Etcetera.
A few bits. There are four new FTT bedroom tax decisions on the FTT page, including one from Manchester where subsidence was classed as a ‘natural catastrophe’ for the purposes of continuity of...
View ArticleChristopher Chope MP makes a generous offer
The Justice Select Committee heard oral evidence on housing legal aid after LASPO today, 21 October 2014. Representatives from HLPA, Shelter and Garden Court Chambers gave evidence. The recording is...
View ArticleA very unlawful eviction
(Finally) AA v London Borough of Southwark [2014] This High Court judgment is remarkable in many ways, most of them worrying. It was the result of a six day hearing, with Southwark putting Kelvin...
View ArticleSeparated families and bedroom tax
Cotton & Ors, R (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions & Ors [2014] EWHC 3437 (Admin) This was the Liberty backed judicial review of the bedroom tax regulations on...
View ArticleThe Long and Winding Road
The facts in Nzolameso v Westminster CC are pretty unremarkable, but the effects of the Court of Appeal’s judgement are likely to reverberate through every new homelessness application, especially in...
View ArticleOnly connect – allocation priority
Just a brief note, partly about Barnet’s Allocation policy and partly about the surprising way that things can develop from a blog post. In September 2014, I noted that Barnet’s proposed changes to its...
View ArticleRooting out heresy
This is a post about the consultation provisions in ss.20, 20ZA, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, applicable in respect of service chargeable costs. If you’re not interested in long leasehold law (which,...
View ArticleA return of sanity: Allocation and reasonable preference
Jakimaviciute, R (On the Application Of) v Hammersmith And Fulham London Borough Council [2014] EWCA Civ 1438 Eligibility for allocation list, reasonable preference and homelessness. After a run of...
View ArticleNot quite, Minister
Following the Upper Tribunal judgment in SSWP v David Nelson and Fife Council, SSWP v James Nelson and Fife Council [2014] UKUT 0525 (AAC) [our report], the DWP has issued a Circular – HB U6/2014 The...
View ArticleOf Penalties and Possession
Charalambous & Anor v Maureen Rosairie Ng & Anor [2014] EWCA Civ 1604 The Court of Appeal has again thrown the cat among the tenancy deposit protection pigeons. In Charalambous it had to...
View Article“Every possible obstacle…”
As will be clear, P (A Child: Use of S.20 CA 1989) [2014] EWFC 775 is a family law case, but one which crosses with housing law. My suggestion is that it sadly shows that Family lawyers, and indeed...
View ArticleToo late for Art 8?
When should an article 8 defence be raised? And are there different kinds of social landlords, such that the analysis of Article 8 defences in Pinnock and Powell might not be applicable to all? These...
View ArticleGetting around Tuitt
Anti-social behaviour cases are one of the staple cases for the young barrister. If acting for landlords (whether local authority or housing association), they’re a great way to develop trial...
View Article1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10
This was a judicial review of LB Enfield’s plans for borough wide additional HMO licensing and selective licensing of all PRS properties. It did not go well for Enfield, who appear to have not quite...
View ArticleAsking for relief
This is a housing case, but the procedural issue in this decision is only tangentially related to that. Nonetheless, it is a matter worth noting. Cutler v Barnet LBC [2014] EWHC 4445 (QB) [Not on...
View ArticleHot, hot, hot
Here is an interesting First Tier Tribunal bedroom tax appeal decision from Bexleyheath. [Decision notice]. It is a decision made after the Fife Upper Tribunal decision, but upholds the tenant’s appeal...
View ArticleEnglish Tenancy Deposits Are Less Interest-ing
A very brief note to point up the slightly less than earth shattering Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Specified Interest Rate) (Revocation) (England) Order 2015. This comes into force on 4 February 2015 in...
View ArticleLeaving it to the last minute
No, not a post about the time-management skills of barristers, rather, some research that Z2K are putting together. As they say: Concern is mounting about councils, especially in London, delaying...
View ArticleSqueezed Out of London
A friend of ours has asked us to help promote a potential documentary. What follows is a slightly edited version of the original email: Kash is a Hackney based production company that specialises in...
View ArticleIs there a maximum award for general damages arising under contract?
The case of Rendlesham Estates Plc v Barr Ltd [2014] EWHC 3968 (TCC) is a bit off the housing law beaten track and as a result I have only recently got round to reading it properly. It concerned s.1,...
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