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Real Estate Disputes

Our highly-regarded Real Estate Disputes team advises both commercial and residential clients on a wide range of disputes.

We take a pragmatic and robust approach to protecting our clients’ interests and we adopt an advisory and dispute resolution role as well as a litigious one.

  • “The Hamlins team are always highly focused on their clients' business requirements and tailor advice accordingly.”

    Legal 500 2025

  • “Dynamic, committed, flexible and adaptable with legal knowledge that is second to none. The hardest working team who are also always fun to work with.”

    Legal 500 2025

  • “Hamlins practitioners are always available and ready to assist, and consistently add commercial acumen to their advice. ”

    Chambers & Partners 2025

  • “Hamlins are experts at handling incredibly complex cases. ”

    Chambers & Partners 2025

  • “The depth of engagement and understanding of our business is noteworthy.”

    Legal 500 2024

  • “Hamlins have clearly demonstrated their ability to handle complex matters and have access to all relevant expertise.”

    Chambers 2024

  • “The team are very client-oriented, providing an excellent personal service.”

    Chambers 2024

  • “They very quickly grasp complex issues and are excellent at explaining options to their clients in a clear and concise way.”

    Chambers 2024

We advise developers, owners, property and financial institutions, retailers, insolvency practitioners, landlords and tenants, whether as part of a portfolio or as a one off issue. Our approach is to help identify and manage risk at an early stage and we settle a large number of disputes by pure and simple negotiation. We are experts in using ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) to help our clients reach satisfactory outcomes. We are experienced negotiators and champions of mediations, arbitrations and independent expert determination. We seek to manage client expectations at every stage.

Where disputes are inevitable, we will identify and manage risk at an early stage. It is often possible to limit litigation by acting quickly and decisively. If you do become embroiled in litigation, we try and make the litigation experience less distracting to you and your business than it might ordinarily be by taking a hands-on approach.

We have a strong track record of dealing with cases at all levels of Court including Magistrates Courts, County Courts, Administrative Courts, Companies Court, High Court and the Court of Appeal, as well as in the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) and Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber).

Our expertise includes:

  • Adverse possession
  • Boundary disputes
  • Breaches of contract
  • Building Safey Act claims
  • Commercial, residential and mixed-use schemes
  • Compensation claims
  • Development disputes
  • Dilapidations claims
  • Insolvencies
  • Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
  • Landlord and tenant issues including rent arrears, forfeiture and lease renewals
  • Overage disputes
  • Party wall disputes
  • Possession of land claims
  • Professional negligence
  • Rights of light claims
  • Service charge disputes
  • Telecommunications Code strategic advice and disputes

We also assist landlords, individual tenants and tenant groups with collective enfranchisement claims and individual lease extension claims under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, claims under the 1967 Leasehold Reform Act, and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (as amended) and The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, including rights of first refusal, section 20 applications and the appointment of RTM managers.

Recent work includes

  • Defending a client in relation to 58 business rates mitigation schemes (Trafford Borough Council v Lunar Stretford SARL) in the Trafford Magistrates Court.
  • Acted for a client to obtain a declaration as to the interpretation of an alienation covenant in the High Court and Court of Appeal (Lunar Retail SARL v Warborough Investments Limited).
  • Acted for a client to obtain specific performance of a sale and purchase agreement in the High Court (Charlton Walsall v Mohstart).
  • Acted for a client in the High Court and Court of Appeal (PGF II SA v OMFS Company 1 Limited) in relation to the unreasonable refusal to mediate by an opponent.
  • Instructed in the widely publicised case in the High Court seeking to ensure that a prestigious listed building at Cavell House Trafalgar Square was not taken over by the “Occupy London” movement on Christmas Eve (Greencap Limited v persons unknown).
  • Following an unsuccessful mediation, resolved proceedings that had been issued against our client in connection with the dispute of the beneficial ownership of properties and managed to discharge a freezing injunction that had been obtained in the Companies Court (F Options v Prestwood Properties Limited).
  • Defending proceedings for the return of a severance payment and rent deposit in the sum of £2.1million in the High Court of Justice regarding a prestigious building in Leicester Square (Interguide Limited v EID Limited and Central London Investments Limited).
  • Successfully settled proceedings issued by Signal Properties for circa £2million regarding an alleged failed break notice at a property in Bradbury (Signal Properties Limited v Mountrose Limited).
  • Successfully settled proceedings issued against Westminster City Council for unpaid service charges in excess of £2million (NCP v Westminster City Council).
  • Acted for a client to successfully obtain an injunction to restrain a trespass and damages (Abbey Commercial v Garnade).
  • Acted for shareholders in connection with obtaining an injunction in the Companies Court regarding the allotment of B shares (Stallecker v Learning Enterprises).
  • Acted for a landowner in connection with a section 84 application regarding the modification of a restrictive covenant in the Upper Tribunal and successfully settling the dispute (Bovis v PJ Thibault).