Various bits and pieces on subletting and homelessness. (Edited 15 September 2016 This post originally went into detail about an article on Property 118 setting out a Rent to Rent arrangement where the rent to rent tenant would have an assured shorthold...
Perversity in Brent
Our thanks to Garden Court Chambers, Hackney Law Centre and Liz Davies for their note of this case. Cieicierska v Brent LBC. Central London County Court, 5 September 2016. Ms C, a single parent with 3 children, was owed the full housing duty by Brent and was...
Please sir, can I have some more?
This is really a costs issue, though it was on a leasehold disrepair claim. A county court decision, so not binding, but as we'll see, consonant with a High Court decision and on an issue on which there appears to be some debate. This was an application...
The agreements that weren’t
Publity AG v Chesterhill Properties Ltd [2016] EWHC 1994 (Ch) (Not on Bailii. Judgment on Lawtel) Every now and again there is a reminder of the problems of a contractual tenancy. In this case, the difficulties involved a deposit of £52,000 and a weekly rent...
What do points mean? (No prizes)
Woolfe, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough of Islington [2016] EWHC 1907 (Admin) Another allocation judicial review, related, but perhaps distinct from the line of 'reasonable preference' cases we have previously seen. The issue, in part, Islington's...
The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind small
Or how to end up with a personal liability for £100,000 within 5 years of qualification as a solicitor. The Charles Henry/Legal Action fallout continues, and very painfully for some involved. For those who have missed the saga of Charles Henry, the pretend...
Vulnerability after Hotak/Johnson/Kanu
I strongly suspect that at some point in the next year we will get at least one Court of Appeal case on the meaning of 'vulnerability' in homeless priority decisions after the Supreme Court decision in Hotak v Southwark LBC [2015] UKSC 30 (our note). In the...
Landlords behaving badly
While the Magistrates Courts continue to hand out paltry fines to landlords on conviction for illegal eviction, despite the removal of the upper £5000 limit, it is good to see that the civil courts are capable of taking a more reasonable approach to quantum....
Oppression and the rent arrears protocol
Home Group Limited v Jacqueline Emery & anor, Edmonton County Court 08/08/16 (County Court decision unreported elsewhere). This is a county court case, so not binding, but involves an interesting issue on what might amount to oppression in obtaining a...
Housing needs and household members
Jones v Luton Borough Council [2016] EWHC 2036 (Admin) This was a judicial review of a decision by Luton Council Housing Appeals and Review Panel not to offer Mr Jones a tenancy of the property of which Mr J's late father was the tenant, but instead offer a...
Council tax, periodic tenancies, and the end of L&T law avoided
We've seen the issue of who is liable for Council Tax when a tenant has left a property before the end of a periodic tenancy arise before. Here, the Upper Tribunal decided that a statutory periodic monthly tenancy following a 6 month fixed term did not...
Allocation & unreasonable behaviour
YA v London Borough of Hammersmith And Fulham [2016] EWHC 1850 (Admin) YA was in care with H&F for a number of years and was now a care leaver. During that previous period as a child in care, he had committed a number of criminal offences, though these...