Can a community stop a local pub being sold? Will councils face new restrictions when disposing of land? What are the proposed changes to Assets of Community Value (ACVs)?

In this Q&A episode of Unpacking the Case, we answer your questions surrounding Assets of Community Value and the disposal of local authority land.

Hosts Richard and Lizzie discuss ACVs and what community groups should be watching for as further legislation and guidance develops.

Richard also explores the issues that arise when councils dispose of land, including the Crichel Down Rules, open space disposals, selling at an undervalue and the balance between obtaining best value and delivering wider social and environmental benefits.

 Whether you are a local authority, developer, landowner or community organisation, this episode provides some answers to your questions on this fast-moving area of law.

Topics covered:

• Assets of Community Value (ACVs)
• Community right to buy
• Moratorium periods and disposal restrictions
• Valuation and compensation
• Crichel Down Rules
• Local authority land disposals
• Open space and allotment land
• Social value and best value considerations

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Training & Free Webinars for Property Professionals:

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest in real estate law? Davitt Jones Bould offers legal training tailored to your organisation’s needs, delivered in person across the UK or remotely. We also run free monthly webinars through for surveyors, solicitors, and property professionals across sectors. To sign up or learn more, visit our events page here or email [email protected] for information and booking. 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. No liability is accepted by Davitt Jones Bould for any reliance placed on its content.

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Where exactly is the boundary between neighbouring properties, and can an informal agreement between neighbours settle the issue? 

In this episode of Unpacking the Case, we explore Todd v Marsh [2026] EWHC 1701 (Ch), a decision that attracted national attention and provides valuable insight into how boundary disputes are approached by the courts. The case centres around a dog and deer proof fence that was moved by the neighbours. In reaching its decision, the Court considered a range of important authorities spanning more than 250 years, including Penn v Lord Baltimore (1750), Neilson v Poole (1969), Gibson v New (2021), White v Alder (2025) and Bishop v Jacques (2025). 

Our Head of Legal Training Richard Snape looks at what these cases tell us about informal boundary agreements and certainty of ownership.

This episode offers insight into an area of property law where a few inches of land can lead to years of litigation.

 Relevant Cases:

White v Alder [2025]

Bishop v Jacques [2025]

Penn v Lord Baltimore (1750)

Neilson v Poole [1969]

Gibson v New [2021]

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Training & Free Webinars for Property Professionals:

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest in real estate law? Davitt Jones Bould offers legal training tailored to your organisation’s needs, delivered in person across the UK or remotely. We also run free monthly webinars through for surveyors, solicitors, and property professionals across sectors. To sign up or learn more, visit our events page here or email [email protected] for information and booking. 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. No liability is accepted by Davitt Jones Bould for any reliance placed on its content.

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Moorings, the Thames and Adverse Possession.

Can a boat help you acquire land? What rights come with a mooring on the River Thames? How does adverse possession affect riverside property owners?

In this episode of When Land Meets the Sea, Richard Snape and Elizabeth Collin explore mooring rights and adverse possession along one of Britain's most famous waterways: the River Thames.

Richard discusses how long-term occupation of land adjoining the river can give rise to adverse possession claims, and the legal issues that arise when moorings, boundaries and ownership rights become blurred over time.

The episode explores the legal issues affecting landowners, developers, marina operators, local authorities and those living and working along the Thames.

Cases discussed include:

Port of London Authority v Ashmore [2009]

Port of London Authority v Tower Bridge Yacht & Boat Co Ltd [2013]

Couper and Another v Albion Properties Ltd and Others [2013]

Port of London Authority v Paul Mendoza [2017]

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Training & Free Webinars for Property Professionals:

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest in real estate law? Davitt Jones Bould offers legal training tailored to your organisation’s needs, delivered in person across the UK or remotely. We also run free monthly webinars through for surveyors, solicitors, and property professionals across sectors. To sign up or learn more, visit our events page here or email [email protected] for information and booking. 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. No liability is accepted by Davitt Jones Bould for any reliance placed on its content.

