Tim specialises in property litigation including not only in the traditional Chancery and common law spheres but also in the areas of public, environmental and planning law. Before taking silk he was a member of the Attorney-General’s “A” Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown, having served previously on the “C” and “B” Panels.

Advocacy and Litigation Experience

Tim is an experienced litigator. He has appeared in a variety of tribunals including the Supreme Court, House of Lords , the Privy Council, the Court of Appeal, the High Court (Chancery Division, Queen’s Bench Division, Technology & Construction Court, Commercial Court, Administrative Court), the County Court, the Lands Tribunal (now the Upper Tribunal, Lands Chamber), various Valuation Tribunals and Leasehold Valuation Tribunals and planning and other statutory and non-statutory inquiries. He is an experienced cross examiner of factual and technical/ expert evidence.

Tim also has experience of sitting as a non-statutory inquiry inspector, arbitrator and legal assessor. He is a qualified ADR group mediator.

Clients

Tim’s clients include major landholdings, large commercial organisations, supermarket operators and other retailers, branches of the central government, governmental and quasi-governmental agencies, banks, pension funds, charities, local authorities and statutory bodies, as well as private individuals and companies.

Property Law

Most of Tim’s work concerns land and he has a substantial “classic” Chancery and property law practice including: proprietary estoppel, fraud and constructive trusts, mortgages, land registration, commercial landlord and tenant litigation and arbitration (including rent review, business tenancy renewals, insolvency issues and dilapidations), overage agreements, disputed contracts for the sale of land, interpretation & rectification of development agreements other documents, restrictive covenants (including applications to the Lands Tribunal to modify or discharge restrictive covenants to enable residential and commercial development to proceed), easements, nuisance, trespass, adverse possession and disputed wayleave agreements both for and against statutory undertakers. Click here for further information on Tim's recent cases.

Valuation

Tim’s work often brings him into contact with valuation questions, and not only in relation to rent review and dilapidations cases. He has appeared frequently in the Lands Tribunal in valuation cases. Please click here for examples.

Compulsory Purchase and Compensation

Tim has advised and acted for a variety of clients in relation to the Olympic CPO, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link CPO, the Bedford Bypass CPO, the Clapham Bypass CPO and other highway schemes; and in relation to the compensation payable under such schemes. He was counsel for the Secretary of State for Transport in the Lands Tribunal and Court of Appeal in Persimmon Homes (Midlands) Ltd & Ors v Secretary of State for Transport [2010] EWCA Civ 474 and [2009] UKUT 126 – a case which settled in the Court of Appeal with the claimant accepting “nil” compensation. With David Holgate QC he appeared in the House of Lords in the leading modern case on the Pointe Gourde principle: Waters v. WDA [2004] 1 WLR 1304. For further examples please click here.

Rates

Tim’s property practice extends into the law of rates and he has appeared frequently for HM Revenues & Customs as well as for ratepayers in a large number of the leading cases in this field. For examples please click here.

Highways and town and village greens

Tim also has extensive experience of the law of highways and town and village greens, as well as planning law and other more-or-less public law related aspects of land law. He has appeared as counsel at inquiries and in statutory appeals/ judicial reviews of decisions in these fields. he has also sat as a village green inspector. For examples please click here.

Public and Planning Law

Tim also has considerable public law experience outside the property field, partly but not wholly in the planning field. He is now frequently instructed to advise and appear in cases involving elements of both property and public law, including for example: vires questions arising in connection with land transactions by or with public bodies, human rights issues relating to the use and occupation of land and interference with title. For examples click here.

What the directories say...

For many years Tim has been recognised in the leading UK legal directories, including the 2017 editions of Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 ("Extremely clever and very quick. You ring him and within two hours you get back accurate written advice. He is very good on his feet too, with great communication skills." "He's rigorous and clever and he's got a very nice style orally - he's a very effective advocate."  Click here for further directory recommendations.

