Tag Archive for 'Article 8'

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Proportionality. A precis on ‘summary’

By NL on 08/11/2011. 7 Comments

Holmes v Westminster City Council [2011] EWHC 2857 (QB)

An interesting appeal from a summary possession order on the issue of consideration of proportionality. While the outcome is not, perhaps, a surprise, some of the arguments are. Plus this is an example of the High Court grappling with how the County Court should approach a summary possession claim, post Pinnock and Powell.

Mr H had a non-secure tenancy from Westminster as temporary accommodation following Westminster accepting a s.193 Housing Act 1996 duty in 2005. In 2009, Westminster told Mr H it had discharged duty following his failure to attend two appointments for inspection of his accommodation. Mr H requested … Read the full post

Posted in FLW case note, Homeless, Housing law - All, Introductory and Demoted tenancies, Licences and occupiers and Possession. Tags: , , .

Starter tenancy: proportionality ‘just about arguable’

By NL on 16/08/2011. 18 Comments

West Kent Housing Association v Haycraft [2011] EWCA Civ 992 (Not on Bailii. We’ve seen a transcript)

This was a renewed application for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal on a second (or perhaps first- see below) appeal from the granting of a possession order. The ground of appeal was that the appellant tenant had a defence of proportionality which had not been considered by the District Judge and not considered adequately by the Circuit Judge in dismissing the first appeal.

Mr H had a starter tenancy (or AST) from West Kent Housing Association, an RSL/PRPSH. In January 2010, the RSL had a meeting, described as a re-hearing … Read the full post

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

Road noise, loss of value and human rights

By NL on 03/08/2011. 0 Comments

Thomas & Ors v Bridgend County Borough Council [2011] EWCA Civ 862

This Court of Appeal case might be rather limited on its facts, but there are some broader issues and it is interesting. The appeal was of a preliminary issue, whether the Claimants’ claim under Article 1 Protocol 1 was viable. Art 8 was not relied upon.

Briefly, the appellants all own houses near to a new relief road in Brigend. They claimed compensation under Part 1 of the Land Compensation Act 1973, alleging depreciation in the value of their homes due to noise and other nuisance from the road. For the purposes of this appeal, such a depreciation … Read the full post

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

Croatia, proportionality and history

By NL on 01/07/2011. 3 Comments

Orlic v Croatia [2011] ECHR 974 (Application no. 48833/07) [Link to rtf file]

This is a European Court of Human Rights First Section decision on an article 8 case. Although not of immediate application, it is a useful restatement of the principle that where an occupier faces loss of their home by action by a public body, it must be possible for the proportionality of the eviction to be considered by an independent tribunal.

Mr Orlic had been allocated a flat by the Yugoslav Peoples Army in Croatia in 1991, about a month before  Croatia declared independence but 4 months after the Republic of Croatia had passed a law banning … Read the full post

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

Not too late but too little

By NL on 16/06/2011. 0 Comments

Southwark LBC  v Barrett Bromley County Court 18/03/2011

A County Court Pinnock case. Unsuccessful but interesting in that it was a transitional case, commenced before the Pinnock judgment, and to the extent that it shows the court using the ‘seriously arguable’ threshold.

Ms Barrett was a non secure tenant, the tenancy being granted under Part VII Housing Act 1996. The landlord served notice to quit after Southwark discharged duty, following Ms B’s refusal of alternative accommodation.

Ms B was advised by a solicitor that there was no defence (this was pre Pinnock) and she did  not attend the hearing. About 4 weeks later, after Pinnock, she applied to set aside … Read the full post

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

Hot tub lovin’, the Daily Mail and Article 8

By NL on 07/06/2011. 7 Comments

[Caution - the following story comes from the Daily Mail. It should be read with this source in mind and the inevitable provisio that this site makes no assertions as to the accuracy, truthfulness or reliability of the story, because the Daily Mail cannot be considered to be a remotely reliable source of 'news']

Colchester, as its tourist board website proudly proclaims, is “much more than Britain’s oldest recorded town”. I have no doubt that this is true, but it appears that the habit of recording Colchester has been hard to give up, no matter how old it may be. It has been particularly enduring in the person of … Read the full post

Posted in Various (non-housing). Tags: , .

Safe European Home*

By NL on 07/06/2011. 6 Comments

We noted J. L. v the United Kingdom here. Now there are two further English possession cases at the ‘questions to the parties’ stage of the European Court of Human Rights.

Birch and Others v UK Application no. 26393/10

Birch arises out of possession proceedings brought by Bedfordshire DC on a property which had been leased, short term, to a housing association which had, in turn licences a co-op group to grant assured shorthold tenancies to occupiers on its behalf. The lease had been granted in 1993 and expired in 1996. It was not renewed but negotiations went on and the co-op continued to grant ASTs to occupiers. In 2006, … Read the full post

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