Author Archive for David Smith

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Back in the Consulting Room

By David Smith on 30/09/2011. 1 Comment

The London Borough of Newham is holding a consultation on the introduction of selective licensing accross the whole borough. Selective licensing is a byproduct of the HMO licensing provisions in the Housing Act 2004. It permits a local authority to licence all landlords in a specific area where that area is one of low housing demand or anti-social behaviour, the local housing authority can show that there are problems which are in part due to poor housing management, and they can show that a licensing scheme will alleviate the problem. There is also an obligation to hold a consultation with stakeholders and affected parties.

However, it is not as simple … Read the full post

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

Short of Money but Not Short of Rent

By David Smith on 19/07/2011. 21 Comments

Christina Sharples v Places for People Homes Ltd, Stephen Godfrey v A2 Dominion Homes Ltd [2011] EWCA Civ 813

This is actually two appeals which deal with an important question about insolvency and bankruptcy and whether monies that form part of the bankruptcy can be counted as arrears of rent for the purposes of obtaining possession.

Facts
Both Ms Sharples and Mr Godrey were assured tenants of their respective landlords and both were in arrears of rent. Ms S had possesion proceedings commenced against her but these were adjourned generally on condition she made monthly payments. She failed to do so but then declared bankruptcy prior to the reinstated proceedings … Read the full post

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

A Not So Unlawful Eviction

By David Smith on 04/07/2011. 4 Comments

R v Q [2011] EWCA Crim 1584. On Lawtel but not on BAILII

This is an appeal concerning s1(3A), Protection From Eviction Act 1977. This subsection was inserted by the Housing Act 1988 and was intended to fix a problem with s1(3). S1(3A) reads:

Subject to subsection (3B) below, the landlord of a residential occupier or an agent of the landlord shall be guilty of an offence if—
(a)he does acts likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of the residential occupier or members of his household, or
(b)he persistently withdraws or withholds services reasonably required for the occupation of the premises in question as a residence,
and (in

… Read the full post

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

Tenancy Deposits Back in the Localism Bill

By David Smith on 21/06/2011. 0 Comments

We have previously posted on amendments to the Localism Bill tabled in Commons committee which would have had the effect of rewriting the tenancy deposit protection provisions in the Housing Act 2004.

The changes were designed to reset the position back to that which was set out by the government when it originally put the provisions forward and before the legislation was undermined by a number of Court of Appeal decisions.

The amendments were not supported by the Government in Commons committee and were withdrawn on the basis that an alternative would be put in place. However, there has been no alternative forthcoming thus far and time is getting short.… Read the full post

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

Rolling Back the Years: Estoppel and s.2

By David Smith on 19/06/2011. 1 Comment

[Edit NL 21/6/2011. Owing to some enthusiasm by contributors and an evening off editing by me, we have two reports on this case done on the same evening. I've kept both because they present interestingly different approaches to the issues in this case, but I've combined them. First, strictly temporally, is David Smith's version, followed by Dave's]

Whittaker v Kinnear [2011] EWHC 1479 (QB)

This case raises some interesting questions about estoppel and sale.

K sold her property and it’s grounds to W and his business associate, Mr Nichols in 2007, apparently because she could no longer afford it. This sale was at an undervalue and it was intended that … Read the full post

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

Assuredly not an AST

By David Smith on 20/05/2011. 0 Comments

Jasbir Kaur Kahlon v Andrew Isherwood [2011] EWCA Civ 602 (on Lawtel but not on BAILII yet)
UPDATE: Transcript now available on BAILII

Schedule 2A of the Housing Act 1988 was inserted by the Housing Act 1996 and supports s19A which was inserted by the same Act. S19A basically acts to make the AST the default tenancy under the Act while Schedule 2A lists a series of exceptions to the default position. Most crucially, for this case is the exception in paragraph 7 which states that a tenancy which was previously an Assured tenancy cannot be regranted as an AST unless a notice in a prescribed form had been served.… Read the full post

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

Eviscerated? Now also Drawn and Quartered

By David Smith on 19/05/2011. 37 Comments

Gladehurst Properties Ltd v Hashemi [2011] EWCA Civ 604 (Not on BAILII at time of writing)
UPDATE: Transcript now available on BAILII

In Tiensia LJ Sedley said that the decision of the majority ‘eviscerated’ the tenancy deposit protection legislation. The Court of Appeal has now returned to complete the job with a hanging by the neck until almost dead followed by a quartering with the body parts to be distributed throughout the kingdom.

The facts were relatively simple. Mr Hashemi was a tenant, along with a Mr Johnson, of Gladehurst Properties. The tenancy deposit of some £6,240 was never protected by G. Much of that deposit (less a deduction of … Read the full post

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