Sue is a Professor of Land Law at New College, University of Oxford, primarily focused on property law. Much of her recent and ongoing research is concerned with complexities stemming from multi-owned property. This includes exploring the challenges of net zero, building safety problems, the running of modern private housing estates, and particular issues around high-rise towers. She has set up the Housing after Grenfell blog for discussion of these issues, as well as for conversations around housing and law more generally.

Nikki was appointed as a Chair of the Valuation Tribunal for England in 2016, and a Deputy District Judge in the County Court in 2019. She took up a full-time position as a Deputy Regional Judge of the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in London in February 2020. Prior to that, she spent nearly 20 years practising in Landlord & Tenant/Housing law as a barrister, latterly of 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square. She spent an informative 5 months as the sole lawyer in a housing association with a stock of over 5000 units. She also spent 5 years as a Senior Lecturer on the BPTC at City Law School. She has written for cILEX level 4, and delivered ongoing professional training to the profession through organisations such as MBL.

Tara O’Leary practices in public law at Cornerstone Barristers including housing, the Court of Protection and licensing. She has appeared across all levels of courts and tribunals up to the Court of Appeal.  

Tara has significant experience in all aspects of housing law, including possession, homelessness, allocations, discrimination, ASB and housing conditions. She regularly advises local authorities and RPs on the formulation and implementation of policies and procedures, including housing allocation schemes and equality impact assessments. Tara is joint editor of Cornerstone’s Housing Newsletter, and regularly gives training on all aspects of housing law.

A pioneer in the field of antisocial behavior orders and injunctions, Richard has practiced in the field of housing for over 20 years. His clients have included large institutional landlords, including Councils and Housing Associations, private homeowners and tenants.

Richard has a particularly wide and technical knowledge of social housing. Uniquely amongst practitioners at the Bar, Richard has a keen understanding of the different competing pressures and interests that corporate clients are acting under, gained from his years working in-house.

In particular, Richard has a wealth of experience advising on and defending housing conditions claims brought against landlords by their tenants, whether at an early stage under the pre-action protocol or in court.

Sarah is a barrister at Cornerstone Barristers and specialises in public law, housing, and property law. She is ranked as a leading junior in Legal 500 for both Administrative Law and Human Rights and housing. She is recommended in Chambers and Partners for housing. Her caseload in housing involves all aspects of the area including possession, homelessness and allocations, Equality Act 2010 duties, welfare benefits, anti-social behaviour, unlawful eviction and housing conditions (including issues with cladding). She acts for local authorities, private registered providers, private landlords and tenants.

During 2022 to 2023, Sarah led a team at Cornerstone Barristers working on contracts for social housing providers and private landlords in Wales – including the Welsh Government – following the wholesale transformation of housing law in Wales by the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016. She is currently writing A Practical Guide to Housing Allocation Schemes in England (Law Brief Publishing, due for publication in 2024). She is also a contributor to the Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents, vol 24(1) Landlord and Tenant (Social Housing) (2019) and to Affordable Housing – Modern Guide to Construction and Delivery (2016, Lexis online publication).