Cases
McDonagh v Reeve [2023] EWHC 933 (Ch)
It was held that a covenant prohibiting the erection of “additional” buildings did not prohibit...
Tom is a leading property silk.
His recent cases include Fearn v Tate Trustees [2023] 2 WLR 339 (succeeded in the Supreme Court in a groundbreaking case establishing that the Tate Gallery is liable in nuisance for operating a viewing gallery at Tate Modern enabling visitors to view neighbouring flats) and Bath Rugby Ltd v Greenwood [2023] 1 P&CR 6 (succeeded in the Court of Appeal in establishing that Bath Rugby’s ground is not subject to restrictive covenants capable of impeding the development of a new stadium).
Recommendations in the legal directories include:
Tom regularly appears in cases about the development of land. He advises developers at an early stage about private law impediments to developments. Tom has appeared in many leading cases about restrictive covenants: including cases about the enforceability and interpretation of covenants; applications under s.84(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (for discharge/modification); and in cases about whether consent has been unreasonably refused. As the co-author of Rights of Light: The Modern Law (Jordans, 2015, 3rd ed), Tom is a leading specialist in the field of rights of light. He has appeared in cases about whether developers have succeeded in exploiting drafting loopholes to avoid paying overage; in disputes about options; and in many cases about whether developers can escape from contracts to buy sites.
In relation to land ownership disputes, Tom has appeared in leading Court of Appeal cases about adverse possession and land registration.
In the field of commercial landlord and tenant litigation, Tom acts on lease renewals and in litigation about forfeiture, dilapidations, rent reviews and consents. He has appeared in many cases about whether tenants have satisfied break conditions. As the author of Property Notices (LexisNexis, 2021, 3rd ed), he regularly acts in cases about the service and validity of notices (including break notices).
Tom accepts instructions under the Public Access Scheme.
Tom regularly acts in land ownership disputes (including in registration and adverse possession cases) and in boundary disputes.
He has appeared in cases about the circumstances in which land registers can be altered on the ground of “mistake” including in Quinto v Santiago Castillo Ltd [2009] UKPC 15 (a Privy Council appeal in which the issue was whether an original owner was entitled to be reinstated in a land register as the registered proprietor of land in Belize following a transfer by a fraudster) and Baxter v Mannion [2011] 1 WLR 1594 (a leading Court of Appeal case about the circumstances in which HM Land Register can be altered). In Scribes West Ltd v Relsa Anstalt (No.3) [2005] 1 WLR 1847 the issue was whether a purchaser of the reversion to a lease could forfeit a lease during the “registration gap”.
Tom has appeared in many adverse possession cases for both paper title owners and squatters. In the leading case of Baxter v Mannion [2011] 1 WLR 1965 Tom acted for a paper title owner who had missed the deadline for objecting to an application by a squatter to be registered as the freeholder leading to the registration of the squatter as the freeholder. The Court of Appeal held that the paper title owner was nevertheless entitled to be reinstated as the registered freeholder. In Nata Lee Ltd v Abid [2015] 2 P&CR 3, again acting for the paper title owner, Tom succeeded in the Court of Appeal in establishing that the trial judge had misapplied the law when holding that title to land had been acquired by adverse possession. In Wretham v Ross [2006] 1 P&CR 1259, Tom successfully appeared for a squatter.
He has acted in many boundary disputes, including in the Court of Appeal (Nata Lee Ltd v Abid [2015] 2 P&CR 3 and Steward v Gallop [2011] 1 P&CR 17).
Tom acts in all types of commercial landlord and tenant litigation, including cases about:
Tom has acted in many cases in which purchasers have attempted to avoid buying land, or rescinding the purchase of land, under contracts of sale. Those cases include: Bella Italia Restaurants Ltd v Stane Park Ltd [2019] EWHC 2747 (Ch) (whether a contractual obligation to grant a lease can be performed by procuring the grant of a lease by someone else), Chinnock v Hocaoglu [2008] 29 EG 92 (late tender of purchase price) and Wyche v Singla Properties Ltd (2011). In Mann & Mann v Cooper the issue was whether a firm of solicitors had been authorised to enter into a contract of sale on behalf of purchasers. In Starham Ltd v Greene King Pubs Ltd [2017] 9 WLUK 422 the issue was whether a nineteenth century conveyance created a licence or easement.