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In this episode of When Land Meets the Sea, Richard Snape and Elizabeth Collin continue to explore the law of the foreshore, the strip of land lying between high and low water marks that forms the ever-changing boundary between land and sea.

Drawing on cases including Attorney-General v Chambers (1854), Blundell v Catterall (1821) and Bocardo SA v Star Energy Weald Basin Ltd (2010), Richard unpacks who owns the foreshore, the extent of public rights over beaches, and how the law balances private ownership with public access.

The episode also examines the development of the England and Wales Coast Path, exploring how these coastal access routes have expanded opportunities for the public to enjoy the coastline while raising important questions about land ownership, and access rights.

From Victorian disputes about bathing on the beach to modern debates about access, ownership and development, this episode reveals how centuries of property law continue to shape the way we use, enjoy and protect our coastline today.

Whether you are a landowner, developer, surveyor, property lawyer, local authority officer or simply someone who enjoys a walk along the coast, this episode offers an introduction to the legal issues that lie between the land and the sea.

Cases discussed include:

Attorney-General v Chambers (1854)

Bocardo SA v Star Energy Weald Basin Ltd (2010)

Blundell v Catterall (1821)

Malcomson v O'Dea (1863) 

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Training & Free Webinars for Property Professionals:

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest in real estate law? Davitt Jones Bould offers legal training tailored to your organisation’s needs, delivered in person across the UK or remotely. We also run free monthly webinars through for surveyors, solicitors, and property professionals across sectors. To sign up or learn more, visit our events page here or email [email protected] for information and booking. 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. No liability is accepted by Davitt Jones Bould for any reliance placed on its content.

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Who is liable when nature destroys your property?

Imagine buying your dream coastal property, only to discover that the cliff beneath it is slowly disappearing.

As Richard and Lizzie continue their journey around Britain's coastline, they tackle one of the most dramatic consequences of coastal erosion: what happens when the land beneath your property literally falls into the sea?

From collapsing hotels to cliff-top homes and protected coastlines, this episode explores who bears the legal risk when nature takes its course.

Drawing on cases including Holbeck Hall Hotel v Scarborough Borough Council, Taylor v Diamond and R (Boggis) v Natural England, Richard and Lizzie examine how the law balances private property rights with the natural movement of the coastline.

As coastal erosion accelerates around the UK, these cases are becoming increasingly relevant for anyone involved in coastal development, planning or property ownership. They demonstrate that while the law cannot stop the sea, it plays a crucial role in determining where responsibility begins, and ends.

‘When Land Meets the Sea’ is a podcast series exploring the legal, commercial and environmental issues shaping the future of Britain's coastal communities.

Relevant Cases:

Taylor v Diamond [2012]

Holbeck Hall Hotel v Scarborough BC [2001]

R (Boggis & Anor) v Natural England [2009]

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Training & Free Webinars for Property Professionals:

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest in real estate law? Davitt Jones Bould offers legal training tailored to your organisation’s needs, delivered in person across the UK or remotely. We also run free monthly webinars through for surveyors, solicitors, and property professionals across sectors. To sign up or learn more, visit our events page here or email [email protected] for information and booking. 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. No liability is accepted by Davitt Jones Bould for any reliance placed on its content.

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Imagine waking up one morning to discover you've gained a few metres of beach... or lost half your garden to the sea. It sounds like bad luck, but English property law has had an answer for this since Roman times. In this episode we're looking at three wonderfully obscure words, accretion, diluvion and avulsion.

On the next stop of their coastal road trip, Richard and Lizzie explore one of the oldest and most unusual areas of property law: the legal consequences of a changing coastline.

The principles of accretion, diluvion and avulsion date back to Roman law, yet they continue to determine ownership of coastal land and riverbeds today. Despite their importance, remarkably little modern case law exists, leaving lawyers to rely on legal principles that are centuries old.

 In this episode of ‘When Land Meets the Sea’, Richard and Lizzie explain how the law deals with land that nature quietly gives... and quietly takes away.

