Nick Martyn

Nicholas specialises in helping clients with complex property-related disputes, focusing on property development and investment, landlord and tenant disputes, commercial dilapidations, easements, restrictive covenants, and leasehold enfranchisement.

• Advised on and secured substantial damages for an offshore trust company and owner of freehold commercial premises in London in a dispute with its tenant, a major bank, concerning the grant of third-party rights to and/or sharing of occupation with a telecommunications company. 

• Acted for and successfully defended an international freight cargo company in complex proceedings with an airport concerning commercial premises within the airport site. 

• Acted for a wealthy hedge fund manager in a multi-faceted dispute involving the negotiation of an exit strategy from substantial commercial premises in Mayfair occupied by the client as sub-tenant and necessitated as a result of threatened forfeiture action by the client’s superior landlord and freehold owner of the site. 

• Acted for three offshore companies as flat owners of a prime central London block of 14 flats and commercial premises in an application for relief from forfeiture arising from proceedings brought by the head lessee against the clients’ immediate landlord. 

• Acted for the owner of a prime central London flat in a private prosecution under the Environmental Protection Act against a chain of London restaurants concerning noise and odour pollution caused by the restaurants. 

• Acting for the owner of substantial home on one of the premier private estates in Surrey in a dispute over the enforceability of restrictive covenants affecting the development of the premises. 

• Successfully represented leaseholders in claims brought in the High Court and County Court, seeking permission to proceed with and pursuing a leasehold enfranchisement claim against a freehold company in liquidation. 

• Acting for a group of leaseholders in a challenge to the transfer terms in freehold acquisitions under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967. The dispute also centres on the question of whether the clients’ premises are ‘houses’ within the meaning of that legislation and therefore qualify for enfranchisement.

Nick acts for developers on wide-ranging property-related issues, including freehold and leasehold covenants, rights of way issues, mixed-use schemes, and in particular advice on the application of the LTA 1987 in complex property disposals and on aspects of the LRHUDA 1993 and LRA 1967 within a development context. He also advises clients on strategies for the clearance of residential, commercial and mixed–use schemes purchased for development. 

• Currently acting for a group of leaseholders in a defence of proposed airspace development by the landlord / prospective purchaser. 

• Acted for a luxury high-end developer in the conception and implementation of a strategy for securing possession of a cricket club in order to carry out a substantial project involving the construction of 150 residential units and a care home.   

• Acted for an industrial landowner in a joint venture dispute with its developer partner over the interpretation of a development management agreement entered into in respect of a residential-led scheme of approximately 400 units. 

• Acted for a national developer in a multi-party dispute arising in connection with the purchase of a development site. The resolution involved the procuring of possession of parts of the site from telecoms operators and leveraging a reduction in the purchase price of £1.7m,  

• Acted on behalf of an international plc in a dispute with an electricity company concerning the interpretation of freehold restrictive covenants affecting land sold to the electricity company.   

• Acted for a luxury developer in securing possession of a development site from squatters. 

Nick acts for and advises retail landlords and tenants on strategic and contentious property-related issues, including commercial lease renewals (both opposed and unopposed), lease covenants, rent reviews, exit strategies, including the exercise of break rights, forfeiture, and recovery of possession and dilapidations. 

• Acted for a retail tenant of various units in stations across London in a multi-million-pound damages claim and claim for specific performance against its landlord arising from breaches of an agreement for lease. 

• Negotiated a multi-site dilapidations settlement for the UK’s leading manufacturer of stoves, fires and fireplaces.  

• Acted for a global health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain in a dispute with its landlord concerning the nature of the client’s occupation of retail premises and alleged liabilities arising from that occupation.   

• Acted for a national hairdressing chain in a dispute about the exercise of a break right in a lease.   

Member of the Property Litigation Association