Chapter 1, Part 2, Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 makes provision for "qualifying tenants" of a building to form a company that, in turn, will acquire the right to manage the property from the freeholder. It is largely modeled on the collective...
Caretakers and the Court of Appeal
Continuing with the (ir)regular residential leasehold update, we have Cadogan v Panagopoulos [2010] EWCA Civ 1259, on appeal from the High Court (our note, here), which was itself an appeal from the county court. I'm not going to set out the factual or legal...
A post-Pinnock question
In the early part of this year, there was a rumour of a High Ct case where Art 8 was being employed against a non-public authority landlord. The case was Quadrant Brownswood Tenant Cooperative Limited v White (HC 09 C 03494). Does anyone know what happened...
Pinnock: Newsflash
The judgment is out. Full post is coming later, but the key points are: (a) a claim by a public authority for possession requires a domestic court to be able to consider the proportionality of the eviction and resolve factual disputes for itself and the...
Service charges: a welcome return to orthodoxy
Whilst we're waiting for Wednesday, (when the Supreme Court will give judgment in Pinnock, in case you were wondering), the housing law world doesn't stop in the interim. Far from it. So, without further ado, lets turn to Regent Management Ltd v Jones [2010]...
If you’ve got a spare 30 mins
The Lord Chancellor, the Rt Hon. Ken Clarke QC MP gave a surprisingly frank interview to Law in Action this week. It's available on the BBC iplayer, here, for the moment and is very much worth 30 mins of your time. The questions on legal aid and, in...
Parish notices
Our friends at the LAPG have reminded us that the All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid meets on Wednesday 24 November in Committee Room 14 of the House of Commons between 2 and 4 pm. The speaker will be Jonathan Djangoly MP, Minister for Courts and...
Sale and rent back – coming soon?
Word reaches us (via the Garden Court North website) of what appears to be a fascinating piece of litigation in the High Court (Leeds District Registry) concerning sale and rent back schemes (as to which, see our earlier piece, here). A number of former...
Power to the people!
NL doesn't have a vote in the New York gubernatorial election but, if we did, we'd probably cast it for the "Rent is Too Damn High" party. The performance of Jimmy McMillan in the recent gubernatorial debates has become something of a Youtube hit (available...
Overstepping the mark
Wandsworth LBC v Watson, Court of Appeal, Oct 12, 2010 - Lawtel note only This was an unopposed appeal by Wandsworth against a decision of a recorder on a s.204 appeal. Ms Watson applied to Wandsworth for assistance under Part 7, Housing Act 1996. She...
The Housing Corporation is dead! Long live the Housing Corporation!
So, we've now got the results of the "bonfire of the Quangos" (full list available here). For housing practitioners, the main points to note are: (1) Audit Commission - disband and transfer audit functions into private ownership; (2) Homes and Communities...
RTM costs (or, how not to grant permission to appeal)
Wilson v Lesley Place (RTM) Company Ltd [2010] UKUT 342 (LC) I confess to being a bit bitter about this case. The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) is hideously overworked. It can (and often does) take over a year for an appeal from an LVT to get before the...