“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way …”
(Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, 1859)
“Life is a rollercoaster, just gotta ride it”
(Ronan Keating, Ronan, 2000)
I have previously begun posts with one quote, but, given the year that we have had, the 2020 advent calendar justifies a two-quote opener, especially one that juxtaposes the opening sentence of a Victorian novel with a pop song from the new millenium. On the one hand, we have prose from the creator of Scrooge, Mr Micawber and Magwitch: on the other, the title lyrics from the debut solo album by the former lead singer of Boyzone.
Both quotes reflect the radically different experiences brought to us by the pandemic, and both are – arguably – equally powerful in their own way.
In this most peculiar of years, as December rolls around once more, my thoughts are with the occupants of buildings with unsafe cladding: their vulnerability was emphasised by the nationwide obligation to stay at home; with the leaseholders who are facing life-changing service charge demands for waking watches and cladding remediation; with property managers whose jobs exploded into a world of Covid-security whilst they attempted to meet the deadlines for applying to the Building Safety Fund, all the while providing an otherwise normal service; with those who worked into the wee small hours after daytime home-schooling and childcare because schools and nurseries were closed; with those who lost their jobs; with those involved in major works projects that were suspended due to shortages of supplies (rather weirdly, the national shortage of plaster early in the pandemic coincided with a national shortage of flour); with company directors faced with the 400+ pages of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the provisions about meetings are at the end, in Schedule 14); and with the parties, witnesses, judges and advocates who transitioned from paper-based, real-person-facing hearings to the previously unheard of cloud video platform, taking to it (in my experience) like ducks to the proverbial water.
I suspect that it has been a year that very few, if any, of us would choose to repeat, but I hope that you enjoy this, the sixth Law and Lease advent calendar.
Each window will open on its allotted day to reveal a short review of a leasehold-related case, issue or concern, complete with a small festive scene to keep up our spirits.
I wish you a safe, peaceful festive season.
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