Legal wrap: Digital challenges, pandemic clauses and the evolution of leases

Welcome to your weekly round-up of the pick of the content published on EG Legal over the past seven days. This week, we delve into the world of data, with the start of a three-part series from Conrad Davies and Catherine Hammon on how a shift in incentives is causing the real estate sector to think differently about its use of data. We also address another hot topic – pandemic lease drafting – as part of our monthly Back to basics series, as well as covering forfeiture (Legal Q&A), a proprietary estoppel case (Legal notes), reform of the Telecoms Code and more. Legal news Wigan Council triumphs in battle to take back Haigh Hall Legal features A new dawn: creating a digital interface for a data-driven approach In the first in a series of three articles on data, Conrad Davies and Catherine Hammon discuss the challenge of creating a digital interface for a data-driven approach in real estate Back to basics: Drafting pandemic clauses Peter Blakemore rounds up some of the major factors to be taken into consideration when agreeing a potential pandemic clause in a lease Legal note: Proprietary estoppel – what you should know Allyson Colby analyses a case that raises familiar issues over the extent of the doctrine of estoppel Comment: Hard reset for the Telecoms Code?  Landowners will be disappointed by the government’s proposals for reform of the Code, argues Laura West Q&A: Addressing questions of forfeiture Louise Clark and Myriam Stacey QC tackle queries from a landlord and a tenant on the waiving of, and relief from, forfeiture Rip it up and start again? How the traditional lease model must evolve Louisa Roe addresses how both landlords and the traditional lease model need to adapt to the changing needs of occupiers Practice points Service charges: repairing provisions in ‘right to buy’ leases revisited City of London Corporation v Various Leaseholders of Great Arthur House A landlord had validly terminated a lease Wigan Borough Council v Scullindale Global Ltd HMO: Rent repayment orders against superior landlords Irvine v Metcalf and others Had a prospective tenant validly terminated an agreement for lease? Reaction Engines Ltd v BNP Paribas Depositary Services (Jersey) Ltd When does land form part of the garden or grounds of a house? Hyman v HMRC Case summaries Balhousie Holdings Ltd v Commissioners of HM Revenue and Customs (Scotland) VAT – Zero-rating – Sale-and-leaseback transaction Wood v Commercial First Business Ltd; Business Mortgage Finance 4 plc v Pengelly Mortgage – Fiduciary relationship – Secret commission Reaction Engines Ltd v BNP Paribas Depositary Services (Jersey) Ltd and another Landlord and tenant – Agreement for lease – Termination Wigan Borough Council v Scullindale Global Ltd and others Landlord and tenant – Break clause – Hotel   For more legal articles and to search our extensive archive, visit EG Legal    To send feedback, e-mail jess.harrold@egi.co.uk or tweet @estatesgazette