Legal guides

Being told your role is redundant isn’t the same as being told you have no rights. Statutory redundancy pay, a minimum notice period, consultation, and — in some cases — a claim for unfair dismissal are all built into UK employment law, and knowing which apply to your situation can make a real financial difference.

Who qualifies for statutory redundancy pay

GOV.UK is clear on the headline rule: you’re normally entitled to statutory redundancy pay if you’re an employee (not certain other types of worker) and you’ve worked for your current employer continuously for two years or more. Falling just short of two years’ continuous service generally means no entitlement to the statutory payment at all, regardless of how genuine the redundancy is — which is why the exact start date of continuous employment can matter enormously if a redundancy happens close to that anniversary.

How the statutory payment is actually calculated

The amount isn’t a flat figure — it’s based on age, length of service and weekly pay, using bands set out in law. For each full year worked, you get: half a week’s pay for each full year under age 22; one week’s pay for each full year aged 22 to 40; and one and a half week’s pay for each full year aged 41 or over. Length of service is capped at 20 years. Weekly pay is based on your average earnings over the 12 weeks before you received your redundancy notice, but that weekly figure is itself capped — for redundancies from 6 April 2026, the weekly pay used in the calculation is capped at £751, making the maximum possible statutory redundancy payment £22,530. Many employers pay more than the statutory minimum under a contractual or enhanced redundancy scheme, but the statutory figure is the legal floor, not a target.

Individual consultation: a right for everyone at risk

Regardless of how many people are affected, GOV.UK confirms that anyone being made redundant is entitled to a consultation with their employer. For smaller-scale redundancies, there’s no fixed statutory procedure or minimum timeframe the way there is for collective consultation — but a genuine, meaningful consultation is still expected, covering things like why the role is at risk, whether there are suitable alternative roles, and whether the selection process (where multiple roles are being reduced to fewer) has been applied fairly. An employer who simply announces a decision, without any real opportunity for the employee to respond or be considered for alternatives, risks the redundancy being found unfair later.

Collective consultation for larger redundancies

Different, stricter rules apply once an employer proposes making 20 or more employees redundant at one establishment within a 90-day period. This triggers collective consultation duties under section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992: the employer must consult with a recognised trade union or elected employee representatives, covering ways to avoid the redundancies, the reasons behind them, and ways to reduce the number of dismissals and mitigate their effects. This consultation must start at least 30 days before the first dismissal takes effect where 20 to 99 redundancies are proposed, rising to at least 45 days where 100 or more are proposed. Employers must also notify the government’s Redundancy Payments Service within the same timescales, before any individual notice of dismissal is issued.

Notice periods

Separately from redundancy pay, employees are entitled to statutory minimum notice of dismissal once they’ve worked for at least one month: one week’s notice for each full year of service up to 12 years (so a maximum of 12 weeks under the statutory minimum), or the notice period set out in the employment contract if that’s longer. Pay in lieu of notice, where the employer ends employment immediately but pays the equivalent salary for the notice period, is common practice but should be clearly agreed rather than assumed.

When a redundancy can become an unfair dismissal claim

• The redundancy needs to be genuine — a real reduction in the need for employees to carry out a particular kind of work, not a pretext for removing someone for another reason such as raising a grievance or taking maternity leave.
• Selection for redundancy, where several roles are being reduced to fewer, needs to be based on fair, objective criteria applied consistently — selecting someone based on protected characteristics, or on an unfair or inconsistently applied scoring process, can found an unfair dismissal or discrimination claim.
• An employer generally needs to have considered suitable alternative employment within the business before dismissing someone as redundant, rather than jumping straight to dismissal.
• To bring an unfair dismissal claim specifically (as opposed to a redundancy pay dispute), an employee generally needs two years’ continuous service, mirroring the redundancy pay threshold, and must go through ACAS early conciliation before lodging a tribunal claim.

FAQs

What if my employer offers me a different role instead of redundancy?

If it’s a genuinely suitable alternative role, unreasonably refusing it can affect your entitlement to redundancy pay. You’re generally entitled to a four-week trial period in the new role to decide whether it’s suitable, without automatically losing your redundancy rights during that trial.

Does redundancy pay count as taxable income?

Statutory redundancy pay, and most enhanced redundancy payments up to £30,000, are not usually subject to income tax or National Insurance, though this depends on how the payment is structured and any other sums paid alongside it — it’s worth checking the specific breakdown of what you’ve been offered.

Can I still get redundancy pay if the company goes insolvent?

Yes — if your employer can’t pay, you can usually claim statutory redundancy pay and other outstanding payments directly from the government’s Redundancy Payments Service, which then becomes a creditor of the insolvent employer in your place.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Redundancy — your rights, statutory redundancy pay
• GOV.UK: Redundancy — your rights, consultation

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives anyone — not just journalists or campaigners — a legal right to ask a public authority what information it holds and to be given a copy, subject to specific exemptions. It’s a different legal right from a Data Subject Access Request, which only lets you see information held about you personally.

Which organisations the right applies to

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland has its own equivalent, the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002), and covers what the Act calls “public authorities” — this includes government departments, local councils, the NHS, state schools, universities, the police, and a long list of other public bodies. It doesn’t extend to purely private companies, even ones delivering a public service under contract, unless the contract specifically brings them within scope — a distinction worth checking before assuming a request will succeed.

