Tag Archives: Article 8

Article 8 success in the County Court

Posted on by
5

This was a failed succession case where an article 8 proportionality defence was, at least in part successful. Our thanks to Legal Action ‘Recent Developments in Housing Law’ January 2013 for bringing it to our attention.

Affinity Sutton Homes Ltd v Cooper. Bromley County Court 17 October 2012

Mr Cooper senior was a secure tenant of Bromley LBC. Following a large scale transfer of Bromley’ stock to Affinity. Mr Cooper senior became an assured tenant. There was statutory right for succession by anyone other than a spouse. However, the tenancy agreement provided for a contractual succession for any family member residing with the tenant in the 12 months prior … Read the full post

Request for information

Posted on by
5

[Updated 20/12/12. See below]

There is a rather odd case note on Lawtel on a High Court appeal of a dismissed defence to possession following an apparently failed succession…

Evans v Brent London Borough Council QB (Ramsey J) 18/12/2012 [note of extempore judgment on Lawtel]

From the note it appears that Ms Evans was the joint secure tenant of Brent with her father. She then moved out to take up an AST with her children in 2010, on a 12 month term, apparently to give space to her father, who was ill. In 2011 she moved back in. Soon after, her father died.

In 2012, Brent brought possession proceedings, on … Read the full post

I think someone has got a little confused

Posted on by
1

According to this article, the Residential Landlords Association are up in arms about the European Court of Human Rights being about to rule on article 8 defences in a case affecting private land owners. Richard Jones, the RLA policy director (and a solicitor who some might think should really know better) is quoted as saying:

“If Europe decides that respect for the home provisions within the Human Rights Convention apply to private landlords this will lead to a mass exodus of landlords, causing untold misery for those in desperate need of a place to live.”

There are a few problems with that statement, but perhaps the most immediate one … Read the full post

The Article 8 Toys Go Back in the Box

Posted on by
15

Thurrock Borough Council v West [2012] EWCA Civ 1435

The Court of Appeal has handed down judgement in a case that will probably come to characterise the operation of Article 8 in the daily life of the County Courts.

Facts
W’s grandparents (or great grandparents, there was some doubt) were tenants of T. W had joined them in the property and he was later joined there by his son and his partner. After the death of the grandfather the tenancy then vested solely with the Grandmother. After her death in December 2010 W sought to succeed to the tenancy. This second succession was barred by s37, Housing Act 1985. Accordingly, … Read the full post

Proportionality – between claim and hearing

Posted on by
15

Well, well. A successful proportionality defence on an introductory tenancy and one upheld on appeal. There is also some helpful confirmation about what can be considered in assessing proportionality.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council v Armour (2012) QBD 18/10/2012 (Not on Bailii. Note on Lawtel and on Garden Court’s site here)

Mr A was the introductory tenant of Southend, living in a flat with his 14 year old daughter. The tenancy started in January 2011. Over the next 3 months there were three complaints that Mr A had been verbally abusive to a neighbour, a member of staff of the property managing agents and some electrical contractors. It was also alleged … Read the full post

Housing and Human Rights Round-Up

Posted on by
9

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

The tenant is dead, long live the tenant

Posted on by
23

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