Allocations and legitimate expectation
In R(Alansi) v Newham LBC, Stuart-Smith J held that, although Ms Alansi had a legitimate expectation that she would remain a priority homeseeker on Newham’s housing register, Newham had not acted...
View ArticleMeanwhile, back in Parliament
There was a short (and not particularly well-informed) debate in Westminster Hall yesterday about leasehold property management. Quite amusingly, Nick Boles MP (Under-Secretary of State at CLG) had...
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Housing Law Conference 2013
It is that time of year again. The HLPA housing law conference 2013 is on Tuesday, 10 December. A decent sprinkling of NL people will be there.It promises to be a very good day, details are below....
View ArticleThe Permissive Notice
Spencer v Taylor [2013] EWCA Civ 1600This case was flagged recently on the Arden Chambers eflash service. This flash gave some bare bones details and led to much debate on the internal NL email...
View ArticleWhat use is a Zambrano right of residence?
A couple of years ago a lot of lawyers practising in housing, immigration and welfare benefits got very excited by the case of Ruiz Zambrano (European citizenship) [2011] EUECJ C-34/09. The reason for...
View ArticleShortfalls, guidance and intentionality
Birmingham City Council v Balog [2013] EWCA Civ 1582A s.202 review decision on affordability was at the centre of this second appeal, brought by Birmingham after a s.204 appeal decision went against...
View ArticleDon’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (To Manage)
Fairhold Mercury Ltd v HQ (Block 1) Action Management Co Ltd [2013] UKUT 487 (LC) Fairhold (Yorkshire) Ltd v Trinity Wharf (SE16) RTM Co Ltd [2013] UKUT 502 (LC) Assethold Ltd v 7 Sunny Gardens RTM Co...
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Blow the rent, have another egg nog
Hammersmith & Fulham Council have come up with a novel way of angering their tenants.Faced with a substantial rent arrears problem, with a reported 46% of tenants in arrears (what with the bedroom...
View ArticleOut of order
R (CN) v LB Lewisham; R (ZH) v Newham LBC [2013] EWCA Civ 804This is a very important decision from the summer. For some reason we haven’t got round to writing it up before now. In the meantime England...
View ArticleBedroom tax decisions update
There are two new First Tier Tribunal bedroom tax appeal decisions on the FTT decisions page, at the bottom. One from Liverpool and one from Edinburgh. Both are Article 14 discrimination based, with...
View ArticleThere’s no place like HMO
Shah v Croydon LBC [2013] EWHC 3657 (Admin) [Not on Bailii yet. Seen full transcript of judgment]An appeal by way of case stated from a Magistrates Court decision that a property owned by Mr Shah was...
View ArticleNowhere to go and nothing to do with my time
There are two things in life I really, really enjoy. The first is listening to Queen/Freddie Mercury. The second is leasehold property disputes. I am doing the first whilst writing about the second.The...
View ArticleA sign of things to come?
In the December edition of Legal Action, I noticed a decision from November 2012 (yes, 2012), called Miah v McGrogan [2012] EWCA Civ 1685 (Casetrack only).Mr Miah seems to have been the landlord of a...
View ArticleUnappealing
Haringey LBC v Goremsandhu [2013] EWHC 3834 (Admin) [Not on bailii yet]Ms Goremsandhu was the owner of an HMO, made up of four flats in Tottenham. Haringey had served her with improvement notices....
View ArticlePremature expectations
Isaac Odeniran v Southend on Sea BC [2013] EWHC 3888 (Admin) [Not on Bailii yet]Mr Odeniran had been convicted by the Magistrates of failing to comply with an improvement notice under s.11(2) and 12(2)...
View ArticleA Christmas gift for you: Contracting out and more
I appreciate that it isn’t exactly pc still to like Phil Spector’s album, but I do think it remains the best of the lot. And, in a way, Tachie, Terera and Il v Welwyn Hatfield BC [2013] EWHC 3972 (QB)...
View Article“Mere likelihood” not enough to engage section 149
Swan v Gill [2013] EWCA Civ 1566 apparently attracted quite a bit of attention at the HLPA conference this year, the general consensus being that the Court of Appeal was wrong in its approach to s.149...
View ArticleFailed claim for adverse possession
It wouldn’t be Christmas without a post on adverse possession so here is Smart v London Borough of Lambeth [2013] EWCA Civ 1375……..(*struggles to find Christmas link*).An oddity in this case is that Mr...
View ArticleRepair liability and implied lease clauses.
This one has been sitting in my draft collection for a while, but, as Christmas fades towards the new year, it finally got done. For the leaseholders in this particular appeal, it was, however,...
View ArticleBenefit cap JR
I’ve been really slow to write this up, for which many apologies, but I have just got bogged down in other things. The benefit cap JR got lost amongst that other stuff partly because it was almost...
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