Property
King’s Bench Walk and second six at a now- defunct chambers in Temple Gardens. Now a top land law silk and head of chambers at leading property set Tanfield, his practice focuses on “landlord and tenant disputes, both residential and commercial. Property law is a broad field, so the kinds of matter I deal with include arguments about breaches of lease, for example, around landlord consent clauses where the tenant needs permission to make alterations; freehold cases about land registration where there is disagreement about whether property has been properly registered; odd niche areas such as enfranchisement – whether a tenant can secure freehold from their landlord – and a range of issues that affect people directly such as service charges. If you are renting a flat and the landlord is overcharging you or managing the premises badly, putting it right makes a serious difference to your quality of life.” Property rights are an emotive political issue and Philip has led cases which seize the headlines. One, Best v The Chief Land Registrar centred on a section of the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 that made squatting on residential premises a criminal offence. “The dispute was over whether the change in the law prevented squatters gaining ‘squatters’ title’ after 10 years if the premises remains vacant,” he explains. “The Land Registry’s position was that squatters’ title was no longer the law, so acting on behalf of the claimant, we mounted a judicial review which was appealed to the Court of Appeal. The court decided that squatters’ title remains valid, despite the act of squatting being illegal, so we won and the case generated a lot of press coverage.” He has always acted for a mix of tenants and landlords, but gradually domestic renter cases have given way to more complex litigation and, since making silk, his caseload tends to consist of “high-value disputes, long trials and appeal points.” But he is concerned
Property law (now sometimes labelled as ‘real estate’) embraces a wide range of work, including ‘real property’ such as contracts for sale, covenants and land registration, trusts over land; and commercial and residential tenancies involving issues as diverse as disrepair, possession claims, succession and assignment. Clients might include large corporate entities, government bodies, local authorities, private landowners of all kinds, and of course individual tenants . “Studying land law during your law degree or conversion course may have seemed boring and difficult, but don’t assume that the reality of practising it is the same,” Philip Rainey QC advises budding barristers as he reflects on his start in this varied and rewarding practice area. “The truth is that I became a property specialist almost by accident – I didn’t particularly ‘get’ land law when I was at university, but it is much more rewarding to practise it than to study it academically, which perhaps contrasts with a field such as criminal law, the theory of which is fascinating – I even taught criminal law at night school to make ends meet as a junior barrister – but the reality is not the same as many of the cases are open and shut, so there is less intellectual challenge. Land law is a good mix between
legal problems and people problems; between paperwork and court work.”
Philip first became interested in the Bar “at about the age of 10” when, on school holidays, he watched “a now-forgotten programme called Crown Court , in lieu of there being no children’s daytime telly in 1975. Although it was fictional, its portrayal of criminal trials was relatively realistic – watching the actors playing the barristers argue cases in front of the judge, I thought ‘that looks like a good job’.” A broad field After graduating in law from the University of Leicester, Philip completed his first six at 1
For more chambers that work in this practice area, please use the ‘Pupillage index’.
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