Monthly Archive for October, 2011

Forward to the 18th Century!

By NL on 29/10/2011. 3 Comments

Monstrous Craws at a new Coalition Feast
The Coalition’s proposed legislation this week has a marvellously retro feel to it. Sniff the air. Through the whiff of horse dung and open sewers, you can tell we are back in the days of Queen Anne and not solely because the lawfulness of the catholicity of a Monarch’s spouse was an issue deemed worth revisiting.

The Observer noted that a debate in the Lords on the Welfare Reform Bill gave rise to the prospect of the return of the window tax.  The glorious proposals to cut the benefits of under-occupiers, so that they have to find a less commodious garrett, gives rise to the question of what constitutes a … Read the full post

Posted in Benefits, FLW article, Housing law - All and Possession. Tags: , , , .

No, that is your elbow

By NL on 29/10/2011. 3 Comments

In which we discover what happens when an RSL serves a notice confirming an assured tenancy after serving a s.21 notice on an assured shorthold tenant.

 Saxon Weald Homes Ltd v Chadwick [2011] EWCA Civ 1202

Mr Chadwick had been given an AST by Saxon Weald as a ‘probationary tenancy’ on 11 August 2008. The tenancy agreement stated that if no steps for possession had been taken within 12 months, including service of notice requiring possession or notice seeking possession, it would automatically become an assured periodic  tenancy at that time. Otherwise, it would remain a periodic AST. THe clause also stated “if the tenancy converts to a fully assured … Read the full post

Posted in Assured Shorthold tenancy, assured-tenancy, FLW case note, Housing law - All and Possession.

Sale and Rentback (again)

By Dave on 28/10/2011. 1 Comment

I’ve got to admit it, I’ve fallen for HHJ Behrens.  I’ve no knowledge of him, have never appeared before him, and have only read his written words, but he just seems to be that type of property lawyer who is also human.  He is developing something of an expertise in sale and rentback transactions, for which I have a degree of empathy for him as well as have considerable interest in.  He did the re North East Property Buyers litigation, which we noted and commented on.  I think HHJ Behrens was spot-on – it’s for the Supreme Court to interfere with the basic principles adumbrated in Abbey National BS v … Read the full post

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

Getting to know the neighbours

By J on 26/10/2011. 1 Comment

One thing you could never accuse the Right to Manage legislation of being is “user friendly”. In Gala Unity Ltd v Ariadne Road Rtm Co Ltd [2011] UKUT 425 (LC), the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) (in the person of that very nice chap, the President) has, however, tried to solve one of the more perplexing drafting problems to arise from the awful provisions that are the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.

Gala Properties Ltd was the freehold owner of, inter alia, a modern development consisting of two blocks of flats and two free-standing coach houses, which were themselves flats with parking spaces. The leases provided for various categories … Read the full post

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

Just one small but crucial fact..

By NL on 23/10/2011. 3 Comments

Tricky things, ex parte interim injunctions. Dealt with on the papers, or possibly by a phone hearing with a duty Judge, there is little time for detail and, obviously, no argument from the other side. Which makes it all the more important that the applicant gets things right. We noted some stern words on failure to follow protocol and failure to disclose material facts from Munby J here.

A further warning on the nature and extent of disclosure of material facts comes  in R (On the application of Konodyba) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea [2011] EWHC 2653 (Admin [Not on Bailii]. The case also involves the jurisdiction … Read the full post

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

Not a mother-in-law joke

By NL on 23/10/2011. 0 Comments

Abdullah v Westminster City Council [2011] EWCA Civ 1171

Do matrimonial home rights apply where notice to leave to a non-tenant spouse  has been given by a joint tenant who is not the spouse? A question raised and answered in this homeless case. This was a second appeal to the Court of Appeal on a homeless review decision under Housing Act 1996 Part VII

Mrs A lived with her husband, her 18 year old son and her husband’s mother in a two bedroom Westminster tenancy. The tenancy was a joint tenancy for her husband and his mother dating from 2002. Mr A had fled Iraq some years ago leaving Mrs … Read the full post

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

Turning up is usually the best idea

By NL on 17/10/2011. 1 Comment

Williams & Anor v Hinton & Anor [2011] EWCA Civ 1123

This, and please bear with me here, was an application for leave to appeal a Circuit Judge’s trial judgment. It was also an application for an injunction to restrain enforcement of the trial judgment, originally made in the High Court. It resulted from a possession claim and disrepair and personal injury counterclaim that had, at some stage, involved a claim for judicial review and an application for permission to appeal the refusal of permission for review. All this out of what should have been a fairly straightforward claim and counterclaim.

The actual appeal deals with non-attendance at trial, the … Read the full post

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