The new Employment Landscape for farmers

Finding, and retaining good, loyal and reliable employees is a challenge for every employer – but especially so for farmers since Brexit, according to a survey commissioned by Arla in 2024, which states that famers are now paying more for their staff, in addition to increased stock and running costs. In addition to Brexit, the Employment Rights Bill may bring further contractual issues as most farm employers typically use a combination of full time, fixed term employees, agency workers and seasonal workers on zero hours contracts. Jessica Gowar, Head of Employment at Ware & Kay incorporating Pearsons & Ward warns that “Soon, zero hours contracts will be considered to be exploitative and therefore will be banned, so farmers need to act now to stay ahead of the curve, and protect themselves from potential problems and employment…

The latest on serving Section 21 notices

In a recent case of Khan and another v D’Aubigny the Court of Appeal considered a decision made by Wandsworth County Court in which Dr Kameel Khan and his wife Mrs Julia Khan (the Khans) were the landlords of a flat which they let to Mrs Elena D’Aubigny (the tenant) under an AST. The Khans served a S21 notice on the tenant and then applied for possession of the flat. For tenancies that started on or after 1 October 2015, a landlord cannot serve a valid section 21 notice if they have not given the tenant a copy of the current gas safety certificate and a valid energy performance certificate (EPC) together with the ‘How to Rent’ booklet before giving notice. The Khans said that their solicitor had posted copies of the documents to the tenant…

Where is your boundary: Can landowners rely on a Land Registry plan?

Landowners faced with disputes over their boundaries often point to the Land Registry plan for their land as evidence of what they own and their property boundaries. Unfortunately title plans are not definitive and will not necessarily show the precise location of the boundaries. Unless the owner of registered land has entered into a boundary agreement or had the boundary line determined by a Court or the Land Registry, the great majority of registered titles show only the ’general boundaries’; this means that the Land Registry plan gives an approximation of a property’s extent rather than an exact delineation. In the recent Court of Appeal decision of Clapham v Narga the Court confirmed that the Land Registry’s plan was ordinarily irrelevant in establishing where a boundary is located. This case was a long running dispute…

Martin House Make a Will during the month of March 2025

Leave your legacy to help us continue ours     If, like many other people you have been putting off writing your Will, this is your chance to put that right. Ware & Kay Solicitors has teamed up with Martin House to give you the opportunity to have your basic Will written for free. Legacies are vitally important to Martin House. In fact, they make up more than a quarter of our entire voluntary income, meaning the cost of caring for one in four of our children is covered by gifts left in Wills. Over half of UK adults have not made a Will. It's not always easy to think about what might happen when we die. But making a Will is an important step to ensuring the people and things you care about are taken care of after you're gone…