Timothy Morshead KC (Joint Head of Chambers)

Practice Summary

Tim has appeared in many of the leading property cases, including interpretation of contracts as well as the valuation, rating, planning and public law issues which arise. He also has expertise in the fields of nuisance, professional negligence, compulsory purchase, highways, town and village greens and local government law. Tim was named the Real Estate Silk of the Year in the Chambers UK Awards 2024.

Tim’s recent cases include Darwall v National Park Authority (camping on Dartmoor), Esso v Breen (protester injunctions) and Circus Apartments v Canary Riverside (single largest piece of litigation currently, or ever, underway in the LVT). His reported cases reflect the diversity of his practice and many will be familiar to practitioners across a broad range of fields: eg Cobbe v Yeoman’s Row (proprietary estoppel), Chartbrook v Persimmon (contractual interpretation), Arnold v Britton (contractual interpretation), Peacock v Custins (easements), Regency Villas (easements), TfL v City of London (highways), Woolway (VO) v Mazars (rating).

Tim was featured by The Times as “Lawyer of the Week” for his work on protester injunctions in November 2022. For about two decades, he has consistently been ranked and described favourably in the directories.

As a junior barrister, Tim progressed through the Attorney-General’s panels of Treasury counsel culminating in the “A Panel”. This gave him privileged experience of advising in a variety of areas of law with land (usually) as the common thread – and also of appearing in Courts and Tribunals at all levels, at hearings, trials and appeals.

In silk, Tim’s work remains focused on the full gamut of real estate law, where he advises and appears in some of the most challenging and complex cases, often involving “crossover” issues where two or more disparate areas of law must be brought together. He has expertise in all aspects of conventional “Chancery”-type property law and landlord & tenant law, including its equitable aspects such as proprietary and other estoppels and constructive trusts, as well as rating law and valuation, rent review, land valuation, compulsory purchase and compensation law, planning law, the law of nuisance, tort law generally including the economic torts, highways law, local government law and public law - and professional negligence in these fields.

Tim provides advisory and advocacy services for private and commercial clients, central and local government bodies and other public bodies. Much of his work is highly sensitive.

Advocacy and Litigation Experience

Tim is an experienced litigator with appearances in a variety of tribunals including the Supreme Court, House of Lords, the Privy Council, the Court of Appeal, the High Court (Chancery Division, King’s Bench Division, Technology and Construction Court, Commercial Court, Administrative Court), the County Court, the Lands Tribunal (now the Upper Tribunal, Lands Chamber), various Valuation Tribunals and Leasehold Valuation Tribunals and planning and other statutory and non-statutory inquiries. He is an experienced cross examiner of factual and technical/ expert evidence.

Tim also has experience of sitting as a non-statutory inquiry inspector, arbitrator and legal assessor. He is a qualified ADR group mediator.

Notable cases

Over the past few years his main reported cases have been these:

Supreme Court:

• Southwark London Borough Council and City of London Corporation v. Transport for London [2018] 3 WLR 2059: real estate/ highways: Tim acted for TfL in this appeal concerning the meaning of the word “highway”: does it mean just the “top two spits” as had been thought and held below? Or can it include the whole interest in the land covered by the surface of the highway?
• Regency Villas Title Ltd v. Diamond Resorts (Europe) Ltd [2018] 3 WLR 1603: real estate/ easements: a case concerning the legal characteristics of an “easement”.
• Cardtronics Europe Ltd v. Sykes [2019] 1 WLR 2281: rating: whether ATMs situated in shops are liable to rates. Tim acts for HMRC and permission to appeal to the Supreme Court has been granted with a hearing due in March 2020.
• Iceland Foods Ltd v. Berry [2018] 1 WLR 1277: rating: a case concerning the interpretation of the Plant and Machinery Regulations in relation to Iceland’s air conditioning equipment.
• Woolway (VO) v. Mazars LLP [2015] AC 1862: rating: this case is the leading modern authority on the identification of the “hereditament” in rating.
• Arnold v. Britton [2015] AC 1619: contracts/ real estate: this case about a lease is a leading modern authority on the interpretation of contracts.

