Cecily Crampin

Cecily practises all aspects of property law, including both residential and commercial landlord and tenant law and real property. She likes difficult legal problems.

Cecily has a particular interest in mortgage law, in particular the more difficult mortgage possessions. With her colleague, Stephanie Tozer KC, she authored a new book, Mortgage Receivership: Law and Practice (Wildy, Simmonds and Hill Publishing, October 2018). Cecily also has extensive experience in Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 lease renewals including opposition, complicated forfeiture claims, in property cases with issues as to trust or company ownership, in Party Wall etc Act 1996 work, and, with Stephen Jourdan KC, on property issues arising out of the sanctioning of individuals.

In October 2022, Cecily was shortlisted for the John Collins Pro Bono Excellence Award at the Bar Pro Bono Awards.

Current and recent work includes:

Mortgage work

• Complicated mortgage claims including those raising regulatory issues under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and unfair relationships under the Consumer Credit Act 1974
• Mortgage subrogation
• Consolidation and tacking
• Mortgage receivers’ possession claims, and cases on breaches of receiver’s duties
• Cases on how to structure mortgage documentation

Real property

• Restrictive covenants including applications for discharge or modification under s84 of the Law of Property Act 1925
• Overage and other development issues
• Easements and boundaries
• Party Wall etc Act 1996 including issues on s10 jurisdiction, and limitation
• Land registration, including rights post completion and pre registration
• Rent charges and variation of estate management schemes
• Vendor purchaser summons and effect of Russian sanctions regime on buying property

Trusts of land

• TOLATA claims in difficult family circumstances
• Trusts in the context of bankruptcy

Commercial leasehold

• Unlawful forfeiture and relief from forfeiture in valuable commercial property
• Opposed lease renewal under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
• Unopposed lease renewals with dispute as to Covid-19 clauses
• Rent review
• Effect of Russian sanctions regime on leasehold obligations and rights

Residential leasehold

• Licence for alterations in high value residential property
• Enfranchisement with issues about split freehold ownership
• Service charges in high value residential property

• Education

  MA (Oxon) MSc DPhil

  Before coming to the Bar, Cecily successfully completed a doctorate in mathematical logic (her thesis title is Reducts of Differentially Closed Fields to Fields with a Relation for Exponentiation) at the University of Oxford. From this education come her analytical skills, perseverance, and sense of humour. Her CPE (distinction) and BVC (very competent) are both from City University.

• Professional

  Cecily’s current and recent work includes:  a claim relating to costs of removing overspill under the Party Wall Act 1996; a number of complicated mortgage claims including those raising unfair relationship issues under the Consumer Credit Act 1974; cases on the interaction of lender’s powers and the borrower’s attempts to sell; a case with issues as to breach of a receivers’ duties; and a case dealing with the residue of the proceeds of sale of mortgaged property when there are competing claims. She has also been working with Gregory Jones KC, on a heavily contested opposed lease renewal under the 1954 Act, and, led by Stephen Jourdan KC, a case about the effect of sanctioning of an individual on property transactions.

  Other recent work includes: a s84 Law of Property Act 1925 application, led by Guy Fetherstonhaugh KC; a complicated commercial forfeiture and relief from forfeiture claim, led by Caroline Shea KC, for which Cecily drafted the pleading; a complicated licence for alterations case about a high value property; advising on the structure of lending and mortgages in a scheme where interest is not to be charged; led by Stephen Jourdan KC, a party wall appeal, K Group Holdings Inc & Anr v Saidco International SA and Ors which raised limitation issues; and Poundland Limited v Toplain Limited, a County Court unopposed 1954 Act lease renewal in which the court decided that no Covid-19 clause should be included in the new lease.

  Cecily is a member of the Property Bar Association (although she stepped down as a member of the PBA committee in November 2022 she continues as a co-opted member of the Association’s sub-committee for liaison with property law academics), and of the ChBA. She is the first barrister member of NARA (the National Association of Receivers and Administrators). She often speaks at conferences and seminars, including the PBA conference which, in 2021 and 2022, she helped to organise, and for the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors. She has also delivered training for LawWorks, including with Prof Lisa Whitehouse of Southampton University on mortgage law and time orders. She is a reviewer for Advocate.

