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
Archive for the 'Housing law – All' Category
I suspect that many lawyers heave a heavy sigh at neighbour disputes. They seem to be fought with an intensity in inverse proportion to the scale of the problems. Throw in issues in construing lease covenants and enforceability by third parties and it is not surprising that this case ended up in the Court of Appeal, much to the Court’s disapproval.
Faidi & Anor v Elliot Corporation [2012] EWCA Civ 287 concerned two leaseholders in Eaton Mansions. The freeholder is the Grosvenor Estate and the reversioner is Eaton Mansions (Westminster) Ltd (EMW), a company owned by the leaseholders. The Claimant had Flat 6, the Defendant Flat 8, directly above it. … Read the full post
Two very recent Court of Appeal judgements have looked at the extent of a Local Authority’s obligations under Reg 6(2) of the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Review Procedures) Regulations 1999: Maswaku v Westminster CC and El Goure v RB Kensington & Chelsea.
In brief, the Regulation provides that once a request for a s.202 review has been made, the Authority is obliged to notify the applicant of their right to make further representations on review, either personally or by somebody on their behalf.
In both El Goure and Maswaku, the Authorities were criticised for failing to notify the Appellants or their solicitors once the requests had been … Read the full post
[Edited 16/05/2012 to correct the s.47(2) point]
Beitov Properties Ltd v Elliston Martin [2012] UKUT 133 (LC) is, I suspect, going to cause some sleepless nights for managing agents of long leasehold properties (and, possibly, some other agents and landlords).
Section 47, Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 applies to all demands for rent (whether ground rent or “normal” rent), service charges and administration charges. It requires that all written demands for payment of such sums must “contain… the name and address of the landlord and… if that address is not in England and Wales, an address in England and Wales at which notices… may be served on the landlord by … Read the full post
This is an important case on costs on settled Judicial Reviews. Following on Bahta & Ors, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Ors [2011] EWCA Civ 895 [Our report] and Lord Jackson’s view on JR costs, the Court of Appeal in M v London Borough of Croydon [2012] EWCA Civ 595 has given general guidance for awarding costs. The principles should also apply to the equally troublesome area of costs in settled s.204 Housing Act 1996 Homeless appeals.
The actual judicial review that gave rise to this hearing was an age assessment case which was conceded by the Local Authority … Read the full post
Two interesting cases have been delivered by the ECHR in the last few weeks: Mago and others v Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yordanova and others v Bulgaria.
Mago
The applicants in Mago held tenancies for life of flats within Bosnia-Herzegovina (with the exception of Mrs Mago, whose husband was the tenant) and they were compelled for varying reasons to leave their homes following the outbreak of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992. Security of these flats could be lost in a limited range of circumstances, including where the flat was left unoccupied for a continuous six month period or more. Once the tenants left, their properties were treated as abandoned by … Read the full post
Just a brief note on this. As yet no transcript. This is another example of a fairly robust antisocial behaviour decision being upheld on appeal and it reinforces the well established principle that an appellant who is essentially attacking the discretion of the Judge below will find no sympathy in the Court of Appeal.
The background was that a long standing secure tenant had lived in her flat with her three children. Her youngest son aged 19 had been involved in some offending including use and possession of cannabis and had some connection with firearms and ammunition found near the premises. B&D sought possession for both rent arrears and antisocial … Read the full post
Recent Comments