Changing rooms
Or Britain’s vanishing bedrooms.[As I was writing this, the DWP announced it was to appeal the two Fife decisions that relied on room size. Details below]The bedroom tax First Tier Tribunal decisions...
View ArticleTrust No-one
The DWP issued a bedroom tax related circular on 30 October 2013. HB U7/2013. The full text is below.Removal of the spare room subsidy – First tier Tribunal decisionsBackground1. Generally local...
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Demanding Money with Menaces
We all know that the bedroom tax has created huge problems for both tenants, desperately trying and often failing to find the additional 14% or 25% of rent, and for social landlords, watching arrears...
View ArticleHomelessness Appeals and Costs
This is a brief note on a recent High Court appeal dealing with the issue of costs on withdrawn s.204 appeals (Unichi v LB Southwark 16/10/13-from a Lawtel summary, not on Bailii). The Local Authority...
View ArticleOf Superglue and Residence
A prosecution under s.144 LASPO that came unstuck*R v D Duputell 31 October 2013 Hove Trial Centre [Newspaper report]This was the retrial of Mr Duputell after his earlier trial on charges of breach of...
View ArticleAccept no substitutes
P v Ealing Borough Council (2013) CA Civ Div 05/11/2013 [Not on Bailii yet. Note on Lawtel]This was Ealing’s appeal from a s.204 appeal brought by Ms P. At the s.204 appeal, the Circuit Judge had...
View ArticleWho’d be a judge?
I’ve just been reading Ahmed and others v Mahmood and others [2013] EWHC 3176 (QB) (Lawtel only I think) and I’m totally confused. If anyone who was in the case can help, I’d be very grateful.The...
View ArticleI don’t want to go to… Lambeth
Can a refuge be a ‘residence of own choice’ for the purposes of Local Authority decisions about local connection in homeless applications? This is a rare Court of Appeal decision on the issue. In...
View ArticleSleepwalking into error
I’ve posted before about the vexed issue of s.81, Housing Act 1996 and default judgments (see here for the most recent county court case; note also the comments to that post which explain that Woodfall...
View ArticleGet your excuses for your excuses in early
Poorsalehy v Wandsworth LBC (2013) QBD 07/11/2013 {note on Lawtel, not on Bailii yet]A cautionary tale, albeit one that was rather hard on Mr Poorsalehy. Mr P had applied to Wandsworth as homeless. His...
View ArticleMore on JR and Costs
We have been blogging lately about costs in settled JRs and S.204 appeals (see here and here) and we can now report that the Admin Court Office has published guidance on costs following settlement of...
View ArticleA bit too unrestrained
Emery v Wandsworth LBC (2013) QBD 14 November 2013 [not reported elsewhere, note on Westlaw]This was an application by Ms E for permission to apply to discharge a Civil Restraint Order made against her...
View ArticleWrong to RTB
I see that the Master of the Rolls has just issued a practice direction in respect of (what appears to be) many tens (if not hundreds?) of negligence claims arising out of RTB sales (see here).Reading...
View ArticleNot home alone.
A quick note on a succesful bedroom tax First Tier Tribunal decision in Islington.Unfortunately there is no statement of reasons (or at least yet) and the decision notice, which I have seen, says...
View ArticleExpensive choices
One of a couple of cases on intentional homelessness and affordability of accommodation.Noel & Anor v London Borough of Hillingdon (2103) CA (Civ Div) 21 November 2013 [Lawtel note, not on Bailii...
View ArticleAllocation, Allocation, Allocation
Leicester CC v Shearer is a rare example of a successful public law defence to a claim for possession.Mrs S was the wife of the late Mr Shearer, who was himself the successor tenant to the property...
View ArticleChildren and Intentional Homelessness
Hurzat v Hounslow LBC (2013) CA (Civ Div) 21 November 2013 [Not on Bailii yet, Lawtel note]What is the relationship between Housing Act 1996 Part VII and Children Act 2004? Does the duty under s.11...
View ArticleMore children and housing duties
AT & Ors v London Borough Of Islington [2013] EWCA Civ 1505We are a bit late with this one, but while we are on the interrelation of duties to children and housing duties, this was an an...
View Article‘Gorry’ Regulations Guidance
In other bedroom tax news, the DWP has issued a Circular to Local Authorities on The Housing Benefit and Universal Credit (Size Criteria) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2013 – the new...
View ArticleOn families, powers and duties to accommodate
R (on the application of MK) v Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council [2013] EWHC 3486 (Admin) [Judgment on Lexis, not on Bailii yet]A judicial review raising the extent of a Council’s duties and...
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