How to actually make a valid request

Under section 8 of the Act, a request only has to meet a few basic conditions to be valid: it must be in writing (which includes email), it must state your real name, it must include an address for correspondence, and it must describe clearly what information you’re asking for. GOV.UK’s own guidance is explicit that you don’t need to mention the Freedom of Information Act by name, or use any particular form of words — an ordinary, clearly worded written request to the right organisation is enough to trigger the legal duty to respond.

The 20 working day response deadline

Once a valid request is received, the public authority generally has 20 working days to respond, under section 10 of the Act. The ICO’s guidance counts the first working day after the request arrives as day one. In some circumstances involving a public interest balancing test on a qualified exemption, an authority can extend this to a “reasonable” further period, and the Secretary of State has power to extend the limit to a maximum of 60 working days by regulation — but a straightforward request without a genuinely contested exemption should be answered within the standard 20 working days.

When a request can be refused on cost grounds

Authorities don’t have to comply if answering would exceed a set cost limit, calculated at a notional £25 per hour of staff time. According to the ICO, the limit is £600 (24 hours) for central government departments, Parliament and the armed forces, and £450 (18 hours) for all other public authorities, including local councils, the NHS and police forces. If a request would cost more than this to answer, the authority can refuse it on cost grounds alone — though it should normally tell you this and, where reasonable, help you refine the request into something that would fall under the limit.

Exemptions: what can lawfully be withheld

• Absolute exemptions — information doesn’t have to be disclosed at all if it falls under these, regardless of public interest. Examples include information already reasonably accessible by other means, information covered by court records, and personal information about a third party (which is separately protected under data protection law).
• Qualified exemptions — these can be applied, but only where the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosure. Examples include national security, law enforcement, the formulation of government policy, and commercial interests.
• Neither confirm nor deny — in narrow circumstances, an authority can decline to even confirm whether it holds the requested information, if doing so would itself cause the harm an exemption is designed to prevent.

What to do if a request is refused or ignored

If an authority refuses a request, it must explain which exemption it’s relying on and offer an internal review process. If you’re not satisfied with the outcome of that internal review, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is the independent regulator responsible for enforcing the Act. The ICO can investigate and, where it finds the authority has acted unlawfully, issue a decision notice requiring disclosure or ordering the authority to properly reconsider the request. Beyond the ICO, there’s a further right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) if either side disagrees with the ICO’s decision.

FAQs

Do I have to explain why I want the information?

No. The right under the Freedom of Information Act is applicant and motive-blind in almost all cases — you don’t need to give a reason, and the authority generally isn’t allowed to ask why you want the information before deciding whether to release it.

Can I ask a private company for information under FOI?

Generally no, unless that company has been specifically designated as a public authority for FOI purposes, or the information relates to a public contract where the authority itself holds relevant records. Purely private businesses sit outside the Act’s scope.

What’s the difference between an FOI request and a Subject Access Request?

An FOI request asks a public authority for information it holds generally, on any subject. A Subject Access Request, made under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, only lets you see personal data held specifically about you, and can be made to private organisations as well as public ones.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Make a Freedom of Information request
• ICO: Request handling under the Freedom of Information Act

If you’re a tenant or landlord in England who’s heard of “Section 21 notices” and “no-fault evictions,” it’s worth knowing that the law changed significantly this year. Since 1 May 2026, Section 21 has been abolished entirely under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 — landlords can no longer end a tenancy without giving a reason.

What Section 21 used to allow

Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 let a landlord end an assured shorthold tenancy without stating any reason at all, provided they gave the correct notice period and the tenancy met certain procedural conditions (deposit protection, gas safety certificates and similar paperwork being up to date). This became widely known as “no-fault eviction,” because the tenant could be asked to leave even if they’d never missed rent or breached the tenancy — the landlord simply didn’t have to justify the decision to a court.

What changed on 1 May 2026

GOV.UK’s guidance for landlords is direct on the current position: since 1 May 2026, landlords can no longer apply to the court for a possession order using a Section 21 notice. Any Section 21 notice served before that date had to reach court by 31 July 2026 or it stopped being usable altogether. For any tenancy ending now, the only lawful route to possession in England is a Section 8 notice under the Housing Act 1988, using one of the specific statutory grounds for possession set out in the Act, as reformed by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025.

What a Section 8 notice actually requires

A Section 8 notice has always required the landlord to specify a ground for possession and to set out, in the notice itself, the substance of that ground and why the landlord believes it applies. GOV.UK’s current guidance for notices served on or after 1 May 2026 confirms the main categories of ground still include: rent arrears, damage to the property, antisocial behaviour or nuisance to neighbours, breach of the tenancy agreement’s terms, the landlord needing to move back into the property, the landlord wanting to sell the property, and the mortgage lender repossessing the property. Grounds are split between mandatory grounds, where a court must grant possession if the landlord proves the ground, and discretionary grounds, where the court weighs the evidence and can refuse possession even if the ground is technically made out.

