(With apologies to vegetarians, vegans, and non-lovers of Tarantino/Pulp Fiction) In Pulp Fiction, John Travolta's character explains to Samuel L Jackson's that it is the "little differences" in Europe that make it interesting - they do things differently...
Welcome to the High Court …
Welcome, Kenneth Parker QC, to the High Court. In a case which has more of the surreal about it, Kenneth Parker QC, sitting then as a Deputy Judge, had to decide whether to grant leave to a litigant in person to challenge Octavia Housing and Care's...
Allocations: Risk v Need
In R(M) v Hackney LBC [2009] EWHC 2255 (Admin), Cranston J was faced with a difficult case which "... raises the issue of reconciling individual rights with the rights of the community". The rights concerned were the Claimant's rights to an allocation of a...
What is a "good" DJ?
We at NL have been having an ongoing, interesting dialogue over the past day or so about what is a good DJ, specifically when dealing with possession proceedings. Our dialogue was initiated by an article which J forwarded to us about Judge Arthur Schack's...
Contracting out homelessness reviews like the town hall catering contract
The Court of Appeal's judgment in Heald and others v LB Brent [2009] EWCA Civ 930 is just out concerning the outsourcing of s 202 Housing Act 1996 reviews by Brent to Minos Perdios' company Housing Reviews Ltd. There have been a number of County Court...
L & Q Change Practice on Ground 8
News has come our way (circuitously) of a change in practice by London and Quadrant on the use of Ground 8, the mandatory ground for possession on the basis of rent arrears in respect of assured tenancies, from 01 August. Apparently, they will now only use...
Draft Allocations Code of Guidance
DCLoG which, by all accounts, was cockahoop over Ahmad has issued a new draft Code of Guidance on allocations for consultation: Fair and Flexible. This amends parts of the 2002 Code and the 2008 Code on CBL. The new draft Code is obviously aimed at...
Addendum to Homelessness CoG…
DCLoG have put out supplementary guidance to local authorities on intentional homelessness in the context of applicants who face homelessness following difficulties with mortgage commitments. I suspect if you look hard enough, you'll find it, but it's not...
"Unauthorised tenancies": New Consultation
I have found myself unaccountably lethargic post-lunch, so when the Chief put us on to the new DCLoG consultation document on "unauthorised tenancies" I jumped at the opportunity to post on it. It's a beautifully produced document with lots of pictures,...
Allocations policies: Publication
In R (Boolen) v Barking and Dagenham LBC reported on Lawtel, the Claimant applied for judicial review of the the council's allocation scheme on the basis that (1) the council had implemented a "local connection" criterion into its prioritisation decisions...
Pinnock and Proportionality
The CA have just handed down judgment in Manchester CC v Pinnock[2009] EWCA Civ 852, concerning the evidence that can be taken into account to justify a breach of a demoted tenancy at a review panel, the proper role of the County Court in such a...
Tales from the pink campervan
The Tenants Services Authority (the new regulatory body for RSLs and, from April 2010, local authorities) has been holding a "national conversation" with tenants, touring round in a pink campervan amongst other engagement techniques. The outcome from that,...