Toby Watkin KC

Property

Toby is instructed in all areas of property litigation, including Real Property Disputes, Conveyancing and Land Registration, Landlord and Tenant disputes, issues relating to Mortgages and Receivers, and Property-related Professional Negligence. He has significant experience of cases involving the Electronic Communications Code (new and old). He regularly lectures and writes on property-related matters.

Toby regularly advises upon issues relating to the ownership of, and rights over, real property including disputes relating to adverse possession and boundaries, easements and covenants (including rights of light), and party walls. As well as litigation within the High Court and County Court, Toby now undertakes a considerable amount of work before the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry, and in the Lands Tribunal.

As an example of Toby’s practice, in the last few months:

• He appeared for three successful defendants in an eight-day High Court (Chancery Division) trial relating to three properties said to have been transferred in breach of trust
• He appeared in a leading recent case relating to the recovery of property transferred to avoid creditors (4 ENG v Harper [2010] BCC 746)
• He has advised a major estate in relation to the enforceability of various covenants and the validity of an option agreement
• He has advised a major landlord in relation to easements potentially impeding further residential development
• He has advised a nationwide developer in relation to the enforcement of an agreement relating to rights of light.

Commercial Landlord and Tenant

Although majority of Toby’s practice now relates to commercial property, he has wide experience in all areas of all landlord and tenant (including private residential and social housing). Toby is regularly instructed in relation to:

• Dilapidations claims: Toby is currently involved in a number of high value dilapidations claims. He recently acted for the successful landlord in a dispute relating to the replacement of a heating system within a prestigious West End residential development.
• Forfeiture: Toby regularly advises landlords and tenants in relation to the forfeiture of leases. He recently appeared for the successful landlord in litigation surrounding the forfeiture of a lease within the County Hall development on London’s South Bank, and has written a forthcoming article in relation to the ability of parties to agree relief from forfeiture.
• 1954 Act lease renewals: Toby has recently advised the central bank of a European country in relation to the lease renewal of its UK headquarters and a major west-end landowner in relation to the opposition of a lease renewal of a west end store.
• Insolvency and disclaimer of leases: Toby regularly advises clients in relation to the effects of tenant insolvency. He has recently advised a major bank in relation to the disclaimer of the lease of a major industrial site in the west midlands, and as to resulting issues affecting subtenants and guarantors.
• Service Charges: Toby has considerable experience of residential service charge disputes. Although he has previously acted for tenants, most of his work is now for major landlords. In the last few months he has acted for two different major landlords in relation to high value service charge disputes litigated within the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.
• Rent review: Toby regularly advises in relation to issues surrounding rent review, and is currently involved in a very high value rent review dispute in relation to London commercial premises.

Although most of Toby’s work is now commercial, he has considerable experience in residential landlord and tenant, including in the field of social housing, and still regularly appears for landlords in the LVT in service charge disputes. In Lambeth v O’Kane [2006] HLR 2 Toby appeared for the successful landlord in the Court of Appeal in a dispute about the informal creation of leases.

Conveyancing Disputes

Toby regularly advises in relation to disputes arising from agreements for the purchase of land, and land registration. In HWE Timm Ltd v Timm Toby appeared for the successful claimant in a claim relating to the circumstances in which a pending action land charge should be discharged to permit the sale of land to fund the litigation.

In the last few months:

• He appeared for the successful right-owner in a claim before the Adjudicator to Her Majesty’s Land Registry to remove the burden of a right of way registered against the title to adjacent land.
• He appeared for the successful proposed purchaser in a claim to recover the deposit from the proposed vendors of a former wool mill in the North East after a failure to complete the purchase.
• He successfully resisted a claim by a developer within London’s Docklands for damages against a proposed purchaser for failing to complete an off-plan purchase.
• He has recently advised in relation to the enforceability of various provisions within a sale, build and leaseback agreement of a large mixed-use development.
• He has recently advised a group of purchasers of off-plan properties within a large residential development in relation to the recovery of their deposits upon the collapse of the development scheme.

Mortgages, Charges, Charging Orders and Securitisation

Toby is regularly involved in cases relating to mortgages and receivers. He appeared for the successful claimant in one of the leading cases relating to the duties of receivers, Medfordth v. Blake & Others [2000] Ch 86, which established (contrary to the view of the Privy Council in Downsview Nominees v. First City Corp Ltd) that Law of Property Act receivers and mangers, and those appointed under agricultural mortgages, owed a duty to the mortgagor and anyone with an interest in the equity of redemption to manage the property with due diligence. Toby has also lectured a number of times on topics connected with mortgages and receivership.

Professional Negligence Claim Related to Property

Toby regularly advises and acts in relation to professional negligence claims arising out of property work. For example, in the last few months he has advised or appeared in claims relating to:

• A valuer’s negligent valuation of commercial premises
• A solicitors’ negligent failure to protect a pending land action by registration
• A managing agent’s negligent failure diligently to pursue insurance claims on behalf of its instructing landlord
• A solicitor’s negligent failure to preserve the tenant’s security under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954
• A structural engineer’s negligence in approving premises as being structurally adequate to support a tenant’s use, resulting in a £500k dilapidations claim against the tenant
• A solicitor’s negligence claim arising out of a fraudulent residential purchase agreement.

Cross-practice

Landmark's barristers often work at the intersection of our core practice areas; bringing a wide range of skills, knowledge and experience to bear on a particular dispute or issue facing a client.

Our focus is always on achieving the best possible outcome for our client. By viewing the client's objectives in a holistic way - and not purely through the lens of one rigidly-defined legal area - we deliver the best possible advice and representation in complex matters that engage multiple specialist areas of law. 

Whether it's providing support as an individual cross-practice barrister or a cross-disciplinary team of Landmark counsel, we are able to draw on an outstanding array of complementary skillsets and knowledge bases. This often achieves a better result than instructing multiple barristers from different specialist sets. This also improves the quality of client care through increased levels of communication, quicker response times, and a coordinated approach to clerking and fees, made possible by our team-based cross-practice approach.

Please contact our practice management team for more information.

ADR

Toby has wide experience of alternative dispute resolution, both in representing clients, and more recently acting as a mediator. He became a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb) in 2005 and an ADR Group accredited mediator in 2010. As a mediator Toby has specialised in property-related disputes.

Toby has also been involved in a number of cases before the courts in which issues relating to alternative dispute resolution have arisen, including appeals from arbitration awards and disputes relating to expert determinations. In Flight Training International v. International Fire Training Equipment Ltd (2004), Toby successfully represented a multi-national company in High Court litigation about to the proper construction of a dispute resolution clause.

Telecommunications