Eviction and High Court Enforcement
A couple of recent cases have highlighted the issues involved in transferring County Court possession orders to the High Court for enforcement by High Court Enforcement Officers. This is done by...
View ArticleWho got the dogs out?
Moosun, & Ors v HSBC Bank Plc (t/a First Direct) [2015] EWHC 3308 (Ch) This was a part – surely now the end part – of a long running saga of a mortgage possession and sale. The novel (if...
View ArticleVulnerability after Hotak – first High Court case?
R (on the Application of Omar) v Wandsworth LBC, (2015) QBD (Admin) (Ouseley J) 11/11/2015 (not on Bailii yet, note of extempore judgment on Lawtel). A tantalising lawtel note on what appears to be the...
View ArticleDeposits, dog hairs, doors and defamation
Owens & Anor v Grose & Anor [2015] EWHC 839 (QB) As if tenancy deposits weren’t complicated enough, now we can add libel claims to the consequences of a heated deposit dispute. It turns out...
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On having a petard and being hoist by it
Toogood v McCourt and others Medway County Court, 6 November 2015 Mr Toogood is a landlord of some 200 properties and runs the Student Lettings Agency in Canterbury. The Defendants were the parents...
View ArticlePossession claims by trustee in bankruptcy
Garwood v Bolter & Anor (2015) Ch D 18 November 2015 (Not on BAILII. Note of extempore judgment on Lawtel) I’m working off the lawtel note, which in some (many) respects doesn’t entirely make...
View ArticleI saw a mouse. Where?…
A semi-guest note on a pest infestation nuisance county court case involving leaseholders. Interesting on both liability and quantum. Ojo & Ojo v London Borough of Hackney. County Court at...
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The Housing Law Conference
The Housing Law Practitioners Association annual conference is on 8 December at the Royal College of Surgeons, London. 9.30 am to 6.20 pm ‘Housing Rights and Righting Wrongs’ This is the housing law...
View ArticleWhen to call it a day…
Gitere, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 3336 (Admin) The risks of a client deciding to go it alone at the last stage of judicial review proceedings....
View ArticleLeasehold disputes and costs
Leasehold disputes, like any litigation, are capable of generating significant legal and other professional costs. The position is generally better for freeholders/third party managers than it is for...
View ArticleUnlawful seizure of a table and other bits
Yes, we do have a large backlog of cases to write up, thank you so much for noticing. We will get there, honest. Things have been very busy. In the meantime, a couple of snippets of interest. On 5...
View ArticleThe Christmas post
As you’ll all know, the NL team all work on the blog for free. We do it because we all really enjoy reading, writing and thinking about housing law and we’re grateful (and a bit amazed) that we’ve...
View ArticleThe law of unintended consequences (or, why everyone needs a housing lawyer)
As you might have noticed, the Housing and Planning Bill had its last day in Committee today in the House of Commons. It was the 15th and 16th (penultimate and final, respectively) sessions. Surely,...
View ArticleRepairing the caselaw on disrepair
I don’t think it is unfair to say that disrepair is not always viewed with great enthuiasm by practioners of housing law. So, I am going to plead with you all to stick with this post of mine even...
View ArticleDisrepair miscellany: Good, bad and ugly.
Perhaps illustrating the need for the Court of Appeal to deliver the judgment in Moorjani (see preceding post), the December 2015 issue of Legal Action has Beatrice Prevatt’s excellent annual ‘housing...
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Not far enough on the naughty step?
Along with Ben Reeve Lewis, who as a former Tenancy Relations Officer really knows, we have long had a bee in our various bonnets about fines for illegal eviction levied by the Magistrates Court on...
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Bedroom farce
Mr Jones: […] We want housing association landlords and tenants to reap the benefits from shorter-term tenancies as well. However, we clearly need to consider any changes to housing associations in the...
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Ealing Comedy
R (on the application of A) v Ealing London Borough Council (2015) QBD (Admin) (Patterson J) 16/12/2015 (Not on Bailii yet, note on lawtel) Back in August, Ealing’s allocation policy was found to be...
View ArticleBedroom tax updates
Assorted bedroom tax related items, while we wait for the Supreme Court to hear MA & Ors… In case number CH_2391_2015, the Upper Tribunal has ruled that an annual re-rating of housing benefit...
View ArticleDiscretion, lip service and s188(3)
Barrett, R (On the Application Of) v City of Westminster Council [2015] EWHC 2515 (Admin) We’re very late with this one for reasons which are no doubt entirely reasonable, but currently escape me. A...
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