Archive for the 'Housing law – All' Category

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Care needs, eligibility and human rights

By NL on 12/05/2012. 0 Comments

De Almeida, R (on the application of) v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea [2012] EWHC 1082 (Admin)

This was a judicial review of RBK&C’s refusal to provide support under s.21 and s.29 National Assistance Act 1948 and indeed to carry out an assessment under s.47 of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.

Mr De A is a Portuguese national. He lived in the UK from 1998 to 2001 and from 2008 to date. He worked during the first period and for a year after his return. Mr De A had contracted HIV and AIDS. His health deteriorated so that he was not able to work. His … Read the full post

Posted in Community care, FLW case note and Housing law - All.

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: , , .

Reasonable houses ad nauseum, ad infinitum

By J on 08/05/2012. 3 Comments

Magnohard Ltd v Cadogan and others [2012] EWCA Civ 594 is yet another case dealing with whether a property can be a “house reasonably so called” and, hence, capable of being enfranchised under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967. There is quite a lot of law on this topic, although the leading case is probably Tandon v Trustees of Spurgeon Homes [1982] AC 755. In essence, if a proerpty can reasonably be considered to be a house, then it is for these purposes (even if it could, equally reasonably) be called something else. Hence properties which look like houses but now have some (possibly substantial) commercial units can be enfranchised. It is … Read the full post

Posted in FLW case note, Housing law - All and Leasehold and shared ownership.

Tibbles the Destroyer

By J on 30/04/2012. 3 Comments

The Stephens Island Wren is no more. It has gone. Extinct. Wiped out. Destroyed. And, at least according to folklore, by a cat named Tibbles. That’s not really relevant to the case of Tibbles v SIG Plc [2012] EWCA Civ 518, but, as this is my blog post, I can take a Denning-esque introduction if I’d like. It’s sunny today. Bluebell time in Kent…

Back to reality. Just a short note on Tibbles (the case, not the cat). It’s about the power of the court to “vary or revoke” an order under CPR 3.1(7). The case was a low-value PI claim. The DJ initially allocated the case to the small claims track but … Read the full post

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

Any answers?

By chief on 28/04/2012. 0 Comments

The April edition of Legal Action brings news that Hurst v UK has settled. As will be seen from the ECtHR’s Statement of Facts and Questions to the Parties Hurst involved a secure tenant who murdered a neighbour, the applicant’s son, during the course of possession proceedings. Ms Hurst brought proceedings in the domestic courts, which reached their conclusion in R (Hurst) v London Northern District Coroner [2007] UKHL 13; [2007] 2 AC 189. Those proceedings were concerned with the duties of a coroner, particularly where the death had occurred before the Human Rights Act 1998 had come into force.

Ms Hurst had also commenced civil proceedings against the police … Read the full post

Posted in Housing law - All. Tags: , .

Proportionality, Section 21 and starter tenancies

By NL on 22/04/2012. 2 Comments

Another RSL ‘starter tenancy’ and s.21 case, albeit one that marginally pre-dated West Kent HA v Haycraft, is The Riverside Group Limited – v – Sharon Thomas [2012] EWHC 169 (QB) 2 March 2012 (Manchester District Registry) [Not on Bailii. We've seen a transcript].

This will be a quick note, as the general principle has been established that proportionality defences are available for Housing Association ‘starter tenancies’, being assured shorthold tenancies, where possession is sought via section 21 notice. In addition, Ms Thomas was in person, and failed to appear, after her solicitors came off the record for lack of co-operation, so the extent of argument was limited.

Ms … Read the full post

Posted in Assured Shorthold tenancy, FLW case note, Housing law - All, Introductory and Demoted tenancies and Possession. Tags: , , , , .

Stick or Twist

By J on 18/04/2012. 1 Comment

R (MD)(Afghanistan) v Secretary of State [2012] EWCA Civ 194 is an immigration case but merits wider attention because of what it has to say about the interplay between renewing a judicial review claim and appeals.

MD was an asylum seeker. The Secretary of State rejected his application, as did the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and the High Court. Some 10 days before he was due to be deported, his solicitors submitted a considerable amount of fresh material and sought to bring a new claim for asylum. The Secretary of State refused to accept the new claim and JR proceedings were issued (on the day set for his deportation).

Sales … Read the full post

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