Older House of Lords cases:

• Chartbrook Limited v. Persimmon Homes Limited [2009] 1 AC 1101: contracts/ real estate: this case about an overage agreement is a leading modern authority on the interpretation of contracts.
• Cobbe v. Yeoman’s Row Management Limited [2008] 1 WLR 1752: real property/ equity: this was a case about proprietary estoppel.
• Waters v. Welsh Development Agency [2004] 1 WLR 1304: compulsory purchase: this case established the modern principles applicable to identifying “the scheme” for the purposes of applying the Point Gourde principle.

Court of Appeal:

• Darwall v. Dartmoor NPA [2023] EWCA Civ 927: camping on Dartmoor.
• Darwall v. Dartmoor NPA [2023] Ch 141: Camping on Dartmoor: first instance.
• Breen v. Esso Petroleum Co Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 1405: injunctions / committal for breach / aggravating factors.
• Point West GR Ltd v. Bassi [2020] 1 WLR 4102: statutory interpretation / procedure.
• Anixter Ltd v. Transport Secretary [2020] 1 WLR 2547: statutory interpretation / compulsory purchase.
• Cardtronics Europe Ltd v. Sykes [2019] 1 WLR 2281: rating: see above.
• Jones v. Oven [2018] All ER(D) 65: real property: interpretation of covenant.
• Dudley Muslim Association v. Dudley MBC [2016] 1 P&CR 10: public law and real property: this case concerned the relationship between public law concepts and ordinary contract law.
• Swift 1^st Ltd v. Chief Land Registrar [2015] Ch 602: real property: this case concerned the fraud/forgery provisions of the Land Registration Act 2002.
• Beech v. Kennerley [2012] 9 EG 150: real property: easements.
• R ota Milton Keynes Council v. Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government [2012] JPL 728: public law: this case concerned the law of legitimate expectations.

Older cases of importance in their fields:

• Real estate: Silkstone v. Tatnall [2012] 1 WLR 400, Franks v. Bedward [2012] 1 WLR 2428, Batsford Estates (1983) Co Ltd v. Taylor [2006] 2 P&CR 5, Starmark Enterprises v. CPL Distribution Ltd [2002] Ch 306.
• Rating: Bradford (VO) v. Vtesse Networks Ltd [2010] RA 69.
• Planning/ minerals: R ota Bleaklow Industries Ltd v. SSCLG [2009] 2 P&CR 21).

High Court:

• Esso Petroleum Co Ltd v. Breen [2023] EWHC 2013 (KB): protester injunctions / rights of protest / economic torts / unlawful means conspiracy / lawful means conspiracy.
• Quitain (Wembley Retail Park) Ltd v. Persons Unknown [2023] EWHC 1509: construction sites / tall buildings / cranes / injunctions.
• KBC Developments LLP v. Wavin Ltd [2023] EWHC 153 (Ch): contractual interpretation / highways / highways agreements / interpretation of planning permission.
• Pall Mall 3 Ltd v. Network Rail [2021] 2 P&CR 11: land vesting bona vacantia / easements.
• R ota Principled Offsite Logistics Ltd v. Trafford Council [2018] RA 499: rating: rates mitigation / empty rates.

Upper Tribunal:

Harding v. Secretary of State for Transport [2017] RA 271: compulsory purchase: whether the “hereditament” covered by the blight provisions included both elements of a property used for equestrian purposes even though separated by a road.

Clients

Tim’s clients include major landholdings, large commercial organisations, supermarket operators and other retailers, branches of the central government, governmental and quasi-governmental agencies, banks, pension funds, charities, local authorities and statutory bodies, as well as private individuals and companies.

Tim was appointed to the Treasury A Panel until taking silk. He is an experienced trial and appellate advocate, including in the Supreme Court / House of Lords and Privy Council.