Property & Real Estate Barristers
James Hamerton-Stove
Year of call 2012
Instructing James
For further information or to instruct James please contact one of our following clerks:
Gary Collins
Practice Managers
“I have instructed James on several occasions and his advice and performance have never been short of meticulous. I would recommend him without hesitation.”
“The client was very pleased with the result.”
“Brilliant”
- Queen Mother Scholarship (Middle Temple)
- Harmsworth Entrance Exhibition (Middle Temple)
- Bar Council Law Reform Essay Competition: Runner Up (CPE category, 2009)
- BA French and Philosophy, Magdalen College, University of Oxford
- GDL, Oxford Institute of Legal Practice
- BPTC, City Law School
- Chancery Bar Association
- Property Bar Association
- Commercial Bar Association
- Spanish
- French
- Basic Russian
James has a busy practice in the full range of Chambers’ work. He focuses on property and general commercial / Chancery.
He has an approachable manner but is also a robust advocate who fights his client’s corner in court.
He is fully adept in the use of various technology platforms to conduct hearings and give advice.
Outside of Chambers, James is a keen (but not able) participant in tennis, golf and skiing.
Areas of expertise
James acts for both landlords and tenants in a range of commercial property disputes, with particular experience in disputes over the renewal of business leases.
Recently, he has:
- Defended an attempt by a major commercial tenant to remove an ‘unoccupied area’ from the ambit of a business lease renewal so as to limit the application to the extent of the ‘holding’ for the purposes of s.23 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
- Advised on the applicability of the anti-avoidance provisions of the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 in relation to a guarantor providing a guarantee of an assignor’s liabilities under an Authorised Guarantee Agreement (i.e. a sub-guarantee or ‘GAGA’) in connection with the assignment of a lease of commercial property in Soho, central London.
- Acted for tenant (a global supermarket chain) against landlord (another global supermarket chain) in a dispute over a business lease renewal under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
James accepts instructions in a wide variety of commercial disputes in either litigation or arbitration. He is happy acting either as sole counsel or as part of a larger team. Most of his work involves an element of property law, but he is equally content working on purely commercial cases.
Recently, he has:
- Advised vendors of a development site worth c.£2m on the issue of anticipatory repudiatory breach by a prospective purchaser (a property developer) under an option agreement.
James acts frequently for both landlord and tenant, with a focus on possession, service charges and forfeiture.
Recently he has:
- Defended various claims arising out of the alleged defective construction of a block of newbuild flats in central London.
- Defended against possession of a residential property after an individual was fraudulently named as guarantor of a business lease.
- Drafted an application to (and subsequently appeared in a mediation at) the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a determination of breach of covenant within a residential lease under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.
- Advised on, drafted and represented the claimant in an application under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 for a declaration that a landlord had unreasonably withheld its consent to proposed alterations to residential property, contrary to s.19(2) the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927.
- Acted for landlords in numerous possession claims based on forfeiture of long residential leases on various grounds including non-payment of ground rent and service charges.
James has a busy practice in leasehold enfranchisement and associated issues.
Recently, he has:
- Advised on how a plan should reflect appurtenant land for the purposes of an initial notice for collective enfranchisement.
- Advised on the proper service of an initial notice for collective enfranchisement during the height of the covid-19 lockdown.
- Acted in a dispute in First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) over whether an application for collective enfranchisement was ‘made’ in time for the purposes of s.24(1) of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.
- Successfully defended an application to release funds from the Court Funds Office to a BVI-registered company following collective enfranchisement.
- Advised numerous clients on the validity of initial notices served for the purpose of collective enfranchisement under s.13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.
James is experienced in handling disputes over service charges.
Recently, he has:
- Advised the leaseholders of a building in Knightsbridge, central London on a prospective challenge to a fixed service charge under the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.
- Advised on whether a specific bank account being used to hold service charges accorded with the requirements of s.42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 as defined by Part 4 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
- Advised on the recovery of unpaid service charges incurred during the ‘registration gap’.
James acts in general banking and mortgage disputes.
Recently, he has:
- Acted for the mortgagee bank in defence of an application by unauthorised tenants to suspend a warrant for eviction under the Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants etc) Act 2010.
- Acted for the mortgagee bank in an application to extend time for registration of a legal charge.
James acts in a wide range of real property cases involving easements, covenants, boundaries and party walls.
Recently, he has:
- Advised on an implied easement arising by way of the rule in Wheeldon v Burrows / s.62 of the Law and Property Act 1925 / the parties’ common intention after the construction of a second dwelling on a newly divided plot of registered land.
- Advised and appeared in numerous matters under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, including the determination of beneficial interests and orders for sale.
- Advised on the adverse possession of disputed land under both the old and new regimes (i.e. pre- and post- Land Registration Act 2002).