"Classic" property law and Chancery cases

• Knights Construction (March) Limited v (1) Roberto Mac Limited (2) Chief Land Registrar [2011] EWLandRA 2009–1459. Tim was instructed by the Chief Land Registrar in this intervention before the Adjudicator the HM Land Registry in a test case to establish the scope of the jurisdiction to rectify the register for mistake under the Land Registration Act 2002.
• Pick v Chief Land Registrar [2011] EWHC 206 (Ch). Another instruction from the Chief Land Registrar who this time argued successfully that title of a trustee in bankruptcy is void against a disponee of registered land unless the bankruptcy petition / order is protected at the date of disposition, even if the petition / order is protected at the date when the transfer to the disponee falls to be registered.
• Clarke & Anor v Corless & Anor [2010] EWCA Civ 338, [2010] WTLR 751. Tim was instructed in this witness action in the High Court and in the appeal to the Court of Appeal by the successful Defendant about an alleged constructive trust under the Pallant v. Morgan doctrine.
• Diep v Land Registry [2010] EWHC 3315 (Admin). Tim was instructed by the Chief Land Registrar in this case concerning the Registrar’s power to register with possessory rather than absolute title.
• Capron v Governor of Turks and Caicos Islands (Privy Council, [2010] UKPC 2). Tim was instructed by the Governor and Government of Turks and Caicos Islands, who succeeded in the Privy Council in this appeal concerning an alleged contract for the sale of Crown land and alleged propriety estoppel.
• Yeoman’s Row Management Limited v. Cobbe (House of Lords, [2008] 1 WLR 1752, with Nicholas Dowding, QC). Tim was instructed by the appellant in this successful appeal to the House of Lords. This is now one of the leading modern cases on proprietary estoppel, including its relationship with constructive trusts.
• Chartbrook Limited v. Persimmon Homes Limited (House of Lords, [2009] EWHL 267; [2009] 3 WLR 267, with Robert Miles, QC). This case has clarified the law in several respects, including the rule in Prenn v. Simmonds excluding evidence of negotiations as an aid to interpretation and the basis on which the Court orders rectification.
• Cain, Re Waverley Lodge [2009] UKUT 212 (LC). Tim appeared in the Lands Tribunal for the applicant under section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925, who successfully obtained a modification of restrictive covenants to enable the construction of multiple dwelling-houses, without payment of any compensation to the objectors.
• Seymour Road (Southampton) Ltd v Williams & Ors [2010] EWHC 111 (Ch). Tim obtained a declaration from the High Court under section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925, indicating that development land had ceased to be affected by restrictive covenants.

Compulsory purchase/ Compensation/ Valuation/ Rates

• Bradford (Valuation Officer) v Vtesse Networks Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 16; [2010] RA 69. Tim appeared in the Lands Tribunal and in the Court of Appeal for the Valuation Officer in a successful appeal establishing the basis for valuing Vtesse’s network of fibre-optic cable in rates.
• Allen (VO) v. English Sports Council [2009] UKUT 187 (LC); [2009] RA 289. Tim appeared for the Valuation Officer in a successful appeal establishing that grant should not be taken into account in assessing rateable value.
• Selfridges Ltd v Humphries (Valuation Officer) [2009] UKUT 296 (LC); [2010] RA 260 (with David Holgate, QC). Tim was instructed by the ratepayer in this appeal concerning the rateable value of this Oxford Street department store.
• Persimmon Homes (Midlands) Ltd & Ors v Secretary of State for Transport [2010] EWCA Civ 474; [2010] RVR 122 and [2009] UKUT 126; [2010] RVR 11  – Tim acted for the acquiring authority in this case which settled in the Court of Appeal with the claimant accepting “nil” compensation.
• Waters v. WDA [2004] 1 WLR 1304 (with David Holgate, QC). This case in the House of Lords is the leading modern authority on the Pointe Gourde principle.
• Orange PCS Ltd v. Bradford (Valuation Officer) [2004] EWCA Civ 155; [2004] 2 All ER 651; [2004] RA 61; (2004) 101(8) LSG 31; (2004) 148 SJLB 236; [2004] NPC 22; Times, February 20, 2004; Independent, February 26, 2004. Tim appeared at first instance and the Court of Appeal in this case re-establishing some of the main principles underlying rating valuations.

