Luke Evans

My general property litigation expertise incudes:

• Acting for landlord clients (including a global real estate investment company with a £1billion mixed use real estate portfolio) in respect of all matters pertaining to their portfolios, including advising on dilapidations, business lease renewals, operation of break clauses, recovery of arrears and tenant insolvency.
• Acting for tenants in opposing forfeiture and advising landlord clients on their ability to forfeit.
• Successfully defending a money claim brought by a client's former landlord for arrears of rent calculated on the basis of two incomplete rent reviews.
• Acting for the guarantors of a lease of a bar in Shoreditch and successfully defending a claim by the landlord for arrears of rent by successfully setting aside the lease, and associated guarantees, on grounds of fraudulent misrepresentation on the part of the landlord.
• Assisting landlords in the disposal of residential and mixed use property by advising on the requirements of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987.  
• Acting for victims of property fraud, involving claims in negligence and breach of trust against firms of solicitors and agents and in statutory indemnity claims against HM Land Registry.

A significant part of my practice also includes acting for lenders in connection with the recovery of unpaid secured loans.  I regularly provide strategic advice to both lenders and LPA receivers to maximise recovery of £multi-million loans.  My experience in this area, in addition to providing strategic advice, includes (amongst other matters) securing possession of property provided as security, commencing debt claims against borrowers, presenting bankruptcy petitions and opposing claims brought by borrowers for compensation under s140B of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

In addition to my secured lending practice, I have acted on some of the most significant cases in the area of pre-emptive injunctive relief, including Vastint UK B.V. v Persons Uknown [2016] 12 WLUK 354 and INEOS v Persons Unknown [2017] EHC 29.