• Recent Cases
  • Gregory v Ajayi (November 2022) a claim for a share of the expenses of creating a basement wall with a counterclaim for the costs of removing overspill said to have been caused by those works, under the Party Wall Act 1996.
  • Butler-Creagh v Cork (Unreported, 27 April 2022, Insolvency and Companies List ChD, ICC Judge Jones) a lease held on trust by a discharged bankrupt for his parents for life himself in reversion was not after-acquired property. On bankruptcy, the bankrupt’s reversionary equitable interest vested in the bankrupt’s estate. The trustees in bankruptcy were entitled to wait until the last of the parents’ deaths to seek an order for possession and sale.
  • K Group Holdings Inc & Anr v Saidco International SA and Ors (Unreported, 19 July 2021, Central London County Court, HHJ Parfitt) led by Stephen Jourdan KC in drafting the grounds of appeal, but appearing alone at the substantive appeal hearing. A successful party wall appeal on many grounds in relation to an award made 11 years after original awards and against a new party as if building owner. In particular, HHJ Parfitt found that the Limitation Act 1980 applied to the purported award of compensation for alleged water damage more than 6 years earlier.
  • Poundland Limited v Toplain Limited (Unreported, 2 July 2021, Brentford County Court, DJ Jenkins) no Covid-clause, reducing rent and service charge by 50% during a further Covid-19 lockdown would be added to an existing lease for an unopposed 1954 Act renewal since its introduction would not be fair or reasonable.
  • Ahuja v Kerrigan & Anr (Unreported, 3 October 2019, ChD, Nugee J) Interim injunction to prevent receivers’ sale of mortgaged property given arguable case of breach of regulatory requirements.
  • Mirza v Elmdon Real Estates LLP (Unreported, 28 June 2019, Newcastle County Court, HHJ Kramer) Unclear reasoning was not a ground for setting aside an expert determination of a rent review.
  • Whitehall Court London Ltd v Crown Estate Commissioners [2018] EWCA Civ 1704, led by Stephen Jourdan KC, which decided that the no-Act assumption in valuations for lease extensions extended to the block containing the subject flat. Cecily acted alone at first instance.
  • Sloane Stanley Estate Trustees v Mundy [2016] UKUT 223 (LC), led by Philip Rainey KC, a case about the use of the hedonic regression statistical methodology in valuations under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.
  • Patel v Peters [2014] EWCA Civ 335 a case on the meaning of sections 10(6) and 10(7) of the Party Wall etc Act 1996. Cecily appeared at the trial, drafted the grounds for the application for permission to appeal, and led by Nick Isaac, succeeded on appeal.
  • St John’s Wood Leases Limited v O’Neil [2012] UKUT 374 (LC) a case on the application of s20C of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
  • Country Trade Ltd v Noakes [2011] UKUT 407 (LC) a service charge case.
• Publications
  • Mortgage Receivership: Law and Practice, Stephanie Tozer and Cecily Crampin (Wildy, Simmonds and Hill Publishing, October 2018).
  • Contributor to the Property Finance section of Asset & Project Finance, Thomson Reuters/Sweet & Maxwell.
  • Contributor to Party Walls: Articles concerning the Law and Practice of the Party Wall etc Act 1996 (Ed Benjamin Mackie, 2022): “Limitation and the Party Wall etc Act 1996”.
  • Contributor to the 15^th edition of Fisher and Lightwood’s Law of Mortgage, Falcon Chambers (LexisNexisButterworths, 2019).
  • Contributor to first edition of The Law and Practice of Party Walls, Nick Isaac (Property Publishing 2014)
  • Contributor to Tanfield Chambers' Service Charges & Management: Law & Practice 3rd edition (Sweet & Maxwell 2013).