As the co-author of Rights of Light: The Modern Law (2015, 3rd edition), Tom has acted on many rights of light cases. He frequently advises on the interpretation of rights of light deeds; he has acted in cases concerning whether rights of light have been extinguished or breached; and he acted for a housebuilder in a negligence action against a firm of rights of light surveyors. In Pavledes v Hadjisavva [2013] 2 EGLR 123 David Richards J gave guidance about the availability of declaratory relief in respect of a development that would infringe a neighbour’s rights of light. In Starham Ltd v Greene King Pubs Ltd [2017] 9 WLUK 422 the issue was whether a nineteenth century conveyance created a licence or easement.
Tom regularly acts in land ownership disputes, including cases about land registration and adverse possession.
He has appeared in cases about the circumstances in which land registers can be altered on the ground of “mistake”: including Quinto v Santiago Castillo Ltd [2009] UKPC 15 (a Privy Council appeal about whether an original owner was entitled to be reinstated as the registered proprietor of land in Belize following a transfer by a fraudster) and Baxter v Mannion [2011] 1 WLR 1594 (a leading Court of Appeal case about the circumstances in which HM Land Register can be altered). In Scribes West Ltd v Relsa Anstalt (No.3) [2005] 1 WLR 1847 the issue was whether a purchaser of the reversion to a lease could forfeit a lease during the “registration gap”.
Tom has appeared in adverse possession cases for both paper title owners and squatters. In the leading case of Baxter v Mannion [2011] 1 WLR 1965 Tom acted for a paper title owner who had missed the deadline for objecting to an application by a squatter to be registered as the freeholder leading to the registration of the alleged squatter as the freeholder. The Court of Appeal held that the paper title owner was nevertheless entitled to be reinstated as the registered freeholder. In Nata Lee Ltd v Abid [2015] 2 P&CR 3, again acting for the paper title owner, Tom succeeded in the Court of Appeal in establishing that the trial judge had misapplied the law when holding that title to land had been acquired by adverse possession. In Wretham v Ross [2006] 1 P&CR 1259, Tom successfully appeared for a squatter.
Tom has appeared in many cases concerning mortgages and charges. In HSBC v Collelldevall [2010] 1 P&CR 4 the issue was whether an occupier’s beneficial interest under a constructive trust was an overriding interest, and, if so, whether that interest was overreached by a mortgage. In Garwood v Bank of Scotland [2013] BPIR 450 the issue was whether a mortgagee was entitled to set aside the discharge of a mortgage on the ground of mistake. Tomkins v Bristol & West Investments [2006] EWCA 977 was an appeal to the Court of Appeal from a committal order made against a mortgagor who had failed to comply with an injunction obtained by a mortgagee.
Tom succeeded in the Supreme Court in the leading modern case about nuisance (Fearn v Tate Gallery [2023] 2 WLR 339). In that groundbreaking decision, the Supreme Court held that the Tate Gallery had committed a nuisance by operating a viewing gallery in a way that interfered with the amenity of neighbouring flats. He acts in the full range of nuisance cases (including cases about noise, vibrations, smells, light and protestors). Some of Tom’s cases have concerned nuisance in a landlord and tenant context.
Tom has acted in many property-related professional negligence disputes. He represented Berkeley Homes in a negligence claim against a right of light surveyor concerning advice given by that surveyor about a substantial development in the City of London. He has acted on claims arising from negligently-drafted overage provisions. And he has acted in several claims against solicitors arising from a negligent failure to serve valid break notices.
As the co-author of Rights of Light: The Modern Law (Jordans, 2015, 3rd ed), Tom has acted on many rights of light cases. He frequently advises on the interpretation of rights of light deeds; he has acted in cases about whether rights of light have been extinguished or breached; and he acted for a housebuilder in a negligence action against a firm of rights of light surveyors. In Pavledes v Hadjisavva [2013] 2 EGLR 123 David Richards J gave guidance about the availability of declaratory relief in respect of a development that would infringe a neighbour’s rights of light.
