Graham William Kitchen v Kent County Council
[2024] UKUT 370 (LC)
Tracy Chambers v Secretary of State for Transport
14 November 2024
[2024] UKUT 361 (LC)
Upper Tribunal
A homeowner sold her house due to a railway project and claimed high legal fees. The court said the fees were too high because she could have saved money and reduced the unnecessary work, awarding much lower fees closer to the average of other comparable cases.
Key Facts
- •Tracey Chambers sold her HS2-blighted home for £162,500.
- •Disputed legal fees for her solicitors, Charles Russell Speechlys LLP, were referred to the Upper Tribunal.
- •Solicitors' fees totalled £12,682.20 (£5,762 + VAT for advice; £4,809 + VAT for transactional work).
- •The acquiring authority challenged the reasonableness of the fees, citing mitigation.
- •Surveyors' fees of £4,467 were already reimbursed.
- •The Tribunal considered the reasonableness of both advisory and transactional fees separately, comparing them to similar cases on Comleybank Drive.
Legal Principles
Compensation for disturbance should put the claimant in the same position as if the property hadn't been taken (principle of equivalence).
Director of Buildings and Lands v Shun Fung Ironworks Ltd [1995] 2 AC 111, PC
Claimants must act reasonably in mitigating expenses; unreasonable losses or expenditure cannot be compensated.
Director of Buildings and Lands v Shun Fung Ironworks Ltd [1995] 2 AC 111, PC
Professional fees are recoverable only if caused by the acquisition, not too remote, and incurred reasonably.
Land Compensation Act 1961, section 5, rule 6
Outcomes
Transactional fees reduced to £3,600 + VAT.
The original fee was disproportionate to the property's value and complexity; unnecessary internal communication and client interaction contributed to the excessive cost.
Advisory fees reduced to £1,600 + £600 (initial advice and compensation claim) = £2,200.
Most of the advisory work overlapped with the surveyors' work; it wasn't reasonable to use two professionals for a straightforward matter. £1000 allowed for initial work.
Total awarded for disputed fees: £5,800 + VAT (£6,240).
This aligns with fees paid to the same solicitors in similar cases on Comleybank Drive.