Legal wrap: New Look’s CVA, the great office return and pet-friendly 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 begin our look in detail at the recent raft of cases involving retail and leisure CVAs and restructurings. Episode one in a three-part On the Case series focuses on the New Look decision, with Virgin Active and Regis to follow in further episodes. New Look also gets the written feature treatment, while our practice points offer clear summaries of the key points of Virgin Active and Regis, with more analysis sure to come. The other dominating theme of the week, as the country continues to open up, is the return to offices – we have the major issues that employers should be considering as workers come back, and a look at how local development orders can help provide the kind of flexible office space the market needs. But if you want a little light relief, why not read all about the pandemic puppy boom and the impetus for resi landlords to take a more pet-friendly approach? Legal news High Court judge revokes Regis CVA The Fragrance Shop fails in bid to opt out of opting out of security of tenure New Look landlords to get second round in the Court of Appeal Supreme Court deals blow to business rate mitigation schemes Legal features CVAs – friend or foe? Tim Carter and Helen Wheddon look at implications for landlords of the unsuccessful challenge On the Case: The New Look CVA decision explained Julie Gattegno analyses the High Court’s rejection of a challenge by landlords to New Look’s CVA One Blackfriars and the valuation boomerang Allyson Colby analyses a recent dispute over the property Back to the office? Key issues employers must consider Sybille Steiner and Jo Moseley offer a round-up of the key considerations when the work from home guidance ends on 21 June Rent and the problem with pets Social pressure is building on landlords to provide animal-friendly leases, writes Samuel Lear Valuation: finding comparables during Covid Sebastian Deckker provides a clear and authoritative guide to the use of comparables during Covid-19 Harnessing LDOs to entice workers back Fred Lee and Anthony McNamee on how LDOs offer the kind of flexibility in planning needed to support office reopenings Data privacy and virtual tours Patrick Wheeler and Mette Marie Kennedy stress the need to be wary when selling or letting online Practice points Restrictive covenants: court decides a novel point on section 84(2) Re Conwy Marina Village A CVA, already terminated by administration, has been revoked Carraway Guildford (Nominee A) Ltd v Regis UK Ltd To challenge or not to challenge – ‘when’ is the question R (on the application of Fylde Coast Farms Ltd (formerly Oyston Estates Ltd)) v Fylde Borough Council Supreme Court refuses to pierce corporate veil of rates avoidance SPVs Hurstwood Properties (A) Ltd v Rossendale Borough Council The Supreme Court sees through a business rates avoidance scheme Hurstwood Properties (A) Ltd v Rossendale Borough Council What tenants say in their declarations is not an examination question TFS Stores Ltd v Designer Retail Outlet Centres Planning decisions: they’re not pure mathematics Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government The court overrides landlords’ objections to a restructuring plan Re Virgin Active Holdings Ltd Case summaries TFS Stores Ltd v Designer Retail Outlet Centres and others Landlord and tenant – Business premises – Security of tenure R (Fylde Coast Farms Ltd (formerly Oyston Estates Ltd)) v Fylde Borough Council Town and country planning – Neighbourhood development plan – Judicial review – Time limit Rossendale Borough Council and another v Hurstwood Properties (A) Ltd and others Rating – Non-domestic rates – Special purpose vehicles R (on the application of Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council) v SSHCLG Town and country planning – Planning permission – National Planning Policy Framework Law report Chuan-Hui and others v K Group Holdings Inc and others Landlord and tenant – Appointment of manager – Service charges   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