London Borough of Waltham Forest v Khan [2017] UKUT 153 (LC) It has always been generally assumed that local authorities have a fairly limited discretion when granting a licence under a selective licensing scheme created under Part 3, Housing Act...
All the blog posts, most recent first
The Tribunal unleashed
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Carmichael and Sefton BC (HB) [2017] UKUT 0174 (AAC) Oh my. This was the DWP's appeal to the Upper Tribunal of the First Tier Tribunal's decision on the Carmichael's bedroom tax appeal (our report here)....
The Tribunal’s enforcer
In Octagon Overseas Ltd and Canary Riverside Management Ltd v Coates [2017] EWHC 877 (Ch), the First-tier Tribunal appointed Mr Coates as the manager of Canary Riverside (a development comprising, amongst other things, four blocks of residential...
Aesthetics, unlawful kitchens and warehousing bus drivers
A triplet of brief notes. Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring won a judicial review of the Magistrates and Crown Court decisions upholding RB Kensington & Chelsea's Notice under s.215 Town and County Planning Act 1990, ordering her to paint her...
Northern Waters
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Ltd v Izevbigie (2017) EWHC 790 (CH) (not on Bailii yet, Judgment is here) Rochdale BH is a social housing provider (of what was the council's housing stock). The issue in this case - heard as a preliminary issue - was...
Equalities on the 14th floor
Chatokai v Salford City Council. Manchester Civil Justice Centre, 11 April 2017 (Not reported elsewhere) This was a s.204 Housing Act 1996 appeal of Salford's review decision that Mr C was not homeless. The central issue was whether Salford's...
Water and youth
Not, I hasten to make clear, a Daily Mail style piece on the health giving properties of drinking expensive water, but a couple of quick notes. First, a Southwark rent arrears possession case, demonstrating that the effects of Jones v London...
‘Duty of care’ – Not in housing allocation
Darby v Richmond on Thames London Borough Council [2017] EWCA Civ 252 Many of you, I suspect, will be like me - you hear from clients, prospective clients, tenants etc., on a very frequent basis that in making a housing decision, or indeed in not...
Somebody else’s money
Sheffield City Council v Oliver [2017] EWCA Civ 225 We saw this case in the Upper Tribunal, here, and I'll borrow the brief facts. Ms Oliver was the long leaseholder in a block of flats on the Lansdowne Estate, which was owned by the Council. The...
Community contribution, priority stars and discrimination
XC, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Southwark [2017] EWHC 736 (Admin) This was a judicial review of Southwark's allocation policy as it applied to transfers. Specifically, the issue was whether Southwark's policy, in awarding...
… don’t live here anymore
Dove v London Borough of Havering [2017] EWCA Civ 156 This was an appeal of a possession order made against the joint (formerly secure) tenants on the ground of non-occupation as primary or only home, and also serious rent arrears. Both the Ms Dove...
Short term lets, long term consequences
A couple of county court cases on Airbnb/short let use by leaseholders. One was reported in the newspapers, the other has not been reported anywhere before. Both show the potentially serious consequences of leaseholders letting out on short lets,...