Notice periods have generally got longer

One consistent theme of the reform is longer notice periods for tenants. For most grounds that previously carried a two-month notice period, tenants must now be given at least four months’ notice before proceedings can follow. There are exceptions built around fairness in both directions: serious rent arrears and antisocial behaviour grounds can still carry much shorter notice periods, reflecting that those situations involve the tenant’s own conduct, while grounds based on the landlord’s own plans — selling the property or moving in themselves — cannot even be used until the tenancy has run for at least 12 months, specifically to stop these grounds being used as a disguised way to avoid genuine security of tenure early in a tenancy.

Why this only applies in England

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 reforms the Housing Act 1988, which governs assured and assured shorthold tenancies in England. Wales already moved to a different tenancy system under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which uses “occupation contracts” rather than assured shorthold tenancies and has its own separate notice rules and timescales for “no-fault” style possession by a landlord. Anyone renting in Wales should check Welsh Government guidance specifically, rather than assuming the England-only Renters’ Rights Act changes apply to their tenancy.

What this means in practice

• A landlord in England can no longer end a tenancy simply because it suits them, without stating and being able to justify a specific ground to a court.
• A tenant served with an eviction notice is entitled to be told exactly which ground is being relied on, and the reasoning behind it — a vague or unexplained notice is not valid under the current rules.
• Discretionary grounds mean even a technically valid notice doesn’t guarantee possession — a court can still consider the tenant’s circumstances and refuse the order.
• Notice periods differ significantly by ground, so the same tenancy could face a very short notice period for serious arrears or nuisance, or a much longer one where the landlord wants to sell or move in.

FAQs

Can a landlord still evict a tenant with no reason at all in England?

No. Since 1 May 2026, every notice of possession must state a specific ground under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, and the landlord has to justify why that ground applies. The “no reason needed” Section 21 route no longer exists for tenancies in England.

What happens to a Section 21 notice served before 1 May 2026?

It could only be used if the landlord applied to court by 31 July 2026. Any Section 21 notice not acted on by that deadline is no longer valid, and the landlord would now need to serve a fresh Section 8 notice with a stated ground instead.

Does this change apply to tenancies in Wales too?

No — the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 amends the Housing Act 1988, which applies in England. Wales operates under its own separate system, the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, with different rules on ending a tenancy.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Giving notice of possession to tenants before 1 May 2026
• GOV.UK: Repossessing your privately rented property after 1 May 2026

Since April 2022, getting divorced in England and Wales no longer means proving your spouse did something wrong. The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 replaced the old fault-based system with a single ground — irretrievable breakdown — and a fixed statutory timeline that applies whether the application is made by one spouse or jointly.

Who can apply, and on what ground

You can apply for a divorce in England and Wales if you’ve been married for over a year, your relationship has permanently broken down, and your marriage is legally recognised in the UK, as GOV.UK’s own guidance confirms. Unlike the pre-2022 system, there’s no longer any need to cite adultery, unreasonable behaviour or a period of separation as evidence — a statement that the marriage has broken down irretrievably is enough on its own, and the other spouse generally cannot contest that statement in court.

Sole vs joint applications

You can apply alone, as the “applicant”, with your spouse then receiving the application as the “respondent” — or you can apply jointly, as “applicant 1” and “applicant 2”, if you both agree the marriage has broken down. A joint application can switch to a sole one if one party stops engaging, but a sole application cannot later become a joint one. Which route suits a couple often comes down to whether they can realistically cooperate on paperwork and timing, not just whether they agree the marriage is over.

The court fee and how to apply

The standard court fee for applying for a divorce, dissolution or judicial separation in England and Wales is £628, payable when the application is submitted, whether that’s done online through GOV.UK’s digital service or by post. Help with court fees is available for people on a low income or certain benefits, reducing or waiving the fee depending on financial circumstances. Applying online is generally quicker to process than a paper application, and GOV.UK notes it as the recommended route for most people.

The 20-week reflection period

This is the part of the process that most surprises people: even once the application is issued, there’s a mandatory minimum wait of 20 weeks before you can apply for the next stage, called a conditional order. According to GOV.UK’s guidance on applying for a conditional order, this 20-week period runs from when the application was issued, and only starts counting once the respondent has been formally served and, for a sole application, has returned an acknowledgement of service (or alternative service has been confirmed by the court). The reflection period exists by design — it was one of the more debated parts of the 2020 reforms, intended to give couples a genuine pause before the legal process moves toward finality, rather than allowing a divorce to be rushed through in days.

Conditional order and final order

Once the 20 weeks have passed, either spouse (or both, for a joint application) can apply for a conditional order — the modern equivalent of what used to be called “decree nisi”. This is a formal statement from the court that it sees no reason the divorce cannot go ahead, but the marriage is still legally in force at this point. A further six weeks and one day must then pass before applying for the final order (formerly “decree absolute”), which is the document that actually, legally ends the marriage. Financial matters, including any consent order dividing assets, are generally best resolved before applying for the final order, since remarrying or finalising the divorce can affect certain financial claims between former spouses.

Realistic overall timeline

• Minimum possible timeline: around 26 weeks (roughly six months) from application to final order, assuming no delays in service, acknowledgement or court processing.
• Typical real-world timeline: often closer to eight or nine months, once normal court processing times and any delays in serving the respondent are factored in.
• You cannot apply at all until you’ve been married for more than a year, regardless of how long the relationship itself has actually broken down for.
• Children and finances are handled separately from the divorce process itself — the divorce ends the marriage, but arrangements for children or splitting assets need their own agreement or court order.

