Instructions to Students
FIT TO SIT POLICY – IMPORTANT
By sitting or submitting this assessment, you are declaring yourself “fit to sit” the assessment.
This is important. It means that you may not later submit an extenuating circumstances or appeal application unless it is an exceptional circumstance (see UPPs/Academic Adjustments Policy).
The fit to sit policy applies to all students, including those who have reasonable adjustments or other learning support arrangements for assessments. Adjustments are designed (to the extent possible) to remove personal barriers to sitting this assessment. You are therefore declaring that adjustments have been made which mean you are able to access this assessment and there are no additional factors which potentially impact your performance.
By sitting this assessment, you are therefore, declaring you are ‘fit to sit’.
The Assessment
- You are required to produce an answer in accordance with the brief attached to these instructions.
- For the avoidance of doubt, this assessment requires you to write a Legal Research Trail and an Opinion.
- The relevant assessment rubrics are available on the Hub in the Module Information tile of the BTC Opinion Writing and Legal Research module, or, if you are a resitter, in the Introduction to Written Skills tile of the Written Skills module.
Word count
- The Legal Research Trail has a word limit of 2000 words.
- The Opinion has a word limit of 4000 words.
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Submission
- You may submit your assessment as early as you wish.
- Your assessment should be submitted via the Turnitin links which are located on the Hub in the Assessment tile. Please follow the submission instructions on the Hub to submit your assessment.
- Any answer received after the deadline will not be marked unless the late submission has been agreed in advance.
- Please keep a copy of your answer for your reference.
- Your answer should be identified with your SRN number.
- Your Legal Research Trail and Opinion must be typed. Handwritten assessments will not be accepted, unless you have a specific learning support arrangement in place permitting this.
- Please format your assessment into two PDF or Word documents. One should be your Legal Research Trail and the second your Opinion. These should be submitted via the appropriate Turnitin link on the Hub.
- Your legal research note should be presented using the Legal Research Trail template you have used in the course, reproduced below.
- For the purposes of this assessment your supervisor is Claire Wolfenden.
- You should use the name “A Barrister” instead of your own for your Legal Research Trail and your Opinion. Please do not use your real name.
- Please check that this assessment contains 11 pages.
Fatal Flaw
You can still fail the assessment if it is found that you have committed a “fatal flaw”, even if you would otherwise have gained sufficient marks in order to pass.
A fatal flaw could be, but is not limited to:
- A significant and grave error of law or procedure.
- An error in legal or case analysis that is so clearly incorrect that it would put the interests of the client(s) at risk.
- An error in legal or case analysis that is so clearly incorrect that it puts the barrister at risk of liability for negligence or a disciplinary finding.
Confidentiality and Academic Malpractice
These materials are provided in confidence and must not be disclosed or discussed with any other student or any other person until all students have completed the assessment. Neither may you discuss the assessment itself until all students have completed the assessment. Any breach of this confidence will amount to an unfair practice and may involve disciplinary sanctions including reporting the facts to the Inns of the student(s) involved.
All assessment materials including this brief, your Legal Research Trail or Opinion, and any notes must not be distributed following completion of the assessment.
Your attention is drawn to the regulations on academic malpractice in the General Academic Regulations, (See Help & Support > Student Services > University Regulations & Polices / Guidance Documentation on the Hub) and the definition there of what constitutes academic malpractice.
Research Trail
To:
From:
Date:
Re:
The issue(s)
Research strategy adopted
• Search terms used
• Secondary sources
• Primary sources
• [Journal articles/other sources (only include this section if relevant)]
[insert word count declaration]
IN THE PROPOSED ACTION
BETWEEN:
GORDON GREEN
Proposed Claimant
and
ANJALI SHARMA
Proposed Respondent
INSTRUCTIONS TO COUNSEL
Counsel has herewith the following documents:
- Draft (undated) witness statement of Mr Gordon Green;
- Extract from transfer dated 30 August 2015; and
- Screenshot from website dated January 2025.
Instructing solicitors act for Gordon Green in his dispute with Anjali Sharma concerning a property in Devon.
Mr Green sold a parcel of land to Ms Sharma in 2015 (the “Old Dairy”). The transfer of land contained a restrictive covenant relating to the use of the Old Dairy. In 2019 Mr Green realised the Old Dairy was being let via Airbnb.
Mr Green asserts that this constitutes a breach of the restrictive covenant and seeks an injunction to prevent Ms Sharma from using the Old Dairy in this way.
Counsel is instructed to advise on:
- whether short-term Airbnb-style lettings are a breach of the restrictive covenant contained in the transfer; and
- the remedies Mr Green could obtain against Ms Sharma.
Regarding the first point, instructing solicitors understand that the matter has been addressed by the courts in respect of leasehold land and Counsel is directed to consider those cases, notwithstanding the Old Dairy is freehold. Counsel may wish to refer to practitioner texts relating to land and property regarding the first point.
PRICE PRIOR, 68-70 Red Lion Street, London, WC1A 4NY
Draft witness statement of Gordon Green
- My name is Mr Gordon Green and I live at Thistle Farmhouse, Barnford, Devon, EX99 4PJ. I am 68 years old.
- I inherited the land from my father, who was a farmer. The original farm was vast and consisted of:
- my 4 bedroom house, Thistle Farmhouse, which is located on a courtyard;
- the Old Dairy, a one bedroom house also located on the courtyard;
- 3 garages – a double garage attached to Thistle Farmhouse, and a single garage attached to the Old Dairy; and
- a number of fields and barns behind the two houses.
