Well, McCann v UK certainly seems to have stirred things up. Naturally, most of the speculation is on the effect and extent of the judgment. I'm still trying to work out for myself what the likely or even possible effects are, so this is a work in progress....
Snippets
A few bits and pieces... Gilboy v Liverpool CC has a hearing at the Court of Appeal on 19 or 20 May (thanks J and GCN). Doherty v Birmingham is at the House of Lords later this year, which should be a big test for the legacy, if any, of McCann (thanks J,...
Possession and human rights – blimey!
Just when, post Kay v Lambeth in the Lords, it looked like the issue of human rights defences to possession claims was pretty much settled (i.e. there pretty much weren't any), the ECtHR has decided to put a large stick in the spokes. As many people have...
Letting repossessed property
As a follow-up to the mortgage repossession post below, I've just spotted a sad story on Landlord Law blog. Tessa had a case in which private tenants discovered, when the bailiffs turned up, that the property they had just rented was subject to a mortgage...
When does enforceability end?
Or, to be precise, when does a Suspended Possession Order for rent arrears cease to be enforceable? In broad terms, the answer is clear - when all sums due under the order have been paid off. But when is that? After Marshall v Bradford MC, it is vital for a...
Mortgage possessions – Gordon feels your pain
Mortgage repossessions are rising at the fastest rate since 1991. According to the MoJ quarterly figures [pdf]: Possession claims in the first quarter of 2008 were 38,688, 7% more than in the last quarter of 2007. The rise over the last year was 16%. 27,530...
The value of disinterest
That's disinterestedness, not uninterestedness, should anybody who went to school after about 1990 be reading this. Does nobody really read Kant any more? But, in a rather dismal demonstration of the trope of irony, this is likely to be an outright rant on...
Cardiff homeless – tactical lessons?
Thanks to Housed and Garden Court's bulletin for the pointer to this Ombudsman's report [pdf] on Cardiff's failure to provide temporary accommodation pending enquiries on what was a prima facie case of 'not reasonable to remain' homelessness. Cardiff were...
Mental Capacity
William Flack has made another considered post on the issue of mental capacity for the purposes of Civil Procedure Rule 21 on his blog. He has also begun a wiki on the topic, which could be a very useful step. (For those not sure what a wiki is, see here, in...
World famous round here 2
Nick Holmes of Binary Law, renowned throughout the legal information tech world as being a very nice man indeed, has been generous enough to include Nearly Legal as one of his Blawgs of Note in an article for Legal Executive Journal, April 2008. Apparently,...
While waiting for Weaver 2
The Joint Committee on Human Rights has recommended that the Oftenant regime and the Housing and Regeneration bill extend the scope of the Human Rights Act to Registered Social Landlords. In response to the Housing Federation complaining that this would...
Fair and commonsense reviews
So, then Omar v City of Westminster [2008] EWCA Civ 421 Briefly, the facts were that Mr Omar made a homeless application to Westminster. His household consisted of his wife and his infant son who had just been born and was, at the time of the application was...