What the no-fault reform actually changed

Before April 2022, anyone wanting to divorce without waiting for a period of separation had to attribute blame — citing the other spouse’s adultery or “unreasonable behaviour” as the legal basis, even in genuinely amicable separations. This created an structural incentive to manufacture conflict on paper, which family lawyers and reform campaigners argued made divorces more acrimonious than they needed to be. The 2020 Act removed the ability to contest the divorce itself (contesting is now only possible on very narrow jurisdictional grounds, such as disputing that the marriage is legally valid or that the courts have jurisdiction), and introduced the option of a joint application for the first time.

FAQs

Can my spouse stop the divorce if they don’t want it?

Generally no. Since the 2020 reforms, a respondent cannot contest a divorce simply because they disagree with it or dispute that the marriage has broken down — contesting is now limited to narrow legal issues like jurisdiction or the validity of the marriage itself.

Do I need a solicitor to get a no-fault divorce?

No — the online GOV.UK process is designed to be usable without a solicitor for the divorce application itself. Many people still take legal advice for the financial settlement or arrangements for children, which are separate matters the divorce process doesn’t automatically resolve.

Can the 20-week reflection period be skipped or shortened?

Not in ordinary circumstances — it’s a statutory minimum built into the process. Courts have limited discretion to depart from the standard timeline only in specific, unusual circumstances, so most applicants should expect the full 20 weeks to apply.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Get a divorce or end a civil partnership
• GOV.UK: Apply for a conditional order — sole application

Making a will yourself is legal in England and Wales, and for a straightforward estate it can be done without a solicitor. But the formalities set out in the Wills Act 1837 are strict, and getting even one of them wrong can mean the will fails entirely — leaving the estate to be distributed under the intestacy rules instead of the wishes actually written down.

The five legal requirements for a valid will

Under section 9 of the Wills Act 1837, a will is only legally valid in England and Wales if it meets all of the following conditions: it must be in writing; it must be signed by the person making it (the testator), or signed by someone else in their presence and at their direction; the testator must sign, or acknowledge an existing signature, in the presence of two witnesses who are both present at the same time; and each witness must then sign the will, or acknowledge their signature, in the testator’s presence. Missing any one of these steps — even something that looks minor, like a witness signing after leaving the room — can make the whole will invalid.

Age and mental capacity

The testator must be 18 or over, except in limited cases such as armed forces personnel on active service, and must have “testamentary capacity” — broadly, understanding that they’re making a will, roughly what they own, and who might reasonably expect to benefit. GOV.UK’s guidance confirms the practical version of this test: the person must be of sound mind and make the will voluntarily, without pressure from anyone else.

Who can — and cannot — act as a witness

Witnesses must be 18 or over, and it’s sensible for them to be someone with no personal stake in the will’s contents. This matters because of a specific rule: if a witness (or their husband, wife or civil partner) is left anything in the will, that particular gift to them is void, even though the rest of the will can remain valid. GOV.UK is explicit on this point, warning that you cannot leave your witnesses, or their married partners, anything in your will. In practice, this usually means asking two neighbours, colleagues or friends who aren’t beneficiaries, rather than family members who stand to inherit.

How the signing and witnessing actually has to happen

The physical mechanics of signing matter more than people often expect. Both witnesses need a clear line of sight to the testator at the moment of signing (or acknowledging an existing signature) — watching through a window or open door can be acceptable, but they do need to actually see the act happen, not simply be told about it afterwards. The witnesses don’t need to sign at exactly the same moment as each other, but each must sign, or acknowledge their own signature, while the testator is present. If the testator can’t physically sign, someone else can sign on their behalf, provided this is done in the testator’s presence and at their clear direction.

Changing a will after it’s made

A will isn’t fixed for life, but changes need to follow the same formalities as making a new one. A small change can sometimes be made by a separate document called a codicil, which itself has to be signed and witnessed in exactly the same way as the original will. For anything beyond a minor amendment, it’s generally simpler and safer to make an entirely new will that expressly revokes the old one, rather than relying on a codicil that could create ambiguity about which document — or which combination of documents — actually reflects the final wishes.

Why DIY wills still cause problems in practice

• Home-made or template wills are legally valid if the formalities are followed correctly, but many estate disputes trace back to wills that were badly worded, ambiguous, or witnessed incorrectly.
• Marriage generally revokes an existing will automatically, unless it was made specifically in expectation of that marriage — a detail DIY will-writers often miss.
• Divorce doesn’t revoke a will, but it usually means a former spouse is treated as having died before the testator for any gift or executorship left to them.
• Where an estate includes a business, dependants needing extra provision, or an unmarried partner with no automatic inheritance rights, professional advice is worth the cost — the formalities are only the starting point.

What happens if a will is invalid

If a will fails one of the formal requirements and can’t be fixed or admitted to probate on some other legal basis, the estate is generally distributed as though no will existed at all, under the statutory intestacy rules. This can produce a very different outcome from what the person intended — for example, an unmarried partner receives nothing automatically under intestacy, no matter how long the relationship lasted or how clearly the deceased would have wanted otherwise. This is really the core reason the formalities matter as much as they do: an invalid will isn’t a slightly weaker version of what was intended, it’s often a completely different distribution of the estate.

