James Sandham
Barrister

Contact details james.sandham@ardenchambers.com
Tel: 020 7242 4244
Fax: 020 7424 3224
Year of Call (& Silk) 2003
Areas of practice Real Property and Land Law
Residential and Commercial Landlord and Tenant
Leasehold Valuation Tribunal
Housing
Summary James has a commercial background and his practice covers a wide variety of property and land law, residential and commercial landlord and tenant, LVT, and housing.

After graduating from university James read for the LL.M in commercial law at the University of Bristol, focussing on commercial property, revenue and tax, financial services and markets, and employment law. James gained further experience working in the legal department of a multinational insurance company.

Upon completion of the Bar Exams he was certified ‘Very Competent’ by the Inns of Court School of Law and, following successful completion of pupillage, he joined Arden Chambers as a tenant in early 2006.

James appears in county courts and tribunals nationwide (including the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal) and has considerable experience of civil applications in the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts.
Areas of practice detail
Real Property and Land Law All aspects of real property including applications under TOLATA, interlocutory relief (including ex parte injunctions), adverse possession, nuisance, breach of covenant, derogation from grant, dilapidations, and trespass.

James has a particular interest in the equitable remedies arising in co-ownership and beneficial interest cases in the aftermath of recent decisions in Oxley v Hiscock and Stack v Dowden (e.g. constructive an resulting trusts, estoppel)

James acts for mortgagors and mortgagees in claims for orders for sale, and third party debt orders.
Residential and Commercial Landlord and Tenant James acts for a wide range of private landlords and those renting private property. James also receives instructions from trusts, RSLs, and many London and provincial local authorities in relation to forfeiture and possession proceedings

James acts in business tenancy proceedings under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, including forfeiture, relief, lease renewal, rent review, and break notices.
Leasehold Valuation Tribunal James acts on behalf of landlords, their managing agents and tenants and is familiar with all aspects of the LVT, including property management disputes, service charges, collective enfranchisement, and enforcement proceedings in the county court (post CLRA 2002). In addition to advocacy James undertakes advisory work and pleadings.
Housing James frequently advises, drafts, and conducts trials on behalf of landlords and tenants in claims for possession under the Housing Acts 1985, 1988, 1996 (as amended) and Rent Act for and against secure, assured, and protected tenants; succession disputes.

Disrepair proceedings brought by tenants (and defended by landlords) under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 4 of the Defective Premises Act 1972.

Applications for injunctive relief under s.222 Local Government Act 1972.

He has experience of anti-social behaviour applications and trials (s.153A-D HA 1996 and s.1 CDA1998) and is frequently instructed by the community safety team of a large local authority.

He has extensive experience of committal proceedings for contempt (both on paper and following arrest).
Noteworthy cases
Housing
  • White v Riverside Housing Association Ltd (2007) UKHL 20; Times, May 7, 2007 (HL) Instructed by the Housing Corporation (as intervener) in the House of Lords’ decision in Riverside v White (2007) UKHL 20 (HL) as junior counsel to assist in preparatory work.
 
  • The Standards Board for England v Councillors Dunn, Hitchins, Fox, Vaja and Valery (2006) Instructed as junior counsel to assist with preparatory work on behalf of the Chief Executive of a London local authority (as an interested party).
Legal publications
Author Alienation covenants and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1988: it ain't over until the landlord consents!
Conveyancer and Property Lawyer Conv. (2004) November/December 453-481
Author A review of the impact of Mannai Investments v Eagle Star Life Assurance on the service of notices in commercial leases
Conveyancer and Property Lawyer Conv. (2004) September/October 361-369
Memberships
  • Housing Law Practitioners Association
  • Property Bar Association
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