Property Dispute Management
Our established Property Dispute Management (“PDM”) team is highly active and constantly expanding. The PDM team currently has six solicitors from both commercial litigation and property backgrounds who specialise exclusively in property litigation. The team is headed up by Alistair Drummond and Lynne Calder, Associate, works from our Glasgow office. The team also includes Brent Haywood, who is qualified as a Solicitor Advocate and an accredited mediator.
Chambers states that the specialist team is "A good-quality", busy outfit. The "efficient, knowledgeable" Alistair Drummond handles the full range of real estate disputes, and "knows everything there is to know in his field, according to clients”.
Legal 500 state that “Alistair Drummond’s team is conscientious, commercial and diligent”.
The team has significant experience of running actions in the Court of Session, Sheriff Court, the Land Court and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland on behalf of landlords and tenants, developers, occupiers and investors. Whenever possible, we try and resolve disputes without resorting to litigation and frequently advise on adjudications and arbitrations. We will use mediation when the opportunity arises.
The team deal with a full range of property related disputes including:-
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landlord and tenant related disputes, including dilapidations, rent reviews, irritancy, assignation, validity of notices, rent recovery and service charge disputes;
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Boundary and Title Conditions Disputes, including advising on burdens and servitudes;
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Encroachments and Nuisance;
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Enforcing Missives and Development Agreements;
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Removal of Illegal Occupiers;
We work closely with the firm’s Commercial Property team and have built up impressive expertise acting on behalf of some of the top retail companies in the UK. We act for both large and small retail tenants (both north and south of the border).
We have built up an excellent reputation in dealing with disputes over the terms of leases. The team’s expertise in this area means that we can focus on providing swift, practical and commercial solutions. We regularly advise both tenants and landlords on their obligations at lease expiry and the team are recognised for their ability in handling dilapidations claims, some of which are in excess of £1 Million.
We act for three major Scottish shopping centres and assist in the management of a wide portfolio of properties which includes advising on issues such as dilapidations, rent recovery and assignation. We have bespoke correspondence for use on behalf of landlords upon a tenant’s insolvency to deal with both asserting the landlord’s hypothec and claiming rent as an expense of an administration.
In the current economic climate, the team is regularly called upon to provide practical advice on the enforcement of missives for both purchasers and developers. We also provide no nonsense advice in respect of all land related disputes such as breaches of title conditions and servitudes, an increasingly complicated area of law.
Contacts for Property Dispute Management