FAQs

Can I write my own will without a solicitor?

Yes — there’s no legal requirement to use a solicitor, and a home-made will is fully valid provided it meets the Wills Act 1837 formalities. GOV.UK’s own guidance suggests getting advice specifically where the will isn’t straightforward, such as where there’s a business, a blended family, or overseas assets involved.

Do both witnesses need to read the contents of the will?

No. Witnesses are confirming that they saw the testator sign (or acknowledge their signature), not that they’ve read or approved of what the will says. There’s no legal requirement for a witness to know what’s in the document they’re witnessing.

What happens if I leave a gift to one of my witnesses?

The gift to that witness (or their spouse or civil partner) becomes void, but the rest of the will generally remains valid. It’s a targeted penalty on that specific gift, not a reason the whole document fails — but it’s easily avoided simply by choosing witnesses who aren’t named as beneficiaries.

Sources

• GOV.UK: Make sure your will is legal
• legislation.gov.uk: Wills Act 1837, section 9

Before most civil court claims in England and Wales are issued, the law expects both sides to have already tried to sort things out — or at least to have properly explained their positions to each other. This step is governed by pre-action protocols and a general Practice Direction, and getting it wrong can affect a case even if the underlying claim is a strong one.

What pre-action protocols are for

A pre-action protocol sets out what should normally be done, in relation to a particular type of claim, before court proceedings are formally issued. Specific protocols exist for particular categories of dispute, including clinical negligence, personal injury, construction and engineering disputes, defamation, professional negligence, judicial review, disease and illness claims, housing disrepair, and possession claims for both rent and mortgage arrears. Where a specific protocol exists for the type of dispute involved, the parties are expected to follow it.

What happens when no specific protocol applies

Many disputes don’t fall neatly into one of the specific protocols. For these, the general Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct sets out a baseline set of expectations: the parties should exchange enough information to understand each other’s position, and should consider whether the dispute could be resolved without going to court at all, including through some form of alternative dispute resolution. In practice, this typically means the person considering a claim sends a clear letter setting out the basis of the claim, a summary of the key facts, what outcome or remedy is being sought, and — for a money claim — how the amount being claimed has been calculated. The other side is then expected to respond within a reasonable period, which can range from around 14 days for straightforward matters up to about three months for more complex ones, addressing which facts are accepted or disputed and whether there’s any counterclaim.

Why this step is not just a formality

The stated aims behind pre-action conduct are to help both sides understand each other’s position well enough to make informed decisions, to support settlement without proceedings wherever realistically possible, to encourage appropriate ADR, and to support efficient case management if the matter does end up in court. Courts take this seriously enough that the process is not merely advisory in practice — a party who essentially ignores it, rather than proportionately engaging with it, exposes themselves to real consequences later, regardless of how the substantive dispute is eventually decided.

What happens if someone doesn’t comply

If a case ultimately goes to court, the court will look at whether the pre-action protocol or Practice Direction was followed when it comes to managing the case and deciding who pays the costs. Possible consequences of non-compliance include being ordered to pay some or all of the other side’s costs, costs being awarded on a stricter “indemnity” basis rather than the standard basis, being ordered to pay interest at a higher rate on any sum awarded, or — in some circumstances — proceedings being paused so that the outstanding pre-action steps can be completed before the case continues. Courts generally focus on whether there has been genuine, substantive non-compliance rather than penalising minor or technical slips, and urgent cases (such as those needing an injunction) are treated differently, since there often isn’t time for the full pre-action process to play out.

Practical takeaways before issuing a claim

• Check whether a specific pre-action protocol applies to your type of dispute before assuming the general Practice Direction is what governs your situation.
• Send a clear letter before claim, setting out the basis of the claim and what you want, and keep a copy.
• Give the other side a genuinely reasonable opportunity to respond before issuing proceedings, rather than treating the step as a box to tick quickly.
• Keep records of any correspondence and any attempt at alternative dispute resolution — this evidence matters later if costs become an issue.

FAQs

Do I always have to send a letter before claim?

In almost all ordinary civil disputes, yes — either under a specific pre-action protocol or the general Practice Direction. Genuinely urgent cases, such as those requiring an emergency injunction, are treated as exceptions where the usual pre-action steps may not be realistic.

What happens if the other side simply ignores my letter before claim?

If they don’t respond within a reasonable period, you are generally entitled to proceed to issue a claim, having given them a fair opportunity to engage. Keep evidence that you sent the letter and gave a reasonable deadline, as this protects your position on costs later.

Can I be penalised for pre-action conduct even if I win my case?

Yes. Courts can adjust costs orders, and in some cases interest awarded, based on pre-action conduct even where the underlying claim succeeds — winning on the substance doesn’t automatically protect a party from cost consequences of poor pre-action conduct.

Sources

• Ministry of Justice: Practice Direction — Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols

Most private and social tenants in England and Wales are protected by a legal duty on their landlord to keep certain core parts of the property in repair — a duty that exists automatically by law in the vast majority of tenancies, regardless of what the tenancy agreement itself says.

