Upper Tribunal leasehold cases
Brief notes on some recent Upper Tribunal cases. Davies v Benwell Road RTM Company Ltd (LANDLORD AND TENANT – SERVICE CHARGES) (2023) UKUT 197 (LC) Following a complicated and muddled history of County...
View ArticleA couple of possession related appeals
Reading Borough Council v Holland (2023) EWHC 1902 (Ch) An appeal of a possession order made at first instance for Ms Holland’s introductory tenancy of sheltered accommodation. Ms H was found by an...
View ArticleMisc notes – RRO in the UT; Allocation, domestic abuse and discrimination
A couple of quick notes on cases that have been sitting a browser tabs in my ‘to do’ window for far too long… Daff v Gyalui & Aiach-Cohen (2023) UKUT 134 (LC) Ms Daff had been ordered to pay an RRO...
View ArticleBe still, my beating heart – new ‘How to Rent’ Guide
A new version of the How to Rent Guide was released today, 2 October 2023. This needs to be given to the tenant on all new and replacement tenancies (including on statutory periodic arising) from today...
View ArticleRent increase and creation of a new tenancy
Our thanks to Haroon Sarwar of TV Edwards and Marina Sergides of Garden Court for the details of this county court possession case. Tower Hamlets Community Housing v The personal representative of...
View ArticleHomelessness and evidence
Oday Yabari, R (on the application of) v The Lord Mayor and Citizens of the City of Westminster (2023) EWHC 185 (Admin) A judicial review of what was alleged to be Westminster’s failure to meet its...
View ArticleAbolition of section 21 – not anytime soon says Government
After a lot of concern that the Bill was going to be lost, the Government announced that the second reading of the Renters (Reform) Bill will take place on Monday 23 October, so enabling it to be...
View ArticlePrivate sector accommodation in discharge of duty – meeting the tests at the...
Ayinla v London Borough of Newham. Central London County Court. 29 September 2023 (copy of judgment) Our thanks to Haroon Sarwar of TV Edwards for the judgment in this section 204 appeal. The key issue...
View ArticleThe multiple deposit penalty claim question – yet again
Szorad & Anor v Kohli (2023) EW Misc 12 (CC) A county appeal to a circuit judge on the perennial question of how many deposit regulations breaches can be claimed for in respect of the same deposit....
View ArticleProperty Guardians and HMOs – occupation and use
Global 100 Ltd v Jimenez & Ors (2023) EWCA Civ 1243 This was the Court of Appeal judgment in the latest of Global 100 (and Global Guardians) attempts to get out of properties occupied by guardians...
View ArticleLeasehold reform, rumours and thoughts
We already know that there will be a (residential) leasehold reform bill as part of the King’s Speech, but the Sunday Times today (29.10.23) has some more details about what might be included....
View ArticleThin gruel, delayed expectations, and welcome absences – the King’s Speech
A couple of case reports are on the go, but maybe significantly delayed, I’m working up to moving house next week, and physically and mentally, everything is all over the place and probably in the...
View ArticleWhat Katrina did (or didn’t do) next.
Regular readers will no doubt recall this remarkable case, in which Notting Hill Genesis sought and obtained a freezing injunction against a disbarred barrister, Katrina McCarthy for tortiously...
View ArticleTales from the County Courts – housing conditions quantum, proof of notice of...
Three county court cases – all first instance judgments and non-binding, but each of interest, including the first two fitness for human habitation decisions that have come our way and a complicating...
View ArticleSaying you are broke isn’t enough to avoid a duty – suitable accommodation...
Imam, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Croydon (2023) UKSC 45 Full transparency – I acted for Crisis on an intervention in this case. This is the long awaited Supreme Court decision in...
View ArticleSection 21 and Gas Safety – post start of tenancy installations
Our grateful thanks to Noah Gifford of Pallant Chambers for the following note of a County Court judgment on the endlessly vexed issue of gas safety records and section 21 notices. (We’ve seen the...
View ArticleStaying to make the parties try dispute resolution. A bit of a Tydfil
Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (2023) EWCA Civ 1416 For transparency purposes, I acted for the Housing Law Practitioners Association on its intervention in this appeal. There was a...
View ArticleVarying a possession order from discretionary to mandatory ground
Poplar HARCA v Kerr. Central London County Court 26 July 2023. (Unreported. Judgment here.) This was a county court appeal to a circuit judge on the issue of whether a pre-existing suspended possession...
View ArticleDeficient enquiries and accommodation pending review
Saint Sepulchre, R (On the Application Of) v Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (2023) EWHC 2913 (Admin) A judicial review of RBKC’s refusal to provide temporary accommodation pending section...
View ArticleFailed succession, residential care and human rights incompatibility
Dudley Metropolitan Council v Mailley (2023) EWCA Civ 1246 We first saw this very sad case on first instance in the High Court – our note here. Ms Mailley was defending possession of a Dudley property...
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