Monthly Archive for August, 2008

Harvey v Bamforth – request for further information

By J on 26/08/2008. 17 Comments

Harvey v Bamforth, Sheffield County Court, Estates Gazette, 23 Aug, 2008, pg 22.

The introduction of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (“TDS”) was one of the more positive reforms to housing law in recent years. It has previously been discussed by NL here and here, by Housed here and here and by Landlord Law here, all of which are worth a read and, helpfully, save me from having to say much about the scheme.

In the Harvey case, it appears that the landlord had taken a deposit and had placed it in one of the prescribed schemes, but had failed to provide the prescribed paperwork to the tenant, … Read the full post

Posted in Assured Shorthold tenancy, Deposits and Housing law - All. Tags: , , .

Pre-emptive possession orders

By NL on 26/08/2008. 4 Comments

Secretary of State for the Environment Food & Rural Affairs v Meier & Ors [2008] EWCA Civ 903 was a case concerning travellers encamped on Forestry Commission land. Some of the travellers had previously camped on a nearby patch of Forestry Commission land until a possession order was obtained. The Forestry Commission (or rather the Sec of State, the owner of the land) applied for:

  1. A possession order in respect of the patch of land occupied.
  2. A possession order for other nearby areas of Forestry Commission land that the travellers might move to.
  3. An injunction preventing the travellers from entering upon the land they currently occupied and the other nearby

    4. … Read the full post

Posted in FLW case note, Housing law - All, Licences and occupiers and Possession. Tags: , , , , .

Having regard…

By J on 24/08/2008. 0 Comments

M & M Savant Limited v Brown and others LRX/26/2006

It is a shame that this case was decided in 2008, and not in 1998 when it would have had a much greater relevance. It contains a comprehensive analysis of s.20 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 prior to the wide ranging amendments made by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002. Sadly, it is probably now only of interest to those (few) of us with a particular interest in leasehold property disputes.

Mr Brown and the other respondents were the leaseholders of various flats in a block of flats in London, NW7. In 2005, they had applied to the … Read the full post

Posted in FLW case note, Housing law - All and Leasehold and shared ownership. Tags: , .

So what

By Dave on 20/08/2008. 3 Comments

Seven and a half years on, the Law Commission has now completed its work on the reform of housing law with the publication of its final report, Housing: Encouraging Responsible Letting. The Consultation Paper, on which this report is based, voted in favour of a scheme of enforced self-regulation, a scheme with some bite. That has been dropped in this report which now makes various tinkering suggestions such as a national private landlord accreditation scheme and a single code of good housing management practice. The one solid proposal with which everyone can agree (presumably) is the need for a proper regulatory scheme for letting agents. Their major proposal is … Read the full post

Posted in Assured Shorthold tenancy, Housing law - All and Regulation and planning. Tags: , , , .

Institutionally racist

By NL on 14/08/2008. 18 Comments

We are not institutionally racist. SRA October 2007

This is not housing law related, but it is of significance to many in the sector.

Lord Ouseley, the former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, was jointly commissioned by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority and the Society of Black Lawyers to conduct an independent investigation into the SRA’s treatment of BME solicitors and firms, in a perhaps belated response to repeated complaints that BME firms were disproportionately targeted for interventions and that complaints and disciplinary proceedings were also handled in a discriminatory way. Even at the level of referrals of law students for character or suitability assessments, black and asian … Read the full post

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

Why are we waiting?

By Dave on 12/08/2008. 3 Comments

Now that it’s the silly season and there’s not much happening out there, there’s an opportunity to reflect on what’s not happening with the Code of Guidance on Choice-Based Lettings, or more accurately, why it hasn’t been issued. Is CLG on the naughty step?

The last Code on allocations was issued in November 2002 in the wake of the Homelessness Act but so much has happened since – allocations have gone regional, there’s been talk of a pan-London allocations scheme, loads more cash has been thrown at CBL, there are concerns about the effect of CBL on vulnerable households, and then there’s accessible housing registers (don’t start me). That’s not … Read the full post

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

Surely your best point is…

By J on 10/08/2008. 2 Comments

Swanlane Estates Ltd v Woods and others LRX/159/2007 (.pdf)

This case concerns the not uncommon situation of a court or tribunal (in this case, a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal) taking a point which the applicant / claimant had not expressly pleaded and the respondent / defendant then losing the case on that very point.

Mr Wood and a number of his fellow leaseholders applied to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) for a determination of their service charge liabilities for the years 2004 – 2007. The extent of the challenge was described as “request fully detailed itemised dated of each charge on list (this had not been forthcoming) assess what should be … Read the full post

Posted in FLW case note, Housing law - All and Leasehold and shared ownership. Tags: , .
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