Molly Tarring is a Solicitor in the Development Risk team, with a particular focus on rights of light and development disputes.

Rights of Light

• Strategy: Assisting with strategy advice in relation to large-scale developments and their impacts on neighbouring properties. This includes assisting with reviewing and amending rights of light indemnity policies so these are tailored towards a client’s needs, considering whether appropriation may be a viable option (and, if so, how this might work in practice), and liaising about the benefits and drawbacks of proactively approaching neighbouring owners.
• Light Obstruction Notices: Assisting with the service and registration of LONs on properties neighbouring our client’s development to seek to prevent prescriptive rights from accruing.
• Deeds of release: Drafting, negotiating and completing rights of light release deeds and compensation deeds for both developer and neighbouring owner clients.
• Title reviews: Undertaking title reviews for neighbouring properties to ascertain whether there are title provisions or historic conveyances that preclude neighbours from enjoying rights of light over our client’s development.

Rights of Way

• Highways and Landowner Statements: Assisting developer client with Highways and Landowner Statements to prevent land registration as a town and village green and right of way, including advice to clients about prescriptive rights and liaising with relevant councils to formally file the Statements.
• Rights of Way: Assisting with an objection to an application to register routes over a client’s land as public rights of way.

Housebuilder Disputes

• Consumer Code/NHOS claims: Assisting a national housebuilder client with a number of Consumer Code claims. This involves initial fact-finding to ascertain the key aspects of the complaint, consideration of the Code’s application to the specific claim, drafting a response and finalising this with the client to seek to successfully defend the claim.
• Money Claims Online: Where housebuilder clients’ customers have sought to bring Money Claims against the client, advising the client on the Money Claims process, drafting defences and helping the client to submit these. Where necessary, drafting and issuing instructions to Counsel to provide them with the necessary information to successfully defend a claim.
• Customer Disputes: Assisting housebuilder client with formal legal correspondence against claims and complaints by customers.
• Boundary Disputes: Providing advice on a boundary dispute including investigation of the title position, liaising with the customer direct and presenting viable options to the client to seek to resolve the dispute.