Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

I sublet an apartment on the 99th floor of my block

By J on 26/01/2012. 2 Comments

No prizes for guessing what I was listening to when I decided to write this. I bring you two important cases from the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) about sub-let fees and administration charges:Holding & Management (Solitaire Ltd) v Norton and other appeals [2012] UKUT 1 and Re: Bradmoss Ltd [2012] UKUT 3 (LC). In all cases:

(a) the tenant sought to sub-let their flat; and,

(b) the leases prohibited this without the consent of the landlord/management company.

In some of the leases, there was a further express provision requiring the tenant to pay the costs of the consent and/or a registration fee. In all cases, the landlord/management company sought … Read the full post

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

The best thing in life is free

By J on 22/01/2012. 0 Comments

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

Posted in FLW article, Housing law - All, Leasehold and shared ownership and Uncategorized.

I watch the ripples change their size

By J on 22/01/2012. 0 Comments

…. with the words of Mr David Bowie ringing in my ears, I bring you a decison of the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) all about changes and how and when to make them. In Re: 167 Kingshurst Road [2012] UKUT 4 (LC), the Upper Tribunal was dealing with an appeal against a decision of the Midland LVT  in a case under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967. As you’ll know, the 1967 Act lets certain long leaseholders of houses either acquire the freehold or purchase an extended lease. In the present case, the LVT determined that the price payable for the freehold purchase would be £10,878.

The landlord was dissatisfied with … Read the full post

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

Let’s all move to … Wales

By Dave on 02/01/2012. 0 Comments

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

Posted in FLW article, Homeless and Uncategorized. Tags: , , .

When Age is Not Just a Number

By SJM on 24/12/2011. 0 Comments

Regular readers may have noted that these pages have been quiet on the subject of age assessments and the entitlement to services under the Children Act 1989. The fact-finding hearing in The Queen (KN) v LB Barnet [2011] EWHC 2019 (Admin) was heard as long ago as July 2011 but it is worth underlining here as an example of the way the Administrative Court deals with age assessments in the light of the guidance given by the Supreme Court in A v Croydon.

KN was the victim of sexual abuse in her home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo and she was later smuggled to the UK, where the abuse … Read the full post

Posted in Community care and Uncategorized.

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: , , , , , .

Transfers and allocations: Pt 2 (a footnote)

By Dave on 05/12/2011. 1 Comment

We reported on the interesting High Court decision in Babakandi v Westminster CC [2011] EWHC 1756 (Admin) (a post-Ahmad  challenge to Westminster’s housing allocation scheme) and made a few observations of our own on the judgment, most notably regarding the transparency of allocations schemes.  Mr Babakandi had a go at appealing that decision, but was refused permission by Sullivan LJ after an oral application: [2011] EWCA Civ 1397.  The refusal is unfortunate given the uncertainty we have previously noted about the required degree of specificity in allocations schemes (which may well become even more significant, I guess, after the Localism Act comes into force, but that’s just a thought).  … Read the full post

Posted in Allocation, FLW case note, Housing law - All and Uncategorized.
row of sheds footer image
10 pages