can only go so far: they can find out what is on various official records, or what is physically observable.  However, they cannor reliably find out whether there are any problem neighbours or disputes with neighbours – though disputes should be disclosed by the seller, sometimes they “forget”. To try to protect buyer...
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