For the last couple of days - and ongoing - we have been getting vast quantities of comment spam, over 1,000 per day. 99.99% are automatically filtered out by our defences and I mop up the rest. However it has a couple of consequences. I usually...
All the blog posts, most recent first
Not Ashored
Awful title due to NL himself. Mew v Tristmire concerned whether or not two "houseboats" were "dwelling houses let as separate dwellings" as required in section 1 of the Housing Act 1988 in order for them to be assured tenancies. The "houseboats"...
And what kind of chocolate would you like your teapot?
The DCLG has put out a consultation, announced by Grant Shapps (again), on proposals to bring in a mandatory ground for possession for Anti Social Behaviour. The closing date is 27 October 2011. I had a look at Shapps' initial announcement back in...
Road noise, loss of value and human rights
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...
Genuinely exciting
I've been away at a stag weekend for the last few days. I therefore recognise that it is possible that my sense of what is (and is not) exciting and fun may be slightly warped, as I try to re-adjust to polite society. I was, however, genuinely...
Tenancy deposit penalties awarded!
There are two appeals on cases involving claims for the return of deposits and the three times penalty in both of which - astonishingly, given the recent history of High Court and Court of Appeal decisions - the tenant was awarded the penalty. We...
Never Mind the Boxall
Bahta & Ors, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Ors [2011] EWCA Civ 895 This is not a housing case, but it is an important case on costs in settled claims for judicial review, which is a major issue for...
Homelessness, Workers and ‘effective employment’
Falastin Amin v Brent LBC, Wandsworth County Court 2011 A county court s.204 appeal on the issue of eligibility of an EU citizen as a 'wroker'. While it is not binding, it sets out a clear position which, given the involvement of Minos Perdios in...
X & Y v UK settled without hearing
X, Y & Z v the United Kingdom - 32666/10 [2011] ECHR 1199 The long and sorry story of X & Y v Hounslow appears to have reached an end. As you will recall, this was the case that resulted from the horrendous abuse of two highly vulnerable...
The Localism Bill: Rush, rush, rush …
It is certainly not a truism that legislation which is given the closest possible scrutiny is thereafter free from doubt - consider, for example, the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, which we always used to call the mysterious...
Possession and disability: The reach of ss 49A DDA & 149 EA
In Barnsley MBC v Norton [2011] EWCA Civ 834, the Court of Appeal considered the application of section 49A(1)(d), Disability Discrimination Act 1995, to the decision of Barnsley to seek and obtain a possession order against Mr Norton and his...
A round-up from the UT(LC)
The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) has been rather busy recently, handing down four housing-law related decisions in the last fortnight or so. The first three are service charge disputes, whilst the fourth is a lease variation case. In Tunstill v...