Push the bad news out just before Christmas seems to be a pretty good rule of thumb. Our previous post on the housing strategy, Laying the Foundations, led to a number of comments about the right to buy proposals in that document, which were all pretty vague. Today, DCLG has published Reinvigorating the Right to Buy and One for One Replacement, which provides some further flesh on the bones, although they are no further forward in working out how best to distribute the funds which are assumed to increase. They are assumed to increase because the government intends to increase the cap on the discount to £50,000. The … Read the full post
Archive for the 'right-to-buy' Category
Francis v LB Southwark [2011] EWCA Civ 1418
This was a brave attempt to try and get something out a local authority’s mistaken denial of a right to buy application, but it was not one which the Court of Appeal had any truck with.
Mr Francis was a tenant of the London Borough of Southwark. It seems that the course of his tenancy had not been a smooth one. Rent arrears would accrue, but eviction would be staved off. In March 2003 Mr F submitted a right to buy application in respect his flat on the Acorn Estate.
Southwark responded in September 2003, with a Housing Act 1985, s.124 notice … Read the full post
Fineland Investments Ltd v Janice Vivien Pritchard [2011] EWHC 113 (Ch)
From Lawtel. Not on BAILII yet.
This is a slightly sad tale involving the exercise of right to buy by a council tenant.
Ms Pritchard had entered into an agreement with Fineland whereby she would buy her council house at a discount using money provided by F and then sell it on to them. However, they were both seeking to avoid the effects of s155 Housing Act 1985 which would have required her to pay the discount back to the Council.
To do this an arrangement was made whereby P signed an undated transfer of land which they would … Read the full post
Just a brief note on a couple of tangentially housing-related cases, both of which serve as illustrations of how not to go about things as claimants and in one case, as a defendant as well. A little cruel, perhaps, as to be human is to err, but the oops factor is irresistible.
London Borough of Haringey v Hines [2010] EWCA Civ 1111
Ms Hines had purchased a property under the right to buy from Haringey in 2002. In 2008, Haringey brought a claim for rescission of the lease, alternatively a declaration that it was void, damages for a fraudulent misrepresentation said to have been made by Ms Hines on 16 … Read the full post
Cameron and Shapps have trailed a consultation paper to be published as early as tomorrow with a “plan to end lifetime council tenancies” (Inside Housing and The Guardian) and a “home swap scheme to help tenants move” (Today Programme and Inside Housing) (hat-tip to Katie Brown (HLPA junior group), J, and Francis Davey – e-mail’s been buzzing this morning – as well as he who cannot be named who tipped me off about this announcement a week or so ago). The idea behind both schemes is to facilitate labour mobility, which rather goes to the “end of housing policy” debate that did the rounds at the … Read the full post
A small victory for the Welsh Assembly this week. They had been trying to get a Legislative Competence Order past Westminster to transfer a series of powers relating to social housing. This was lost in the sweeping up week prior to the dissolution of Parliament as the Conservative party was most unhappy with the transfer of control of Right to Buy provisions to the Assembly, apparently on the belief that there would be a suspension of Right to Buy in Wales.
The situation had not improved once the new Coalition government was installed and the Assembly was considering a referendum next year to force the transfer. Fortunately, sanity has … Read the full post
Nessa v London Borough of Tower Hamlets [2010] EWCA Civ 559
This is an interesting appeal on the issue of the amendment or replacement of a S.125 Housing Act 1985 notice offering the right to buy at a specified price. The actual case itself is not particularly interesting as it turns out, but there are some comments by the Court of Appeal that open up a whole other can of worms.
Ms Nessa was the secure tenant of Tower Hamlets, jointly with Mr Uddin, since 1996. On 4 April 2006 they claimed the right to buy. The price was to be based on the open market value of the flat … Read the full post
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