- The farm has been in my family for generations and it has always been a working farm. I grew up in the main farmhouse. When I was 18, I converted the Old Dairy into a one-bedroom house and moved in there so that I could have my own space. When my father became ill in 2008 I moved back into the main farmhouse to more easily look after him. I have carried on the farming business since he passed away in 2010.
- In 2015 I suffered a heart attack and could no longer manage the farm. To be honest, it made me reevaluate my life choices. I decided to stop active farming and sell off some of the land.
- I sold the fields and barns at the back to another local farmer, Bernard Jackson, and I sold the Old Dairy and the single garage to Ms Anjali Sharma, who is a nurse in the local hospital. I kept Thistle Farmhouse and the double garage.
- I instructed a firm of local solicitors to manage the sale. I understand the documentation was quite standard. I remember reading and signing everything at the time, but I didn’t take too much of an interest in it. I remember the solicitor asking how I wanted the properties to be used. I wanted the main farm to continue to be used as a working farm, to honour my father. I suppose part of me felt guilty for giving it up. I considered letting the Old Dairy as a holiday home but decided against it. I didn’t like the idea of a constant stream of strangers coming and going, and it used to be my home: I wanted someone else to use it and love it as their own home.
- The sales completed in August 2015. Bernard got the farm up and running again quickly and I loved seeing it back in working order.
- Shortly after moving in, Ms Sharma got a new boyfriend, and gradually started spending less and less time at the Old Dairy.
- I noticed in January 2019 that cars I didn’t recognise were parking where Ms Sharma used to park, in the courtyard outside the Old Dairy. I thought this was unusual. Then my granddaughter told me that she had seen the Old Dairy being advertised on a website like Airbnb. I don’t know much about it, but from what my granddaughter tells me, it’s a website where people can rent your house for a few days at a time.
- I spoke to Ms Sharma about this and she confirmed she was letting the Old Dairy out occasionally. She said that as she was spending more time at her boyfriend’s house, it made no sense to leave the Old Dairy empty. I didn’t make a big deal out of it at this point. To be honest, I didn’t think her new boyfriend would last long so it seemed like a temporary problem!
- However, after a few years of this happening I began to feel uncomfortable and anxious about it, and that feeling has gotten worse and worse. I am not as young as I used to be and I don’t like the idea of not knowing who is going to be staying next door to me week on week. I also feel like my father would not approve of his farm being used as a hotel. In addition, I’ve started thinking of downsizing, and I’m worried that this will make Thistle Farmhouse less appealing to prospective buyers.
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- I did try to speak to Ms Sharma about it again more recently. She was polite, but rather dismissive. I don’t think she understands why I had a problem with it. She insists that the Old Dairy is still being used as a “private dwelling house” by the people who stay in it. Ms Sharma reassured me that she has strict criteria for who can use the Old Dairy. She said she only lets the Old Dairy out to colleagues who work at the local hospital with her. Apparently the hospital is having some staffing issues and is having to rely on agency staff from other districts to cover shifts. Ms Sharma says that due to the shift pattern, sometimes they have to be on shift for a few days, and then will have a few days off, and then a few days on again. As lots of them travel from other districts they do not have permanent accommodation around here but it makes sense for them to stay locally. That’s what Ms Sharma says, but I don’t know the reality of it. Sometimes the same car is here for weeks at a time, and sometimes it only seems to be a few days before a new guest arrives.
- I must say that I have never had any trouble from Ms Sharma’s guests. They are generally quiet and considerate.
- I don’t know how much Ms Sharma charges for the rentals, but she said that it is significantly below market rate because she likes having someone in the house for security purposes and she wants to help her colleagues out. She even said that due to the lack of affordable rental accommodation elsewhere in the town, many of her colleagues would have to turn down shifts if her accommodation wasn’t available as it would be too much of a financial burden to cover shifts in this district. I worry a bit about what that would mean for staffing levels at the hospital.
- I would like the rentals to stop. In my opinion, that is not what the Old Dairy was supposed to be used for. I know Ms Sharma is certain that because the Old Dairy is her house, she can do what she wants with it, but I’m not sure that’s the case. I wanted the Old Dairy to become someone’s home, and I’m sure I remember the solicitor putting something in the documents requiring it to be used in that way. Ms Sharma is not using it as her home and therefore I think she should stop renting it out as soon as possible.
Gordon Green
Extract from transfer dated 30 August 2015
The Purchaser hereby covenants with the Vendor in the manner hereinafter appearing namely:
“Not at any time to carry on or permit to be carried on upon the Property any trade or business whatsoever nor to use or permit the same to be used for any purpose other than as a private dwelling house.”
[Notes to students:
– The Property is defined as the Old Dairy, Barnford, Devon, EX99 4PJ.
– You have not been provided with a copy of the plan as it is not relevant for the purposes of this assessment.]
Screenshot from website dated January 2025 showing the advertisement of the Old Dairy
THE OLD DAIRY, BARNFORD
Entire home in Barnford, United Kingdom
1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, dedicated parking
About this space
The Old Dairy is a spacious, comfortable and well looked after ‘home from home’. The property includes a generous bedroom, a fully fitted kitchen and bathroom, and all the regular amenities you would expect in a modern home. Your booking will allow full and exclusive use of the Old Dairy along with its own private parking bay adjacent to the property.
About the location
The Old Dairy is situated on a farm in Barnford and enjoys the tranquillity of the countryside, whilst being a short drive to all the amenities of Barnford town.
Our preferred guests
The Old Dairy is a ten-minute commute to Barnford District Hospital which makes it the perfect base for hospital workers and priority will be given to guests in this category.
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