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Portrait ofEleanor Murray

Eleanor Murray

Partner
Head of Enfranchisement and Residential Disputes

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Cannon Place
78 Cannon Street
London
EC4N 6AF
United Kingdom
Languages English

Eleanor Murray is a partner and heads up our enfranchisement and residential disputes team.

She is an expert in all aspects of residential disputes, specialising in enfranchisement, residential service charges and right to manage instructions where her primary role is as the principal legal advisor to The Wellcome Trust Limited (“Wellcome”).

Eleanor has significant experience advising in relation to the 1987 Act Rights of First Refusal and Estate Management Schemes. She also acts for other residential landlords in Prime Central London, including The Portman Estate and a subsidiary of Derwent London as well as investors and large institutional clients such as RBS, Legal & General, Pocket Living, M&G, Prudential UK Real Estate Limited, National Grid and the BBC Pension Fund. 

Prior to joining CMS in June 2013, Eleanor spent 7 years in the real estate disputes team at Speechly Bircham LLP where she acted for the Howard de Walden Estate and RBS. She trained at Jeffrey Green Russell providing Eleanor with a strong litigation background.

Eleanor is recognised as a leading practitioner in enfranchisement and is highly regarded within the Residential Property and Enfranchisement field. She was voted Young Professional of the Year at the 2014 Enfranchisement and Right to Manage Awards and was Highly Commended for Solicitor of the Year at the awards in 2019. She was also listed in the News on the Block 100 most influential people in residential property 2015-2018. Chambers 2015 Directory says “Eleanor Murray is exceptionally knowledgeable on enfranchisement” and she is described as “an acknowledged star in the Enfranchisement firmament” where she has developed a comprehensive network of enfranchisement professionals.

She sits on the ALEP Advisory Committee (Enfranchisement industry body) and is a member of the Residential BPF Board Committee and was invited to join the Law Commission’s advisory committee established to consult on the proposed reform in enfranchisement. 

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Relevant experience

  • Wellcome’s case on relativity heard in the Upper Tribunal in early 2016. This was one of the biggest cases in enfranchisement in the last decade, the outcome of which has had a significant impact on the valuation of leasehold residential property.
  • Wellcome, the first London estate where long leases of flats and houses have  reached contractual expiry. Formulating a strategy for dealing with expiry, a challenge rarely encountered by landlords until now and successfully managing the myriad of enfranchisement issues that arise.
  • A subsidiary of RBS on tenants’ rights of first refusal under the 1987 Act in respect of the disposal of a £210 million residential property portfolio.
  • A right to manage strategy policy designed to tackle issues raised by the RTM legislation. This considers the practical impact on a freeholder’s ability to enforce covenants, defend itself from criminal prosecution and ensure compliance with health and safety legislation.
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Publications

  • Eleanor is co-authoring a legal text book on the Right to Manage.
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Education

  • 2001 - Law LLB Honours, University of Sussex, Brighton 
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Feed

01/03/2024
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill – Over to the House of Lords
Following publication of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (the “Bill”) on 27 November 2023, the Bill has been progressing through the legislative process and the Government has recently published...
14/02/2024
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill – Where are we now?
SummaryFollowing publication of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (the “Bill”) on 27 November 2023, the Bill has been progressing through the legislative process. Thereafter we saw a call for...
07/02/2024
FTT makes first contested Remediation Contribution Order under the Building...
The First Tier Tribunal (“FTT”) has published its decision in the first contested application for a Remediation Contribution Order (“RCO”) under section 124 of the Building Safety Act 2022 (“BSA”)...
28/11/2023
Residential leasehold reform – draft legislation published
SummaryJust weeks after we reported on the housing proposals referred to in the King’s Speech (Reforming the Housing Market: A word from the King (cms-lawnow.com)), the Government on 27 November 2023...
10/11/2023
Government Consultation on capping existing ground rents
Con­sulta­tion The King’s Speech on 7 November 2023 marked the introduction of the much-anticipated proposals to reform leasehold home ownership. One of the key proposals noted related to the potential...
08/11/2023
Reforming the Housing Market: A word from the King
Sum­mary The King’s Speech on 7 November 2023 marked the introduction of the much-anticipated proposals to reform leasehold home ownership. Additionally, the King confirmed the carrying forward of...
18/09/2023
2 Week Reminder: deadline to register higher-risk occupied buildings
By way of update to our previous article and client briefing, The Building Safety (Registration of Higher-Risk Buildings and Review of Decisions) (England) Regulations 2023 are now in force and the deadline...
18/05/2023
The Renters (Reform) Bill – One Step Forward, Two Steps Backwards?
The introduction of the Renters (Reform) Bill plays a key role in supporting the Government’s mission to protect tenants in the private rented sector and tackle unscrupulous landlords. While no doubt...
07/03/2023
The simple answer is the correct answer – The Supreme Court confirms the...
The Supreme Court was recently asked to determine whether Rent Repayment Orders (“RROs”) could be made not merely against a tenant’s immediate landlord but, also, against the superior landlord who...
07/02/2023
One to watch: potential changes to residential forfeiture
The Housing Secretary Michael Gove has recently vowed to introduce legislation to ‘change the leasehold system’ by the end of 2023. However, one Private Member, Lord Young of Cookham, doesn’t want...
19/07/2022
Building Safety Act 2022: implications for leaseholders and the cost of...
The Building Safety Act 2022 (“BSA”) has had a particular impact for landlords and tenants in relation to who will be responsible for funding the required remediation projects for existing fire safety...
20/06/2022
Renters’ Reform – “The Biggest Shake up of the Private Rented Sector in...
Summary The Government has published its “fairer private rented sector white paper” (the “White Paper”), following consultation to make the Private Rented Sector fairer. Amongst the proposals...