Monthly Archive for May, 2007

EU citizens and social housing

By NL on 29/05/2007. 0 Comments

Head of Legal had an interesting post in response to my post on Hodge’s outburst (the ramifications of which rumble on, including the BNP noting gratefully that they win whether the ideas become policy or if they are not carried through. Unfortunately true. Well done Margaret).

EU workerHead of Legal, I think, suggested that Directive 2004/38 (pdf) overrode most of the current restrictions on EU citizens being workers or workseekers in order to have benefit and housing entitlement. In particular, he suggested that they would be entitled during the first 3 months in any case and also when not workseekers, because they retain the right to reside if they become incapable … Read the full post

Posted in Allocation, Housing law - All and secure-tenancy. Tags: , , , , .

What's mine is yours, unfortunately.

By NL on 28/05/2007. 9 Comments

To everything there is a season and housing issues are no exception. While winter brings a flood of disrepair cases, Spring is the time for relationship breakdown.

Whether involving partners or spouses, this brings its own housing problems, particularly involving joint tenancies. And of course the once-happy couple have a joint tenancy. Prompted by Family Lore on Stack v Dowden, this is a much delayed look at relationship breakdown and joint tenancies.

For social tenancies (housing association or Council), relationship breakdown is a serious issue. The landlord cannot simply transfer the tenancy into the sole name of the remaining person, or at least not legally. This usually comes as … Read the full post

Posted in assured-tenancy, Housing law - All and secure-tenancy. Tags: , , , , , .

Circular allusions and problems with names.

By NL on 22/05/2007. 0 Comments

Via Lawyer-2-be (whose name has apparently been lifted by The Lawyer for its student site, alas), I discovered the gloriously named blog Belle de Jure.

Apparently by an off-duty academic lawyer, it’s off to an entertaining start.

According to a recent post, we are to believe that the name was coined without reference to or knowledge of a certain well known blog to book writer of recent times, whom, in the circular nature of things, I mentioned way back when in the context of a discussion of anonymous blogging, a topic which is currently also troubling Belle de Jure.

Happy to though I am to believe that no … Read the full post

Posted in Various (non-housing). Tags: , .

Local housing for local people

By NL on 20/05/2007. 3 Comments

Margaret Hodge has decided that this is a good time to say that too much Council housing is going to economic migrants at the expense of local residents. Allocation policies should be rethought to reward ‘length of residence, citizenship and national insurance contributions’.

Carefully, the Industry Minister has managed to conflate the ‘coming over here taking our housing’ and the ‘un/deserving poor’ knee jerk reactions. Housing for the hardworking poor British, cries the Barking MP. Co-incidentally Barking and Dagenham have made the BNP the second largest party on the local Council.Margart Hodge

The trouble is that Hodge has put her finger on a genuine problem, but, whether through ignorance or calculation, … Read the full post

Posted in Allocation, Housing law - All, secure-tenancy and Various (non-housing). Tags: , , , .

Blawgfest 2007, bon chance…

By NL on 16/05/2007. 0 Comments

Despite having been thoroughly up for it, one of the side effects of my new found traineeship-ness is that I can’t go to the UK Legal Blawg Conference, organised by Geeklawyer and Ruthie, on 18th May as I’m being inescapably trained.

It looks like a good and interesting time should be had by all. I hope it goes marvellously well and look forward to indiscretions galore afterwards. Any leftover Rioja (fat chance) can be sent my way.

Geeklawyer – make it an annual shindig. Go on, you know you want to.… Read the full post

Posted in Various (non-housing). Tags: .

Succession in secure tenancies – House of Lords

By NL on 16/05/2007. 0 Comments

An eminently sensible House of Lords decision today in Birmingham CC -v- Walker [2007] UKHL 22, maintaining the sensible Court of Appeal decision ([2006] 1 WLR 2641).

At issue was whether a transmission or change of a tenancy in one of the forms set out in Housing Act 1980, s.88.1 as constituing a succession counted as such if it had occurred prior to the 1980 Act – so before the tenancy became a secure tenancy. E.g, if a joint tenancy had become a sole tenancy, as in this case, prior to becoming a secure tenancy, did this count as the one succession allowable?

Working on the sensible basis that … Read the full post

Posted in FLW case note, Housing law - All, secure-tenancy and Succession. Tags: , , , .

Street protests and statistical spin

By NL on 13/05/2007. 0 Comments

The Constitutional Affairs committee report seems to have galvanised opposition to the reforms, even if met with a profound silence from the LSC/MoJ. What Price JusticeThe Access to Justice Alliance plans a week of action for next week, including demonstrations outside Central London County Court and a meeting at Westminster with the Chair of the committee. One aim, very sensibly, is to ensure the matter doesn’t get lost in the DCA to MoJ transition. Whether the Lord Chancellor will do anything in what is likely to be his remaining few weeks is unclear though.

Meanwhile, the LSC attempts some spin on figures showing a 12.5% increase in civil ‘acts of assistance’ in … Read the full post

Posted in Various (non-housing). Tags: .
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