In Burnip v Birmingham CC, Trengove v Walsall MBC, and Gorry v Wiltshire C [2012] EWCA Civ 629, the Court of Appeal considered whether the application of the bedroom rule in the housing benefit regulations as regards private rented accommodation discriminated against those who needed an extra bedroom for a carer or because their children could not share a room as a result of disability (see here for our discussion of the Upper Tribunal decisions). The Court held that it did so discriminate and they were spot-on (in my view at any rate) in extremely careful, sensitive judgments notable for their dismissal of discretionary housing benefit payments as a justification … Read the full post
Author Archive for Dave
One question (of the many) arising from the watershed that is represented in English and Welsh law by Pinnock is just how far it extends. We hope to have a Court of Appeal decision on private landlords and the application of proportionality soonish. But there is also a question on the relationship between this new jurisdiction and that of bankruptcy sale proceedings. Prior to Pinnock, there was a discussion in some of the cases about the overlap between section 335A, Insolvency Act 1986, and Article 8 (the starting point for this discussion is Barca v Mears [2004] EWHC 2170 (Ch), but that case is rather hopeless; more recent discussion … Read the full post
In Reeves v Northrop [2012] EWHC 415 Admin, this precise question arose in the context of an appeal by the valuation officer (Reeves) against a decision of the Valuation Tribunal. It’s a little off the beaten track for us (a council tax appeal) but, at its heart, this is another case about transience/ permanence and the constitution of property; the meaning of “dwelling”; there’s also Shapps’ suggestion that more use should be made of houseboats.
Mr Northrop and his family have lived in the houseboat since 2001. Between December 2008 and October 2011, it was sited on an informal mooring in Barnstaple, resting on the mud flat, but secured. Subsequently, … Read the full post
I confess never to have thought too deeply about this question, but it is clearly important and not exactly free from doubt. In Oxford CC v Basey [2012] EWCA Civ 115, the question arose for the Court of Appeal in the context of the range of payments which are eligible for housing benefit. Rather than go through the convoluted process of explanation, let’s adopt the description of HB for these purposes by the Upper Tribunal: “… housing benefit includes the costs of cleaning and fuel for communal areas other than rooms in all accommodation, but also includes the costs of cleaning and fuel for communal rooms in sheltered accommodation”. The … Read the full post
London Borough of Southwark v Hyacienth 22.12.2011 is that incredibly rare, beautiful thing: a successful gateway (b) defence to a mandatory possession claim in relation to an introductory tenancy. At least, I think it is: unfortunately, it’s not clear whether it is a successful proportionality defence, and the circuit judge (who shall remain nameless as a result) also confuses gateway (a) and (b). [The relationship between proportionality and gateway (b) seems to me to be an interesting question and one which I've had a bit of a battle with an anonymous academic reviewer about, but that's another story]. But, so what; and thanks to David Thomas, Ms Hyacienth’s solicitor, for … Read the full post
Many of us believed that once the FSA got its teeth into the sale and rentback market, it would be cleaned up and become effectively a residual (perhaps forgotten) backwater of the impact of debt on home owners. Unregulated transactions have given rise to complicated issues of property law as a result of the unfortunate ways in which the transactions progressed and which have (so far) been decided against the seller/renters. But surely the regulated market would be clean and proper. Not so: the FSA has completed its review of the market and effectively shut it down. Its findings make for grim reading and regulated sales look likely to … Read the full post
Recent Comments