 They discuss:

• What accretion, diluvion and avulsion actually mean (without the Latin headache)
• Why ownership boundaries can move naturally over time
• The legal difference between gradual erosion and a sudden landslide
• How these principles apply to both coastlines and riverbeds
• The case of Gifford v Lord Yarborough (1828) and why it still matters today
• Who owns newly formed land created by natural processes
• What happens when coastal erosion causes land to disappear

 As rising sea levels, coastal erosion and changing river systems become increasingly significant, these legal principles remain relevant. Whether you're a coastal landowner, developer, surveyor or simply fascinated by the law of the shoreline, this episode uncovers how nature can quietly redraw legal boundaries without anyone signing a document.

‘When Land Meets the Sea’ is a podcast series exploring the legal, commercial and environmental issues shaping the future of Britain's coastal communities.

Relevant cases:

Gifford v Lord Yarborough (1828)

Ramsbury Properties Ltd v Oceanview Construction Ltd [2024]

Attorney-General of Southern Nigeria v. John Holt & Co. (Liverpool) Ltd. [1915]

Southern Centre of Theosophy Inc v State of South Australia [1982]

Lynn Shellfish Ltd v Loose [2016]

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Training & Free Webinars for Property Professionals:

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest in real estate law? Davitt Jones Bould offers legal training tailored to your organisation’s needs, delivered in person across the UK or remotely. We also run free monthly webinars through for surveyors, solicitors, and property professionals across sectors. To sign up or learn more, visit our events page here or email [email protected] for information and booking. 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. No liability is accepted by Davitt Jones Bould for any reliance placed on its content.

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From coastal paths to private estates, golf courses to historic garden developments, the West Country has quietly generated case law on easements and covenants.

Drawing on cases including Re Ellenborough Park, Wilkinson v Kerdene, Jelbert v Davis, Churston Golf Club v Haddock and Stenner v Teignbridge District Council, Richard and Lizzie explore how legal rights over land can bind owners long after the original deal was struck.

In this episode, Richard and Lizzie discuss:

• What actually counts as an easement
 • How rights over parks, estates and shared spaces are created and enforced
 • The tension between private landownership and public or communal access
 • Why covenants can run with land and continue binding future owners
 • How disputes over footpaths, access routes and recreational land reach the courts
 • The role of golf clubs, coastal developments and local authorities in shaping modern case law
 • When historic rights become commercially significant property constraints
 • How courts balance fairness, practicality and long-established land use

‘When Land Meets the Sea’  is a podcast series exploring the legal, commercial and environmental issues shaping the future of Britain’s coastal communities.

Relevant cases:
 Re Ellenborough Park [1955]
Wilkinson v Kerdene [2013]
Jelbert v Davis [1968]
Churston Golf Club v Haddock [2019]
Stenner v Teignbridge District Council [2025] 

Halsall v Brizell [1957]

Austerberry v Corporation of Oldham (1885)

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Training & Free Webinars for Property Professionals:

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest in real estate law? Davitt Jones Bould offers legal training tailored to your organisation’s needs, delivered in person across the UK or remotely. We also run free monthly webinars through for surveyors, solicitors, and property professionals across sectors. To sign up or learn more, visit our events page here or email [email protected] for information and booking. 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. No liability is accepted by Davitt Jones Bould for any reliance placed on its content.

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As their coastal road trip continues, Richard and Lizzie turn their attention to village greens.

Despite the name, a village green does not need to be in a village, nor does it need to be green. Quarries, industrial land, playing fields and even beaches have all been the subject of village green claims.

In this episode of ‘When Land Meets the Sea’, Richard explores the West Beach in Newhaven and the Supreme Court decision in R (Newhaven Port & Properties Ltd) v East Sussex County Council [2015].

The case raised a fundamental question: can land used by local people for recreation become a village green, even when it forms part of a working commercial port?

Richard and Lizzie discuss:

• What qualifies as a town or village green under English law
 • Why a beach can potentially become a village green
 • The legal test of public use "as of right"
 • The difference between using land by permission and using it as a legal right
 • How local recreational use can create powerful rights over land
 • Why the Supreme Court ruled that Newhaven's West Beach could not be registered as a village green
 • The concept of "statutory incompatibility" and its impact on ports, infrastructure and public bodies
 • What the decision means for coastal landowners, harbour authorities, developers and local communities

The Newhaven case highlights the often delicate balance between public access, community interests and the operational needs of critical coastal infrastructure. 