Where the duty comes from

Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 implies a legal covenant into most residential tenancies, requiring the landlord to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the property — including drains, gutters and external pipes — to keep in repair and proper working order the installations for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation, such as basins, sinks, baths and toilets, and to keep in repair and proper working order the installations for space heating and heating water. This applies to leases of a dwelling granted for a term of less than seven years, which covers the great majority of ordinary residential tenancies, including most assured shorthold tenancies used in the private rented sector, and applies to both private and social landlords. It does not apply to licence arrangements or most lodger agreements, where the legal relationship is different.

What “repair” is actually judged against

The standard a landlord is held to is not fixed in the abstract — the law requires the standard of repair to be judged with regard to the age, character and prospective life of the property, and the locality in which it is situated. In practice this means a Victorian terrace and a newly built flat are not necessarily held to an identical standard, though the core obligation to keep the listed elements in proper working repair applies to both.

What the duty does not cover

Section 11 has real limits. A landlord is not required to repair damage caused by the tenant’s own negligence or misuse, is not required to rebuild the property following destruction by fire, flood or other genuinely inevitable accident, and is not required to maintain items the tenant is legally entitled to remove from the property. The covenant also does not extend to fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the water, gas or electricity supply beyond the core installations specifically listed — for example, it covers the pipes and wiring themselves rather than every individual appliance plugged into them.

Landlords cannot contract out of this duty

A particularly important tenant protection: any term in a tenancy agreement that tries to exclude or limit the landlord’s obligations under Section 11, or that tries to penalise a tenant for relying on them, is legally void, unless a county court has specifically authorised that term. In other words, a landlord cannot simply write a clause into a tenancy agreement stating that repairs are “the tenant’s responsibility” for the categories of repair Section 11 covers and expect that clause to override the statutory duty — the law overrides the contract on this point.

What to do if a landlord won’t repair

• Report the disrepair to the landlord or agent in writing, keeping a dated copy — this creates a clear record of when the landlord was notified, which matters because a landlord’s duty to repair generally only bites once they know, or ought reasonably to know, about the problem.
• Keep photographs and, where relevant, evidence of any resulting damage, cost or ill health.
• If a landlord fails to act within a reasonable time, there is a formal pre-action protocol for housing disrepair claims that sets out the steps that should normally be followed before court proceedings are issued.
• Local authority environmental health teams also have separate powers to act against serious disrepair that poses a health and safety hazard, independently of any civil claim the tenant might bring.

Notice matters more than people expect

A recurring feature of disrepair disputes is that a landlord’s duty to repair under Section 11 is generally triggered by knowledge, not automatically by the defect existing. If a pipe is leaking inside a wall cavity where neither party could reasonably know about it, the landlord is unlikely to be in breach until they are told, or ought reasonably to have discovered it through a routine inspection. This is why a clear, dated written report to the landlord or agent matters so much in practice — it is often the single piece of evidence a disrepair claim turns on, since it fixes the point from which a “reasonable time to repair” starts to run.

FAQs

Does Section 11 cover things like broken kitchen appliances?

Generally no. The duty covers the structure, exterior and the core installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating — not every individual fixture or appliance in the property, unless the tenancy agreement itself separately promises to maintain those.

Can a landlord avoid the duty by putting a clause in the tenancy agreement?

No. Any clause attempting to exclude or limit the Section 11 obligations is void by law, unless specifically authorised by a county court, which happens rarely and in unusual circumstances.

Does this apply to all tenancies?

It applies to most residential tenancies granted for a term of less than seven years, which covers the majority of assured shorthold tenancies. It does not apply to licences or most lodger arrangements, where a different legal relationship exists between occupier and owner.

Sources

• legislation.gov.uk: Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 11
• Shelter England: Repairs under section 11

Judicial review is the legal route for challenging decisions made by public bodies in England and Wales — but it is one of the most widely misunderstood areas of civil litigation, because it is not a mechanism for arguing a decision was simply wrong. It is a challenge to whether the decision was made lawfully, and the distinction genuinely matters.

What judicial review actually challenges

Judicial review allows individuals, businesses and other groups to challenge the lawfulness of decisions made by government ministers, government departments, local authorities, regulators and other public bodies exercising a public function. Cases of this kind are heard in the Administrative Court, which also has a specialist Planning Court for planning-related challenges. Importantly, judicial review is not an appeal against the decision on its merits — a court cannot simply substitute its own view of what the “right” outcome should have been because it disagrees with the public body.

What a court is actually looking for

A judge examining a judicial review claim considers whether the public body followed the law correctly in reaching its decision — for example, whether it acted within its legal powers, followed a fair process, took relevant considerations into account (and ignored irrelevant ones), and reached a decision that was not so unreasonable that no reasonable body could have made it. If the court finds the decision was not made lawfully on grounds like these, it can declare the decision unlawful or quash it. In most cases the court cannot substitute its own decision in place of the public body’s — the usual outcome instead is that the original decision-maker has to reconsider and remake the decision, this time following the correct legal process.

