Andrew Smith

Andrew advises homeowners, developers, and businesses on restrictive covenants and their enforcement, variation, and discharge. His experience includes disputes concerning development restrictions, nuisance and annoyance provisions, overage agreements, and commercial non-compete covenants, as well as applications under section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925.

• Successfully challenged an agreement prohibiting the erection of a building on the client’s land on the basis that, properly construed, the agreement relied upon was a pure overage agreement and therefore unenforceable as a restrictive covenant.
• Acted for a homeowner in preventing the construction of a building on neighbouring land which would adversely affect the view enjoyed by the client’s land, in breach of a covenant against conducting activities which would constitute a ‘nuisance or annoyance’.
• Acted for a retail chain in successfully preventing a rival business from operating in competition with the client, in breach of a covenant in the rival’s lease.
• Acted for numerous homeowners and developers on applications for the discharge or variation of restrictive covenants under section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925.

Andrew advises landowners and homeowners on adverse possession, trespass, and disputes concerning unauthorised use of land. His experience encompasses urban and rural property, including claims involving access, parking, and subterranean property, with proceedings extending from the county courts to the Court of Appeal.

• Acted for the owner of a country estate in securing the removal of an unauthorised roadway and storage facility on the client’s land.
• Acquired title by adverse possession of subterranean vaults adjacent to a client’s Kensington home.
• Defended a claim to an easement of parking on the client’s land.
• Dealt with multiple trespass and adverse possession claims relating to adjoining  properties, including trials in the county courts and the Court of Appeal.

Andrew advises residential and commercial property owners on complex boundary and access disputes. His experience includes adverse possession, access to neighbouring land applications, informal boundary agreements, access licences and disputes arising under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, including contested proceedings in the county courts and Court of Appeal.

• Acted for a London hotel in defeating a claim to ownership of a section of an accessway to adjoining commercial premises.
• Acted for the successful defendant in a high-value dispute concerning the boundary between two properties adjacent to the Manchester Ship Canal.
• Represented the owners of a Holland Park house in a contested application under the Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992, resulting in judgment in the clients’ favour after a five-day trial.
• Dealt with numerous adverse possession claims both pre and post the Land Registration Act 2002, including trials in the county courts and the Court of Appeal.
• Negotiated and registered multiple informal boundary agreements and access licences.
• Resolved numerous boundary disputes arising from activities conducted under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.

Andrew advises developers and home owners on disputes arising from residential and commercial development projects. His experience includes rights of light, nuisance, trespass, and party wall claims, as well as light obstruction notices and deeds of release, with proceedings spanning the county courts, High Court, and Court of Appeal.

• Acted for the developer of a major construction scheme in central Nottingham in defending and settling claims resulting from interference with neighbouring owners’ rights of light.
• Represented the developer of a major residential scheme in Knightsbridge against numerous claims of nuisance and trespass and appeals against party wall awards, resulting in multiple actions in the county court, the High Court, and the Court of Appeal.
• Defended two sets of residential property owners in appeals by a developer against party wall awards for compensation for substantial damage to the clients’ properties, both in the county court and the Court of Appeal.
• Prepared and registered light obstruction notices and negotiated deeds of release on numerous development projects.

Andrew advises property owners, developers, and property professionals on negligence claims arising from property transactions and development work. His experience includes claims involving rights of light, conveyancing and party wall matters, including cases concerning failures to protect development rights, secure adequate access, and properly authorise proposed works.

• Acted for a property developer in a claim against its rights of light surveyor for damages for failing to register a light obstruction notice.
• Acted for the purchasers of a newly built house in a claim against their conveyancing solicitors for failing to ensure the house was not landlocked.
• Acted for a party wall surveyor in a claim for failure to ensure that a party wall award conferred a right to conduct all the required items of work.

Andrew advises property owners, occupiers, developers, and businesses on nuisance claims affecting residential and commercial property. His experience ranges from construction activity and unneighbourly behaviour to tree-root damage and obstruction of access, including claims for injunctions and misrepresentation proceedings.

• Represented a prominent counsel’s chambers in negotiating a comprehensive settlement of threatened injunction proceedings against the developer of a major construction project in the area surrounding the chambers.
• Acted for the lessees of flats in Hampstead in a claim against the London Borough of Camden for damage from tree roots on the council’s land, giving rise to the necessity to underpin the block.
• Defended a Ferrari dealership in a claim for an injunction to restrain the client from parking vehicles in a shared accessway.
• Pursued and defended multiple claims arising from the unreasonable conduct of construction operations.
• Successfully defended the vendor of a north London house in the purchaser’s claim in misrepresentation for failure to disclose a neighbour’s unreasonable behaviour.
• Acted for the owner of a South Kensington flat in a claim in nuisance arising from the activities of a piano tutor in the flat above.

Andrew advises developers and adjoining property owners on rights of light and easement issues, including development strategy, injunctions, restrictive covenants, and light obstruction notices. His experience includes complex High Court and Court of Appeal proceedings, alongside strategic advice intended to manage rights of light risk on major development projects.

• Acted in proceedings against a developer for an injunction to halt the construction of a building which would infringe the clients’ rights of light, including a trial in the High Court and an appeal to the Court of Appeal, where the court granted an injunction requiring the demolition of part of the offending building.
• Advised developers on rights of light strategy to reduce litigation risk on multiple construction projects.
• Advised developers and adjoining owners on the effect and enforceability of covenants relating to rights of light, including the relationship between the Prescription Act 1832, the Rights of Light Act 1959, and the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
• Prepared and registered multiple light obstruction notices and negotiated deeds of release.
• Advised numerous adjoining owners and developers on rights of light and easement issues generally.

Andrew advises landowners and homeowners on the interpretation and exercise of rights of way and other access rights. His experience includes disputes concerning loading and unloading, obstructions, and security barriers, and the extent to which an easement permits use of adjoining land or airspace.

• Acted for a homeowner in a dispute concerning the extent to which a neighbour’s right of way over the client’s property entitled the neighbour to remain on the client’s land for the purpose of loading and unloading.
• Advised the owner of land subject to a right of way as to the availability of ‘swing space’ or ‘elbow room’ into the client’s airspace.
• Advised the owners of land subject to a neighbour’s right of way in a dispute about the clients’ entitlement to install security barriers which would incidentally restrict the neighbour’s ability to exercise the right, and negotiated a settlement with the neighbour.
• Advised clients with the benefit of a right of way over a neighbour’s garden as to their right to enter the neighbour’s property to get around an obstruction unlawfully installed by the neighbour.

Co-author of Party Wall and Practice (4th Edition)

Presented at national party wall conferences and in-house seminars.

Hosted and presented party wall and rights of light clinics with industry speakers and specialist judges.

Former chair of the Pyramus and Thisbe Club (now the Pyramus and Thisbe Society, a registered learned society for professionals with a particular interest in matters relating to Party Wall etc. Act 1996) and assisted in the preparation of the current and previous editions of the Green Book, a guide for party wall practitioners.