Monthly Archive for November, 2011

And you find that power where?

By J on 27/11/2011. 0 Comments

By s.168, Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, a landlord may not serve a notice under s.146, Law of Property Act 1925, or otherwise exercise a right of re-entry (i.e. forfeiture) in respect of a breach of a covenant (other than one to pay rent – which is unaffected by s.146, see s.146(11); or service/administration charges, which are dealt with under s.81, Housing Act 1996), unless the breach has been admitted by the tenant or determined by a court, LVT or arbitral tribunal.

There is a bit of a cottage industry in these applications to the LVT. Landlord says that tenant is in breach by, e.g. having a cat. … Read the full post

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

Laying the foundations …

By Dave on 21/11/2011. 10 Comments

The “new” housing strategy published today, Laying the Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England, has some interesting bits to it, but it is somewhat unfortunate that the government has taken the opportunity to trumpet its achievements and pronounce their success in this document without proper, close evaluation.  Readers of this blog will not be surprised by the self-publicity and self-laudatory approach in the strategy, although the endless critique of New Labour in the document is both tiresome and unnecessary as it really isn’t supported by evidence, and rather distorts the reality (in fact, the one thing New Labour did do was to commission research on their reforms, which the … Read the full post

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

No further forward

By J on 20/11/2011. 3 Comments

One of the most vexing questions in service charge litigation is the interaction between default judgment and s.81, Housing Act 1996. In summary, s.81, 1996 Act requires that, before any notice under s.146, Law of Property Act 1925 (forfeiture) can be served, or any right of re-entry exercised, there must be a “final determination” that the amount of the service charge is due. This can be provided by the LVT, arbitral tribunal or court. Alternatively, the tenant can admit the sum is due.

Now, is a default judgment a “final determination” for these purposes? This is quite important because, in the overwhelming majority of service charge arrears cases, the landlord … Read the full post

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

Service charge accounting

By J on 17/11/2011. 0 Comments

The Association of Residential Managing Agents have, together with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (and their sister body in Scotland), have published non-statutory best practice guidance on how to account for service charges, their tax treatment, the rights of leaseholders to see certain documents, etc. It’s an impressive piece of work which has been over a year in the making and, best of all, is available to download for free, here.… Read the full post

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

Calling Hercules J

By J on 17/11/2011. 0 Comments

Freeholders of 69 Marina, St Leonards-on-Sea v Oram and another [2011] EWCA Civ 1258

A case on costs of LVT and county court proceedings, and quite an important one at that. 69 Marina is a building in St Leonards-on-Sea. It has been converted into 6 flats, five of which were let on long leaseholders. Four of the leaseholders were registered as freeholders and held the freehold on trust for all the leaseholders. In 2005, works totalling £19,031.36 were done to the property to remedy some water penetration. The freeholder sought to recover the costs via the service charge, but the two leaseholder defendants did not make the payments sought. The … Read the full post

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

The Housing Law Conference 2011

By NL on 16/11/2011. 0 Comments

Conference logo

The HLPA Housing Law Conference 2011
14 December 2011
The Royal College of Surgeons
35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London WC2A 3PE

 

Registration here

This year has already thrown up a number of significant challenges for housing law practitioners and these only look set to increase. The HLPA Conference 2011 aims to take a practical approach to a number of these challenges, focusing in particular on funding housing cases, utilising new and developing areas of law and taking our practice into the future. Speakers will be offering practical guidance in dealing with cases and with important areas of practice including homelessness, unlawful eviction and the role of the recent Equality … Read the full post

Posted in Housing law - All and Various (non-housing).

No facts please, we’re reviewing

By NL on 13/11/2011. 0 Comments

Bubb v London Borough of Wandsworth [2011] EWCA Civ 1285

In an appeal under s.204 Housing Act 1996, should the County Court determine disputed factual issues?  In this second appeal, the Court of Appeal effectively holds not.

Ms Bubb was in temporary accommodation after Wandsworth accepted the full s.193 housing duty. She was accommodated at a property called Trayfoot Lodge but after a year, in March 2009, she was moved to a property called Clarkson House. In August 2009 Wandsworth decided to offer permanent accommodation in a property called Alfreda Court. Wandsworth’s case was that a letter was sent, by hand, to Ms B at Clarkson House on 11 August, … Read the full post

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