Monthly Archive for February, 2011

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Unreasonable bungalow

By NL on 21/02/2011. 3 Comments

Anya Thompson v Mendip District Council, Taunton County Court 3 December 2010 [Unreported elsewhere].

This was the s.204 Housing Act 1996 appeal of a decision by Mendip DC that its offer of a two bedroom bungalow was an offer of suitable accommodation under s.206 of the Act and, therefore, it was right to discharge duty under s.193 of the Act.

Ms Thompson had been a traveller for 20 years. In February 2008, she moved her caravan onto land in Glastonbury owned by Mendip. She was served with a removal order in June 2008, but after negotiations, was allowed to stay. Ms T applied as homeless, and was initially turned … Read the full post

Posted in FLW case note, Homeless and Housing law - All. Tags: , , .

No admittance

By NL on 20/02/2011. 1 Comment

Sharon Horie v the United Kingdom – 31845/10 [2011] ECHR 289

Back at the end of 2009 we reported the Supreme Court case of Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs v Meier and another, which upheld the use of a quia timet injunction – a prospective possession order – against a group of new travellers, preventing them from occupying any land owned by the Forestry Commission in the area.

Sharon Horie, one of the new travellers, applied to the European Court of Human Rights. This is the decision on the admissibility of the application.

The application was on the basis that:

20. The applicant complained

… Read the full post

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

Turning european?

By Dave on 18/02/2011. 0 Comments

The UKSC judgment in Birmingham CC v Frisby, Leeds CC v Hall, Hounslow LBC v Powell is due on Wednesday 23 February (court Room 1 at 9.45).  The background in the CA and the foreground (Pinnock) have been discussed in previous posts (here and here) to whet your appetite.  The point at issue is so significant that it involves, hopefully, guidance going beyond the technical way in which introductory and non-secure Part 7 tenancies are brought to an end but nothing less than a new way of thinking about possession proceedings that is both European and national.  If Pinnock provided a slightly out of … Read the full post

Posted in Assured Shorthold tenancy, FLW article, Homeless, Housing law - All and Possession.

Yeah but, no but …

By Dave on 16/02/2011. 1 Comment

Vicky Pollard continues the Chief’s west country theme, albeit somewhat stretched, to demonstrate the Con-Dem approach to consultation about their affordable rent tenancy regime (ie what consultation?).   We now have more detail courtesy of the HCA and a brief ministerial statement from Shapps together with a longer press release of the Shapps saves the world type.  In summary, the HCA is giving out £4.5 billion of the £6.5 billion of public funding for housing to affordable rent schemes (if you want a quick recap on these – basically, the schemes enable the landlord to charge 80% of the market rent against fixed term, so-called “flexible” tenancies with special procedures regarding … Read the full post

Posted in Allocation, FLW article, Housing law - All and Regulation and planning.

Holding down sweet charity

By chief on 15/02/2011. 0 Comments

Zafar v Goddard, Bristol County Court, 13 December 2010

Word reaches us from the West Country of a not uninteresting case heard in Bristol County Court before Christmas.

Although we haven’t seen a transcript, we have been provide with an unapproved note of the judgment of DDJ Batstone.

The case came before the DDJ as a small claims case with a considerable history. Shortly after entering into an AST in 2008 Mr Goddard had left the property, with several months of the minimum period still to run. The first set of proceedings were then commenced by the landlord, Mrs Zafar, for unpaid rent up until the expiry of the … Read the full post

Posted in Assured Shorthold tenancy, FLW case note and Housing law - All. Tags: , .

It’s all in the detail – Pinnock part 2

By NL on 15/02/2011. 0 Comments

Manchester City Council v Pinnock [2010] UKSC 6

As if to confirm that housing law is, well, complicated, there is a coda to the Supreme Court decision in Manchester City Council v Pinnock, which has led to a supplementary judgment being handed down. This deals with what order should be made and costs.

The first problem was that the parties couldn’t agree on the consequential order from Pinnock 1 – as you’ll recall, Mr Pinnock’s appeal of the possession order made against his demoted tenancy failed. The initial possession order was made on 22 December 2008, with possession to be given by 12 January 2009. Notice of appeal was served … Read the full post

Posted in FLW case note, Housing law - All, Introductory and Demoted tenancies and Tolerated trespasser.

There must be some kind of way out of here…

By NL on 12/02/2011. 0 Comments

Or a Naughty Step special edition.

Another Naughty Step post? So soon? Well, yes. I have no control over how these things crop up and not only does this case feature some jaw droppingly bad behaviour, the demise of a whole business legal model and some innovative law, it features Nearly Legal’s own Francis Davey in a starring role (and one that is entirely angelic, I hasten to add, as if it could be possibly be otherwise). Granted there is the drawback that the case has nothing to do with  housing law, but that minor hitch aside, how could I possibly resist? So, I wrote a post about the götterdämmerung of … Read the full post

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