Highways and town & village greens

• Re: Wood Lane, Louth (letter of recommendation, January 2008) (non-statutory village green inquiry concerning the question whether a public authority with a duty to admit the public could be said to have acquiesced in the use of land by the public “as of right”, in which Tim sat as the inspector)
• R ota Hertfordshire CC v. DEFRA [2006] EWCA Civ 1718; [2007] JPL 1207; [2007] 1 EG 93 (CS); [2006] NPC 133; Times, January 12, 2007 (concerning important limits on the use of the various powers in the Highways Act 1980 for re-configuring local footpath and bridleway networks)

Public & Planning Law

• Robert Hitchins Ltd v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government & Anor [2010] EWHC 1157 (Admin). Tim acted for the Secretary of State who successfully resisted this developer’s challenge and established that it is lawful for the Secretary of State to judge the “viability” of affordable housing by reference to the possibility of better economic conditions in the future.
• Bleaklow Industries Ltd v. Secretary of State [2009] EWCA (Civ) 206; [2009] 2 P&CR 21; [2009] JPL 1477; [2009] NPC 46. This case concerned the interpretation of minerals permissions and, particularly, the expression “winning and working”. The trial judge had given the expression a wide meaning which, on the facts, enabled Bleaklow to extract large amounts of limestone from a national park, to the significant harm of the landscape. Tim (who did not appear below) acted on behalf of the Secretary of State on the appeal, arguing that the expression had an established meaning which, on the facts, prevented such activities. This was accepted and the appeal was allowed.
• Hammerton v. Ministry of Justice [2009] EWHC 1423 (Blake J). Whether unfair trial in breach of Article 6 automatically indicates unlawful detention contrary to Article 5, so producing a right to damages; whether damages available at common law or under Article 5 following claimant’s imprisonment for contempt later overturned on appeal. Tim appeared for the Ministry of Justice, successfully resisting all parts of the claim.
• R (H) v Secretary of State for Health [2005] UKHL 60; [2006] 1 AC 441; [2005] 3 WLR 867 (with Philip Sales). Humans Rights Act 1998; Article 5 of the Convention.
• Sloam v Adjudication Panel [2005] EWHC 124 (Admin) Regulation of conduct in local authorities.
• With David Elvin QC he was instructed as amicus at first instance in Rowland v. Environment Agency [2003] Ch 581 — which, with the later decision in the Court of Appeal, is one of the leading cases on legitimate expectations.

Directories

Other recent descriptions of Tim Morshead include:

“one of the best juniors due to his highly able courtroom manner and fearsome intellect”, “an extremely intellectually honest and hard-working practitioner”, “calm, ordered and logical mind”, “extraordinary, highly thought-provoking written output” (Chambers & Partners 2010)

“has a fearsome intellect”, “very calm under fire” (Legal 500 2010)

“...famed for his commercial experience, Timothy Morshead is a ‘fantastic advocate’ who ‘knows his stuff on just about everything.’ He is well versed in all aspects of agricultural law, including landlord and tenant, land registration and rights of way”, “Timothy Morshead has an extensive practice that takes in a combination of commercial lease renewals, rent reviews, dilapidations and planning matters for developers, landlords and tenants. ... Interviewees describe him as a “clever and hard-working junior who will no doubt continue to win even more top-quality instructions in the future.” (Chambers & Partners 2009)

“he has tightly reasoned, well-constructed arguments”, “fantastic for public rights of way cases” (Legal 500 2009)

“extremely thorough and effective property advice and counsel”, “shrewd, bright and persuasive advocate” (Chambers & Partners 2008)

“a fine advocate who ‘can cut through the rubbish quickly and win the unwinnable’” and “quick-thinking and to the point” (Chambers & Partners 2007)

“measured and persuasive”, “his performance is always exemplary”; and he has “appeared in many of the leading cases in the [property] area” (Chambers and Partners 2006).