In an article for New Law Journal, Andrew Francis considers two ‘subterranean’ property cases, highlighting the importance of knowing what’s underneath the surface—literally and metaphorically.

The topic considered in this article concerns two court judgments of high authority relating to what lies beneath land in very different circumstances. These judgments concern high-voltage electricity cables and Japanese knotweed. Both are ‘live’ and the evidential thread which links them is that the source of the dispute was that each lay beneath the surface. The first is about solicitor’s professional negligence and the second is about causation of loss in private nuisance claims. The cases are Spire Property Development LLP and another v Withers
LLP [2022] EWCA Civ 970, [2023] 2 All ER 842 and Davies v Bridgend County Borough Council [2024] UKSC 15, [2024] All ER (D) 32 (May).

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