Whether you are involved in coastal development, public sector property, ports, regeneration projects or simply enjoy exploring Britain's beaches, this episode offers a fascinating insight into the hidden legal rights that can exist beneath our feet.

‘When Land Meets the Sea’ is a podcast series exploring the legal, commercial and environmental issues shaping the future of Britain's coastal communities.

Relevant cases: 

TW Logistics v Essex County Council [2018] 

Get in touch!

Training & Free Webinars for Property Professionals:

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest in real estate law? Davitt Jones Bould offers legal training tailored to your organisation’s needs, delivered in person across the UK or remotely. We also run free monthly webinars through for surveyors, solicitors, and property professionals across sectors. To sign up or learn more, visit our events page here or email [email protected] for information and booking. 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. No liability is accepted by Davitt Jones Bould for any reliance placed on its content.

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Who owns the land between high and low tide? Can the Crown claim ownership of coastal land through adverse possession? What rights do the public really have to use beaches?

In this episode of the our miniseries ‘When Land Meets The Sea’, hosts Richard and Lizzie explore ownership of the foreshore and coastal land in England and Wales.

Drawing on cases including Blundell v Catterall (1821), Mark Andrew Roberts v Crown Estate Commissioners (2008) and Mark Andrew Robert v Swangrove Estates Ltd & Ors (2007), Richard examine’s the centuries-old legal principles that continue to shape our coastline today.

They discuss:

• Why the public does not automatically have a legal right to use the foreshore
 • How the Crown Estate came to own most of the foreshore around England and Wales
 • Whether the Crown can acquire land through adverse possession (squatter's rights)
 • The legal battle over ownership of the Severn Estuary foreshore
 • The significance of dredging, licensing and coastal management activities in establishing ownership rights
 • The continuing impact of adverse possession principles following JA Pye (Oxford) Ltd v Graham

When Land Meets The Sea is a podcast series exploring the legal, commercial and environmental issues shaping the future of Britain's coastal communities.

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Training & Free Webinars for Property Professionals:

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest in real estate law? Davitt Jones Bould offers legal training tailored to your organisation’s needs, delivered in person across the UK or remotely. We also run free monthly webinars through for surveyors, solicitors, and property professionals across sectors. To sign up or learn more, visit our events page here or email [email protected] for information and booking. 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. No liability is accepted by Davitt Jones Bould for any reliance placed on its content.

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In this episode of Unpacking the Case, we examine the Upper Tribunal's decision in Notting Hill Home Ownership Ltd v Samoail and Others [2026] UKUT 235 (LC), a significant ruling for landlords, housing associations and shared ownership providers.

The Tribunal confirmed that shared ownership leaseholders cannot be required to pay service charges for parts of an estate that fall outside the scope of their sub-lease and which they are unable to access. The decision dismissed appeals brought by Notting Hill Genesis and followed disputes involving substantial service charge demands, with some residents facing bills of more than £6,000 to contribute towards maintenance.

We explore why the wording of leases remains crucial, and the wider implications for service charge recovery, estate management and shared ownership developments across England and Wales.

Whether you advise landlords, manage residential developments or work in the affordable housing sector, this episode highlights an important reminder that service charge obligations must be rooted firmly in the rights and responsibilities set out in the lease.

Relevant Cases:

Chartbrook Ltd v Persimmon Homes Ltd [2009]

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Training & Free Webinars for Property Professionals:

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest in real estate law? Davitt Jones Bould offers legal training tailored to your organisation’s needs, delivered in person across the UK or remotely. We also run free monthly webinars through for surveyors, solicitors, and property professionals across sectors. To sign up or learn more, visit our events page here or email [email protected] for information and booking. 

This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or professional advice. No liability is accepted by Davitt Jones Bould for any reliance placed on its content.

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