The strict time limit

Judicial review claims are subject to one of the tightest time limits in English civil procedure. Under the Civil Procedure Rules, a claim form must be filed promptly, and in any event no later than three months after the grounds to bring the claim first arose. Crucially, “promptly” is a genuinely separate and stricter requirement from the three-month backstop — a claim brought within three months is not automatically treated as in time if it could reasonably have been brought sooner. This time limit cannot be extended by agreement between the parties, and some specific types of challenge, such as most planning judicial reviews, have an even shorter statutory time limit of six weeks. Given how unforgiving this deadline is, anyone considering a judicial review needs to start moving — including sending a formal pre-action letter — as early as possible, not once the three-month mark is already approaching.

The pre-action protocol for judicial review

Before a claim is issued, there is a specific pre-action protocol for judicial review that sets out the steps parties are normally expected to take first — principally, sending the public body a formal letter before claim setting out the decision being challenged and the grounds, and giving it a reasonable opportunity to respond or reconsider before proceedings are issued. Skipping this step without good reason can count against a claimant later, including on costs, even if the claim itself later succeeds.

The permission stage

A judicial review claim does not go straight to a full hearing. It must first pass a “permission” stage, at which a judge considers the papers and decides whether the claim is arguable enough to proceed to a full hearing. Many claims are filtered out at this early stage. This two-stage structure — permission, then a substantive hearing only if permission is granted — is one of the features that distinguishes judicial review procedurally from most ordinary civil claims.

Who can bring a claim, and against whom

A claimant generally needs “sufficient interest” in the matter being challenged, though this is interpreted fairly broadly and can extend beyond someone directly affected — some charities and campaign groups have successfully brought judicial review claims on issues within their area of work. The claim itself must be against a body exercising a public function. This usually means central government departments, local authorities, NHS bodies, regulators and similar public organisations, though in some circumstances a private body carrying out a genuinely public function can also be challenged. A purely private, commercial decision by a private company is generally outside the scope of judicial review, however unfair it might feel — a different legal route, such as a contract or negligence claim, would usually be the correct one instead.

FAQs

Can I use judicial review just because I disagree with a decision?

No. Judicial review only succeeds where the decision-making process itself was unlawful in some way — for example, an unfair procedure, an irrelevant factor being taken into account, or a decision no reasonable body could have reached. Simply disagreeing with the outcome is not, on its own, a ground for judicial review.

What happens if I win a judicial review claim?

The usual outcome is that the unlawful decision is quashed, and the original decision-maker is required to reconsider and remake it correctly. The court does not normally substitute its own preferred outcome — it sends the decision back to be made properly.

Do I need to act quickly even if I’m still gathering information?

Yes. Because “promptly” is judged as a separate requirement from the three-month limit, waiting until close to the deadline before taking any action — including sending a pre-action letter — can itself count against a claim, even if it is technically still within three months.

Sources

• gov.uk: Administrative Court
• legislation.gov.uk: Civil Procedure Rules, rule 54.5 — time limit for filing claim form

Under UK data protection law, almost any organisation that holds information about you — an employer, a bank, a former landlord, a local authority, a debt collector — can be legally required to show you what it holds and how it is being used. This is called a subject access request, and it is a free, formal legal right, not a favour an organisation is choosing to grant you.

What a subject access request actually gets you

A subject access request, or SAR, entitles an individual to obtain a copy of their personal data held by an organisation, along with supplementary information about how that data is being used. This includes confirmation of what data is held, where it was obtained from, who it has been shared with, why it is being processed, and how long it will be kept. Requests can be made verbally or in writing, including by email or even through social media, and there is no requirement to use a special form or mention specific legislation for a request to count.

The one-month response deadline

An organisation must respond to a subject access request without undue delay, and in any case within one calendar month of receiving it. If a request is complex, or someone has made multiple requests, the organisation can extend this by a further two months — but it must tell the requester within the first month that it is doing so, and explain why. An organisation cannot simply stay silent and quietly take longer; the extension has to be actively communicated and justified.

If clarification is genuinely needed to identify what information is being asked for — for example, because the organisation holds a very large volume of data about the person — the one-month clock pauses until the requester responds, then resumes.

It should normally be free

In most cases, an organisation cannot charge a fee to comply with a subject access request. A reasonable fee can only be charged in specific circumstances: where a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, or where someone asks for further copies of information they have already been given. An organisation relying on this exception needs to be able to justify it — it is not a general discretion to charge whenever convenient.

What can lawfully be withheld

The right of access is not unlimited. An organisation can refuse to disclose certain information where a specific legal exemption applies — for example, information that would identify another individual without their consent, certain material connected to crime prevention or detection, some legal professional privilege material, and some categories of health or child protection information. Where an exemption is used to withhold something, the requester is entitled to be told that information has been withheld, even if not shown the underlying content itself.

It is a criminal offence to force someone to make a SAR

One protection that surprises many people: it is a criminal offence for someone to require another person to make a subject access request and hand over the results, as a condition of employment, a job application, or a contract such as insurance. This is specifically aimed at stopping organisations from using SARs as a backdoor way to extract information — such as a full data history — that they would not otherwise be entitled to demand directly.

What to do if a request is ignored or refused

• Put the request in writing if it wasn’t already, and keep a clear record of when it was made and to whom.
• If the deadline passes with no response, or you believe an exemption has been wrongly applied, you can complain directly to the organisation first.
• If that doesn’t resolve things, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s data protection regulator, which can investigate and take enforcement action against organisations that fail to comply.
• In some cases it is also possible to apply to court for an order requiring compliance, though this is a more significant step usually considered after other routes have been tried.