Tom is a leading specialist in disputes about the development of land, including litigation about:
Tom has appeared in many cases about riparian rights and watercourses (including boundary disputes; a case about whether a licence was required to moor boats on a canal; and a case about whether it is possible to have a tenancy of a houseboat).
Tom has been instructed in many disputes about the beneficial ownership of property and proprietary estoppel. In Hermsen Wilkinson v Hermsen (2015) he succeeded for a mother in a hotly-contested dispute with her daughter over the beneficial ownership of flat in Kensington. In HSBC Bank Plc v Dyche [2010] BPIR 138 he obtained a finding that a father had retained the beneficial ownership of his house after transferring the house to his daughter to enable her to obtain a mortgage and that his beneficial interest had priority to that mortgage. In Young v Lauretani [2007] 2 FLR 1211 Tom successfully acted in a dispute over the beneficial interest between former boyfriend and girlfriend.
Tom has acted in several cases about the registration of manorial rights and commons.
Boundary and Ownership Disputes
Commercial Landlord and Tenant
Conveyancing Disputes
Easements and Profits a Prendre
Land Registration and Adverse Possession
Mortgages, Charges, Charging Orders and Securitisation
Private nuisance
Professional Negligence Claim Related to Property
Rights of Light
Property Development including Overage disputes
Restrictive Covenants
Riparian Rights, Watercourses and Harbours
Trusts of Land and other Equitable Claims
Village Greens, Commons and Manorial Rights
Incredibly able his performance in court is particularly impressive."
Cases
McDonagh v Reeve [2023] EWHC 933 (Ch)
It was held that a covenant prohibiting the erection of “additional” buildings did not prohibit...
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News
01 02 2023
Supreme Court win for flat owners in Fearn v Tate
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News
21 12 2021
Bath Rugby wins restrictive covenant appeal
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Cases
Bella Italia Restaurants v Stane Park Ltd [2019] EWHC (Ch)
It was held that the lessor under an agreement for lease could perform its obligation to grant...
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Cases
Knight v Goulandris [2018] 1 WLR 3345
The Court of Appeal held that, even before s.15 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 was amended so as...
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Cases
Re Falmouth Dockyard [2017] UKUT 430 (LC)
A “wet dock” at Falmouth Dock was owned by a company that made and re-fitted superyachts. A...
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Cases
Sparks v Biden [2017] EWHC 1994 (Ch)
Overage was payable one the “sale” of the houses. “Sale” was defined as: (i) a sale of the...
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Cases
Re University of Chester’s Application [2016] UKUT 457 (LC)
An application to the Upper Tribunal for the modification of restrictive covenants.
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Land Use Conference 2023
The Rt. Hon. Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill, David Elvin KC, David Holland KC (Joint Head of Chambers), Jenny Wigley KC (Joint Head of Chambers), Paul Brown KC, David Forsdick…
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News
04 10 2023
Landmark Chambers wins five awards at The Legal 500 UK Bar Awards 2023
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News
11 09 2023
Landmark Chambers and members shortlisted for four awards at the Chambers UK Bar Awards 2023
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News
22 08 2023
Tom Weekes KC shortlisted for ‘Barrister of the Year’ at The Legal Business Award 2023
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News
12 07 2023
Landmark Chambers shortlisted for 17 awards at The Legal 500 UK Bar Awards 2023
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Cases
Fearn and others v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery [2023] UKSC 4
The Supreme Court (by a majority) held that the Tate, by operating a viewing gallery at Tate...
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A Matter of Trust
Tom Weekes KC, James Hanham, David Nicholls, and Evie Barden
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Cases
Bath Rugby Ltd v Greenwood [2021] EWCA Civ 1927
Leading Court of Appeal case about the annexation of the benefit of restrictive covenants to...
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Property Litigation, Legal 500, 2023
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Real Estate Litigation, Chambers and Partners, 2021
Real Estate Litigation, Chambers and Partners, 2020
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