Year of call 1986
Instructing Mark
For further information or to instruct Mark please contact one of our following clerks:
“He gives clear and pragmatic advice and is an excellent tribunal advocate.”
Chambers UK 2022
“Mark is an approachable, user friendly barrister who is able to work at a number of different levels. His range of knowledge and experience in relation to enfranchisement and also service charge matters is impressive. He comes over very well with clients and is also highly responsive and sharp. On his feet Mark is excellent. Mark is an exceptional character and a great wit, as well as an intellect. In court or tribunal he is a skilled advocate and handles witnesses with a disarming ease. His management of evidence is exemplary and his judicial experience shines through. Mark is an all round professional and at the top of his game. In short, everything and more you would want a barrister in this niche area to be.”
Legal 500 2022
“A recognised specialist in leasehold enfranchisement matters. A pleasure to work with.”
Chambers UK 2021
“He is technically very strong and experienced, enhanced by his role as a Tribunal Judge on the Southern Panel.”
Legal 500 2021
“Thorough and approachable in all residential landlord and tenant matters.” “Very experienced and able to give a well thought out and reasoned opinion on complex matters of property law.”
Chambers UK 2020
“He is a very reliable junior.”
Legal 500 2020 (Property Litigation)
“Exceptionally helpful and knowledgeable, providing quality written advice and strong advocacy skills.”
Legal 500 2016
“He is very technically able in a complicated area of law.”
Chambers UK 2016
“He understands the business strategy of larger estate clients, and is the go-to guy for this work.”
Legal 500 2015
“He displays an impressive depth of knowledge of landlord & tenant issues, as well as leasehold enfranchisement.” “He’s very thorough and very good with clients.”
Chambers UK 2015
“Extremely personable and user-friendly.”
Chambers UK 2014
“In demand, and technically excellent for landlord and tenant work.”
Legal 500 2014
Books
Articles
Journalism
Recently acknowledged by the Supreme Court as a “specialist” property counsel, Mark’s entire practice is in this area. His work includes residential service charges and management, the Right to Manage, leasehold enfranchisement, commercial landlord and tenant and real estate.
He has represented clients in contested hearings at every level including the First-tier Tribunal, County Court, High Court, Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber), Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
In the residential field, Mark’s work largely relates to long leasehold service charge/management disputes and leasehold enfranchisement. He is General Editor of Service Charges & Management (Sweet & Maxwell, 5th Ed). He is regularly instructed by the major London estates and leaseholders in high-value contested management and enfranchisement cases. Marks’ weekly column on residential property matters appears in the Times newspaper every Friday.
Mark is a judge of the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) and a member of the rule-setting Tribunal Procedure Committee. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners. Mark was legal advisor to the joint working group that drafted the ICAEW Technical Release on Residential Service Charge Accounts (“TECH/03/11”), the leading professional guidance for service charge accounting in England. He is one of a handful of barrister Fellows of the Institute of Residential Property Management.
He has received numerous awards, including:
Mark has over 25 years’ experience of commercial property and commercial development issues, particularly contested business lease renewals, rent reviews and dilapidations. Mark is general editor of Rent Review: A Surveyor’s Handbook (RICS, 2008).
Mark is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and has extensive experience in arbitration and expert determination. He accepts appointments as a mediator and as an arbitrator in property disputes.
For a list of reported cases in the Upper Tribunal, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, please see the section below.
Mark is listed as leading junior in the property litigation/real estate sections of Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500. He has been described as “A recognised specialist in leasehold enfranchisement matters. A pleasure to work with.” (Chambers UK 2021)
“He is technically very strong and experienced, enhanced by his role as a Tribunal Judge on the Southern Panel.” (Legal 500 2021)
Mark recently appeared for the Respondents in the Supreme Court appeal of FirstPort v Settlers Court RTM Co [2022] UKSC 1, the first Right to Manage case to reach the Supreme Court.
He is available for conferences and mediations by MS Teams and Zoom, and is attending hearings using all HMCTS-approved forms of remote hearing platforms As a member of the Tribunal Procedure Committee, he has also closely been involved in changes to First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal procedures to meet the challenges caused by the pandemic.
The bulk of Mark’s work is in the residential field.
He is regularly instructed in complex service charge and enfranchisement claims by leaseholders, management companies and landlords.
Amongst numerous enfranchisement cases in the past year, he has represented one of the major London Estates in the acquisition of mews houses in Marylebone and represented the leaseholders in a collective claim for the freehold of three blocks of flats in Euston.
Examples of recent residential work include:
Mark is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners. He is editor of Service Charges & Management (5th Ed) and was the legal advisor to the Institute of Chartered Accountants working party that produced “TECH 03/11”, the leading professional guidance on service charge accounting. He received the Barrister of the Year accolade at the Property Management Awards 2012.
He is currently representing landlords and leaseholders in service charge and management matters under both LTA 1985 and 1987, as well as advising RTM companies on service charge and management disputes. Amongst recent cases, he has advised large groups of leaseholders seeking acquisition orders and variation orders under LTA 1987.
Mark is accredited for direct access work for members of the public under the Bar Council’s direct access scheme.
On the commercial side, Mark has particular experience of the legal and valuation aspects of ‘opposing’ and ‘non-opposing’ lease renewals under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954, as well as advising and representing clients in forfeiture and dilapidations claims.
In addition to this Mark has advised and represented parties to rent review litigation and third party determinations, as well as advising arbitrators under Section 37 of the Arbitration Act 1996. He is general editor of the RICS publication “Rent Review: a Surveyor’s Handbook”.
Examples of recent commercial work include: