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...
Quango culling
The BBC has a leaked list of quangos that - potentially - the government is planning/considering to abolish. Of interest to housing lawyers: (a) the Audit Commission (abolish and transfer); (b) National Tenant Voice (abolished - not sure about that, I...
Kay v UK: Newsflash
The decision is here. Violation of Art. 8 in the procedural sense only. Minority in Kay approved but, so it appears, Doherty also approved. Strong hints that this is a "time limited" violation, i.e. that Doherty has solved the problem. Paras 73 and 74 are...
Kay v UK: coming soon
The ECHR has announced that Kay v UK is being handed down at 11am (Strasbourg time) tomorrow (Tuesday, September 21, 2010).
Alas poor Commonhold…
Commonhold was introduced by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 and, in essence, is a new way (i.e. not freehold or leasehold) for flat owners to collectively hold the building containing their flats. It's not proved very popular, with only c.20...
Money well spent?
The DCLG has published a breakdown of the expenditure of the sums expended by it - and various other bodies (HCA, TSA, Leasehold Advisory Service) from April 6, 2009 - April 5, 2010. It's all downloadable (as Excel files) from the DCLG website, here. Of...
Just another brick in the (Sheffield CC v) Wall
Sheffield CC v Wall (by her personal representatives), Wall, Ingham, Butler [2010] EWCA Civ 922, is, on any view, an unusual case. The Court of Appeal didn't, however, help matters. Imagine, if you will, that, in 1967, Mr Steven Wall was placed with Mrs June...