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
Archive for the 'FLW article' Category
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The GLA has been conducting a review of service charges in London (see here for our piece on the original announcement) and, earlier today (Monday, January 23, 2012), held an oral evidence session at City Hall. I couldn’t make it, sadly, but did manage to watch most of it online (the joys of modern technology). The recorded version should be available here, shortly. It was a very impressive debate with considered and intelligent contributions and I recommend it to you. If you have children who can’t sleep, I also recommend it to them.
But, like John Lee Hooker, I need money. It’s one of the reasons (a) I keep a close eye on costs cases and (b) I don’t get involved in the never-ending attempt by law students to get us to teach them about constructive trusts on this blog. Plantation Wharf Management Co Ltd v Jackson and another is a case that falls under the first category. No students here.
Whether a lease allows for recovery of legal costs is not usually a straight-forward proposition. in Sella House Ltd v Mears [1989] 1 EGLR 65, the Court of Appeal indicated that, in general terms, one would need to find a clause … Read the full post
In our shiny bright new year, DCLG is consulting on a new version of the Allocations Code of Guidance following the enactment of the Localism Act 2011, which has made several seemingly minor substantive alterations to Part 6, Housing Act 1996 (although those alterations are hugely significant practically). The closing date for the consultation is 30.03.2012, and responses can be sent by email to housingreform@communities.gsi.gov.uk or by post to the lovely Frances Walker at DCLG, Zone 1/J9, Eland House Bressenden Place London SW1E 5DU. That’s the formal stuff, now the content, followed by some comments.
It needs to be remembered that the backdrop to the Consultation is the redraft to … Read the full post
The Chartered Institute of Housing and the Guardian have put together the results of a survey into the effect of the housing benefit/LHA limits and the pegging to the bottom third of market rents coming into force in January. Specifically the survey looks at how many private properties in each area will cease to be affordable through housing benefit, how many housing benefit claimants there are in each area and, where available, how many properties remain affordable.
The headline is that just shy of 800,000 properties nationally (including Scotland) will cease to be affordable, though there is considerable variation across areas and even across London boroughs. There is a projected … Read the full post
We have previously commented on various housing and homelessness developments in Wales. These have been individual interventions into homelessness and the legislative competence order giving legislative housing powers to the Assembly. Moves are now afoot to do something radical with housing. In December 2011, Huw Lewis, the Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage, published a wide-ranging and quite personal vision for the future of housing policy in Wales: Meeting the Housing Challenge: Building a Consensus for Action. It is both thoughtful and thought-provoking, but without much detail (yet). Views are sought by 17.02.2012 by email to housingministerialstatement@wales.gsi.gov.uk. It looks like housing policy in Wales may well be moving … Read the full post
Just when I thought we weren’t going to have a seasonal story this year. Westminster Council have ridden to the rescue.
A new proposal, announced by the eminently sane and reasonable Councillor Phillipa Roe, is that from April 2013, Westminster are to maintain a naughty and nice list and to use it for awarding or withholding Council Tax Benefit.
we believe that potentially linking council tax benefit to certain levels of behaviour is a sensible and fair way forward that rewards those that play an active part in their community whilst cracking down on those that misbehave or break the law
Yes, they’ll know if you’ve been bad or … Read the full post
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