This, the second post on the riot related possession proposals (the first is here), looks at an article published on the ConservativeHome website by Jake Berry MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Grant Shapps, and Tory MP for the gritty urban constituency...
Losing localism
Or, more accurately 'locality'. Sorry if that got anyone excited over nothing. As has been widely announced, the DCLG consultation on introducing a mandatory ground for possession on grounds of conviction for a housing related ASB offence etc, previously...
Starter tenancy: proportionality ‘just about arguable’
West Kent Housing Association v Haycraft [2011] EWCA Civ 992 (Not on Bailii. We've seen a transcript) This was a renewed application for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal on a second (or perhaps first- see below) appeal from the granting of a...
Wandsworth: headed for the naughty step?
As is now pretty well known (and as I noted in the comments below this post) Wandsworth Council apparently made a bid to bring the first riot related possession proceedings. There are some things about Wandsworth's behaviour that should be pointed out, but...
‘Not otherwise available’
SL v Westminster City Council & Ors [2011] EWCA Civ 954 This is a significant judgment by the Court of Appeal on the ambit of s.21(1)(a) National Assistance Act 1948. It addresses the interrelation of 'care and attention' and the provision of...
Evicting rioters: a brief note
As a number of Councils and Housing Associations in London, Manchester, Salford and Birmingham say that they intend to evict tenants involved in rioting (and Grant Shapps has jumped in to back them, as has David Cameron), we've been requested to take a quick...
Under a bit of pressure…
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 scan the...
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 January....
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 Claimants'...
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 have said...
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 many...
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 the review...