Author Archive for Francis Davey

The tenant is dead, long live the tenant

By Francis Davey on 11/05/2012. 23 Comments

Our attention was drawn to a decision in the Medway County Court, presumably because it considered a proportionality defence. I’m not sure there’s much to see there — one of the team said that he was not “remotely excited about it”.

But it caught my eye. To be fair, one cannot always tell from a short judgment of this kind exactly what happened, but it gives the impression that landlord and tenant law was, at best, misunderstood. So it seemed like a golden opportunity to set the record straight.

The defendant’s father and mother had lived in the property under an assured tenancy. Sadly, the father died. The mother succeeded … Read the full post

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

Estoppel and s.2 – will we find out?

By Francis Davey on 23/12/2011. 0 Comments

In the Summer Dave and David Smith posted about the case of Kinnear v Whittaker in the High Court. Bean J allowed an appeal against the summary disposal of a possession claim where the defendant had raised proprietary estoppel as a defence. This interesting and important question about the interaction between estoppel and s.2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 was therefore put off until trial.

The claimants appear to have been too excited to wait until then (or, more likely, but less poetically, they wanted to avoid the expense of a trial) and so appealed to the Court of Appeal. On Wednesday Stanley Burnton LJ refused … Read the full post

Posted in FLW case note, Mortgage possession, Possession, Trusts and Estoppel and Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , , .

Trial Separation

By Francis Davey on 08/10/2011. 1 Comment

Quigley v Masterson [2011] EWHC 2529 (Ch) raises an interesting point about the severance of a beneficial joint tenancy.

The background is sadly familiar. The late Mr Pilkington formed a relationship with Mrs Masterson. They lived together in a house as joint legal and beneficial tenants. Their relationship broke down and Mrs Masterson (together with a daughter from a previous marriage) moved out.

Since he was 16 years senior to Mrs Masterson, it is not surprising that it was his (or his legal advisor’s) mind that first turned to severance of the joint tenancy. His solicitors attempted to do so by notice under that section familiar to all law students: … Read the full post

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

Not Ashored

By Francis Davey on 08/08/2011. 0 Comments

Awful title due to NL himself.

Mew v Tristmire concerned whether or not two “houseboats” were “dwelling houses let as separate dwellings” as required in section 1 of the Housing Act 1988 in order for them to be assured tenancies.

The “houseboats” appear to have been converted WWII landing craft that were, in the event, not used in the D-Day invasion. Both rested on wooden platforms so that they did not rise and fall with the tide. Both could be lifted off the platforms and removed, although one, “Emily” was fixed to an additional structure that had been added some 5 years previously and which would be damaged or destroyed … Read the full post

Posted in assured-tenancy and Uncategorized. Tags: , , , .

Rough pasture – another caravan story

By Francis Davey on 13/04/2011. 3 Comments

Two interesting points were decided by the Court of Appeal in Murphy v Wyatt:

  • Where there is an agreement permitting a mobile home to be stationed on land which does not have planning permission for use as a caravan site (and therefore does not have a site licence), the subsequent granting of permission does not bring that agreement within the Mobile Homes Act 1983.
  • The 1983 Act only applies to agreements which are exclusively, or at any rate mainly, limited to granting rights falling within section 1 of the Act, so that where a large area of land is let for agricultural purposes permitting the tenant to live on

    • … Read the full post

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

Defamation again: Mrs Clift wins in the Court of Appeal

By Francis Davey on 23/12/2010. 3 Comments

Last year I blogged about Mrs Clift winning a claim for defamation against Slough Borough Council. The facts are in the earlier post. Slough’s appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal in Clift v Slough Borough Council [2010] EWCA Civ 1171.

While the point in issue was whether Slough could rely on a defence of qualified privilege against Mrs Clift’s claim, I think the decision has wider implications and is therefore relevant to housing practice. The court’s reasoning on Article 8 of the ECHR should be familiar to housing lawyers. In the court’s view, the publication of damaging allegations about Mrs Clift interfered with her rights under … Read the full post

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

Actual occupation (part time)

By Francis Davey on 03/11/2010. 0 Comments

The High Court decision in Thomas v Clydesdale Bank [2010] EWHC 2755 (QB) revisits a conveyancing questions addressed in many of well-known authorities which I might put crudely as: who gets the house, the bank or the wife?

Mr Burtenshaw was the sole legal owner of a home. He intended to move into it with his partner Ms Thomas and their children, but their new home needed renovation. Contractors were hired and work started on the property. Ms Thomas visited the property to supervise work “almost every day” and “at last every other day”.

The plan was to raise further funds for renovation by a bridging loan which would turn … Read the full post

Posted in Uncategorized.
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