London – professional negligence

Our client is a Family Office who own a residential and commercial property portfolio situated in various Prime and North London locations. The client was incorrectly advised that SDLT would not be payable upon a demerger. In addition, the transfer of properties included qualifying leaseholders where Section 5 Notices should have been served and where the transfer value was derived from the book value rather than Market Value. The client claimed damages in excess of £7m.

DWD provided expert valuation evidence to the professional team to assess the Market Value of the property portfolio and advise on the correct amount of SDLT due and the diminution in value due to the transfer at book value.

The final result for our client was a successful negotiated settlement at mediation in advance of a Court hearing.