Each month, the Farrer & Co residential property partners give us a brief insight into their working lives. This month, we give an overview of how we have been helping a client facing issues with drones following completion of their purchase of a country house.
The Brief
We acted on the purchase of a beautiful country house in the Cotswolds in the latter half of 2024. At the beginning of this year, our client contacted us to ask for our help in dealing with drones which were regularly being flown over their property by two neighbours. Photos taken by the drones had been posted online and our client was concerned that his personal security (and the safety of his family) was being compromised.
Executing the Brief
Having discussed the issue with our client at length, we were able to immediately involve our property litigation team, who have an increasing volume of experience advising on trespass and drones. Our client was enormously grateful that we could quickly and seamlessly draw on another team’s expertise to find the best solution to the issue being faced.
Our client was lucky in that he was relatively certain of the identity of the individuals who were flying the drones (as identifying the drone operator can often be problematic).
With our help, our client’s team was able to obtain photographic evidence of the cameras attached to the drones and in close proximity to a family member, and also secure further evidence that the drones were connected to the suspected individuals. With this information in hand we could now prove that the drones were being flown in breach of the required standards.
The next step was to write a letter before action to the identified individuals in an effort to stop them continuing to fly drones above our client’s property. This would also prove to the court – should further action be needed, such as a claim for an injunction to prevent the drone flying – that our client had acted reasonably by seeking to resolve the matter without proceedings. For now, the letter before action seems to have had the desired effect and the drones are not being flown over our client’s property. However, our colleagues are poised and ready to take matters further should that become necessary.
The debrief
It is often the case that our work with our clients does not stop at completion. We look to form long-standing and wide-ranging relationships with our clients, meaning that our advice extends to the management of their property post-completion and beyond, to other areas of their life.
Our property litigation colleague William Johnson has written a longer article on the subject of drones and trespass which can be found here.
We are always happy to discuss the conveyancing process and how to manage a transaction.
This publication is a general summary of the law. It should not replace legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.
