Thomas Braithwaite

Property disputes form a significant part of Tom’s practice, and he is highly regarded for his work in this area of the law. He has particular experience in more complex real property issues, including manorial and foreshore rights, in respect of which he has frequently been called upon to advise by major riparian landowners.

Recent Cases

• Clifford v Grosvenor Estate [2022] – Claim concerning allegations of nuisance to a high-end Mayfair mews house.
• Bett v Crown Estate [2020] (FTT) – Whether the movement of the high-water mark on the Norfolk coast constituted an accretion or an avulsion.
• Arabi v Arabi [2017] EWHC 1384 (Ch) – Claim of beneficial interest in property following alleged joint venture between brothers.
• Loose v Lynn Shellfish [2017] AC 599 (Supreme Court) – Intervention on behalf of the Crown Estate in a case concerning prescriptive rights over the foreshore of the Wash and the doctrine of accretion. The court accepted the Crown’s submissions on the correct analysis to apply when two sandbanks merged, each area having been subject to opposing rights.
• Lictor Anstalt v Mir Steel UK [2014] EWHC 3316 (Ch) – Successful claim on behalf of the owners of a steel mill who had failed to protect their rights on the land register and lost their title due to the mill’s annexation to the land. The court held that the sale of the mill by administrators was a breach of contract, procured by the purchasers, and that such claims survived despite non-registration at HMLR.
• Faulkner Investments v Nassif [2012] – Claim concerning the status of occupation of a discretionary beneficiary of an offshore trust.
• Amin v Amin [2009] EWHC 3356 (Ch) – Acting for family and minor partnership interests in a wide-ranging partnership dispute, including claims to a constructive trust interest in the family home.
• Volta Developments v Waltham Forest Friendly Society [2008] EWHC 1295 (Ch) – Construction of grant of right of way.
• Crown Estate v Roberts [2008] 4 All ER 828 (Ch) – Acting for the Crown Estate to defeat various manorial claims over the foreshore and seabed of Pembrokeshire based upon the supposed ancient rights of the Lord Marchers (led by Frank Hinks QC).
• Roberts v Swangrove Estates & Others [2007] 2 P&CR 17 (Ch) and [2008] Ch 439 (CA) – Successful claim by the Crown Estate to adverse possession of the bed of the River Severn, including a determination of the constitutional ability of the Crown to acquire title by adverse possession. Upheld on appeal (led by Frank Hinks QC on appeal).