FAQs

Do I have to explain why I want my data?

No. A subject access request does not need to give a reason, and an organisation cannot lawfully refuse to comply simply because it doesn’t like or understand the requester’s motive for asking.

Can my employer use a SAR I’ve made against me later?

The request itself is your legal right and cannot be held against you for making it. However, be aware that the data an employer discloses in response could include material you didn’t expect, such as manager notes, so it is worth thinking through what you are asking for.

Does a subject access request cover information held about me by any organisation?

It applies to organisations that are processing your personal data as a data controller, which covers most employers, service providers, and public bodies. Some very specific exemptions and lighter-touch rules can apply to particular sectors, so it’s worth checking sector-specific ICO guidance if a request is refused entirely.

Sources

• ICO: A guide to subject access

If someone dies without a valid will in England and Wales, their estate is not distributed according to what they might have wanted — it is distributed strictly according to the intestacy rules, a fixed legal order of priority that applies regardless of the deceased’s actual wishes, family closeness or informal promises made during their lifetime.

The legal basis for intestacy

The rules of intestacy are set out in law and determine, in a strict order, which relatives are entitled to inherit when there is no valid will. They apply automatically — there is no discretion for the person administering the estate to depart from the order set out, even where doing so would arguably better reflect what the deceased intended.

If there is a surviving spouse or civil partner

A surviving spouse or civil partner is given priority under the intestacy rules, but exactly how much they receive depends on whether the deceased also left children.

• If there are no surviving children or other descendants, the spouse or civil partner inherits the whole estate.
• If there are surviving children, the spouse or civil partner inherits all personal possessions, a fixed statutory legacy of the first £322,000 of the estate, and half of whatever remains above that figure. The other half of the remainder is divided equally between the children.

Crucially, this only applies to spouses and civil partners in the legal sense. A spouse who has divorced, or a civil partner whose partnership has been legally dissolved, has no claim under these rules — but separated couples who are still legally married or in a civil partnership at the date of death retain their entitlement, which can produce results that surprise people who assumed separation alone was enough to change things.

If there is no surviving spouse or civil partner

Where there is no surviving spouse or civil partner, the whole estate passes to surviving children in equal shares, regardless of the size of the estate. This includes adopted children on the same basis as biological children. Step-children who were never legally adopted by the deceased have no automatic entitlement under intestacy, however close the actual relationship was.

If there are no surviving children or other descendants either, the estate passes down a fixed further order: parents, then siblings (or their children if a sibling has already died), then half-siblings, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles, and so on through a defined hierarchy of blood relatives.

Unmarried and cohabiting partners have no automatic rights

One of the most consequential gaps in the intestacy rules is that unmarried partners — however long the relationship, and regardless of whether they lived together, had joint finances or raised children together — have no automatic right to inherit anything under intestacy. Only marriage or civil partnership status brings an automatic entitlement. A surviving cohabiting partner in this position may be able to bring a separate claim for reasonable financial provision from the estate under different legislation, but this requires a court application — it is not an automatic entitlement in the way a spouse’s share is, and it involves cost, time and no guaranteed outcome.

Bona vacantia: when there are no eligible relatives

Where a person dies intestate and, after working through the full statutory order, no eligible relative can be found at all, the estate passes to the Crown. This is known as bona vacantia (“ownerless goods”), and such estates are handled by the Treasury Solicitor’s Bona Vacantia Division. In practice this outcome is relatively rare, since the statutory order of relatives who can inherit is drawn quite widely, but it does happen, particularly for people who die with no close family and had lost contact with more distant relatives.

What this means in practice

The intestacy rules produce a fixed, impersonal outcome that takes no account of individual circumstances, promises or fairness as the deceased might have judged it. A long-term unmarried partner can receive nothing while a legally separated but not divorced spouse inherits a substantial share. A step-child raised from infancy can be excluded entirely while a biological child from an earlier, estranged relationship inherits in full. Making a valid will is the only way to guarantee an estate is distributed as the person who made it actually intended, rather than according to this default statutory order.

FAQs

Does a will have to be professionally drafted to be valid?

No — a will can be valid without a solicitor’s involvement, provided it meets the formal legal requirements for execution (in writing, signed, and witnessed correctly by two independent witnesses). However, getting the formalities wrong is a common reason wills are later found invalid, which is why many people still choose professional help, particularly for anything beyond a very simple estate.

Can the intestacy rules ever be challenged?

The rules themselves cannot be changed for an individual case, but a person who feels they have not been reasonably provided for — a cohabiting partner or a dependant, for example — may be able to apply to court for reasonable financial provision from the estate under separate legislation, rather than under the intestacy rules directly.

What happens to jointly owned property under intestacy?

This depends on how the property was jointly owned. Property held as “joint tenants” passes automatically to the surviving owner outside of the intestacy rules entirely. Property held as “tenants in common” is treated as part of the deceased’s estate and is distributed according to the intestacy rules like any other asset.

Sources

• gov.uk: If there’s no will — who inherits
• Citizens Advice: Who can inherit if there is no will — the rules of intestacy