North East Property Buyers Litigation [2010] EWHC 2991 (Ch) [Not on Bailii yet. Available on Lawtel or here] We noted this case was forthcoming a month ago. Judgement was given on 19 November. Thanks to James Stark, we've got a transcript. Thanks to being...
Legal Aid reforms – Housing
The Ministry of Justice 'consultation paper' on reforms to legal aid to achieve a £350 million cut by 2013/4 is out. It is a hefty 224 odd pages. Responses are required by 14 February 2011 I've done what I can to fillet out its significance for housing and...
The 2010 HLPA conference
As per previous years, this is the conference for those involved in housing law. Most, probably all, of the NL team will be there. Everyone else should be too. 15 December 2010, at Royal College of Surgeons. Lincolns Inn Fields, London. 6 hours CPD for both...
Mr Pickles is unlawful and other bits
Cala Homes (South) Ltd v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government & Anor [2010] EWHC 2866 (Admin) found Eric Pickles, SoS at DCLG, acted unlawfully in scrapping the Regional Strategies for housing development, which also, lest we forget,...
DDA & DIY
Beedles v Guiness Northern Counties Limited (2010) High Court (Manchester) (QB) HQ10X02893 [Not on Bailii yet]. This is an intriguing case sent to us on the nature and extent of the duty to provide an auxiliary aid or service under S.24C Disability...
Not telling you..
R (WG) v Local Authority A [2010] EWHC 2608 (Admin) [Not on Bailii yet] This is a downright odd case, an application for judicial review where the Claimant's solicitors came off the record at hearing, Claimant's counsel (the in-the-circumstances heroic Zia...
“Could have gone better” corner
Just a brief note on a couple of tangentially housing-related cases, both of which serve as illustrations of how not to go about things as claimants and in one case, as a defendant as well. A little cruel, perhaps, as to be human is to err, but the oops...
Bad landlords and good housing lawyers on the TV
Panorama on BBC1 this evening (link to iPlayer, good for the next few days) was about notably bad examples of private landlords providing 'housing' for benefit claimants. Tame Estates in the North West and some others, who frankly all looked like a mass...
Accommodating ‘formerly relevant children’
SO, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Barking and Dagenham [2010] EWCA Civ 1101 I'm a bit slow in getting to this one (and the rest of our backlog). We're all more than a little busy. My apologies. This is the Court of Appeal hearing of a case...
Exodus
As we await the impact of the imposed upper limits of Housing Benefit, starting in April 2011, it appears that some London Councils have already decided on the likely results, according to this story in the Observer. Representatives of London boroughs told a...
Fair limit on damages for ex-TTs?
Chase v Islington LBC Clerkenwell & Shoreditch County Court 30/07/2010 This case is reported in the October 2010 'Recent Developments' in Legal Action. It is an interesting case on the use of applications under Schedule 11, 21(3) Housing and Regeneration Act...
Social Welfare contracts – not over yet
While Family and Family and Housing roll on under the old contracts, SWL new contracts are due to start on 15 November. However, there is another judicial review claim by an unsuccessful firm, Davies Gore Lomax of Leeds. The hearing is listed for 27 October....