Evie Barden > Chambers of David Holland KC and Jenny Wigley KC > London, England > Barrister Profile

Evie Barden

020 7430 1221 ebarden@landmarkchambers.co.uk View profile View profile

Position

Evie is ranked as up and coming in Chambers and Partners 2023 edition.

She has a diverse property practice. In 2022, she was: junior counsel for the successful Claimant in the, now leading, constructive trusts and unjust enrichment decision in Fattal v Fattal [2022] EWHC 950 (Ch); sole counsel in Kirby v Electricity North West Ltd [2023] EWHC 75 (TCC), a case regarding the valuation of loss following damage to agricultural land; and junior counsel in the High Court challenge to an expert determination of service charges in Pearson plc v Shell International Trading & Shipping Co Ltd.

She has a broad advisory practice. Recent highlights include: the interplay of ground (f) in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and rights under trusts; potential action and liability by a landlord for pollution of watercourse by an insolvent tenant; whether receivers of multi-million pound residential property were bound by certain tenancies; the impact of the sanctions regime on a tenant’s leasehold obligations; a co-ownership dispute arising following the breakdown of an alleged business partnership; and, the valuation approach to mooring rights under a licence.

Evie has considerable trial experience, particularly in cases under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and cases involving security interests. In 2022 and 2023, she was instructed at trial: on a claim involving undue influence in the grant of a mortgage; on a claim where borrowers alleged mutual mistake in the grant of a mortgage; on a ground (g) case for a tenant under the 1954 Act; on a rent and interim rent under the 1954 Act regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; on a constructive and resulting trust claim; on a claim regarding the existence of an agricultural tenancy and the quantification of the tenant’s lost crops; and on a

From an insolvency and company law perspective, in recent years she has advised on a number of cases regarding the impact of the insolvency of developers, particularly for off-plan purchasers and she regularly acts on cases involving dissolved companies, such as in connection with the Scarborough Group litigation against Bank of Scotland, where she (along with James Ayliffe KC) obtained orders appointing receivers over causes of action so that proceedings could be commenced prior to the restoration of the prospective claimants. She also routinely advises administrators and landlords on claims for permission to forfeit in administration and claims to pay rent and other sums as expenses of the administration.

Evie is a contributor to the third edition of Gough on Companies Charges.

Her notable experience includes:

• Advising on a number of COVID-19 related cases, including those relating to the enforceability of covenants during the period, frustration of leases, and recovery of rent and other arrears in light of various moratoria.
• Acting for the Chief Land Registrar in Longe v Chief Land Registrar [2020] EWHC 1517 (Ch), a successful application for summary judgment against a claim for Norwich Pharmacal relief and/or that the Land Registry had been involved in an unlawful means conspiracy and collusion.
• Acting for the successful respondent in Dao v Falmouth House Ltd [2020] EWHC 609 (Ch), an appeal against a master’s decision striking out a claim under the Arbitration Act 1996 on the basis that the claim form had been served out of time and the test in CPR r.7.6(3) had not been met.
• Representing the freeholder of a central London block of flats on a number of claims including in a three day trial in the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) and on an appeal to the Upper Tribunal.
• Advising and drafting proceedings for the landlord of a shopping centre against a supermarket regarding the construction of service charge provisions in the lease of the supermarket’s unit.
• Acting for a bank in relation to a number of mortgage possession proceedings, including in respect of a number of forthcoming claims involving undue influence allegations and issues about subrogation and equitable charges.
• Along with Zia Bhaloo KC, acting as junior counsel for the claimant in a claim for declarations and an account into the sums due to the claimant in respect of rent, estimated to be between £9 million and £11 million, arising out of several hundred residential properties which the claimant supplied to a local housing authority pursuant to oral agreements.
• Along with Zia Bhaloo KC, acting as junior counsel for a tenant in a claim for declarations and an injunction restraining construction works at a shopping centre being carried out in derogation from grant and/or in breach of lease which the tenant estimated would cause multi-million pound losses as well as reputational damage.
• Acting for a landlord at all stages, including successfully at trial, in a claim for possession of a Kensington mews house following forfeiture, in which the tenant alleged fraudulent misrepresentation and deceit.
• Acting for a foreign state in respect of an application for relief from forfeiture of a commercial property in central London.
• Advising and drafting proceedings for injunctive relief in respect of trespass and breaches of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Acting for a number of property development companies in obtaining various orders for possession of development properties in London occupied by trespassers.
• Drafting proceedings and appearing at trial for a licensee of agricultural premises in relation to a claim that the license had been frustrated.

Memberships

• Agricultural Law Association
• Chancery Bar Association
• Property Bar Association

Education