I have been told that there must be an end of year round up for the blog. But, before I get to the figures, here is a soundtrack. NL, it has to be said, seems to be prospering in bad times (not that we make any money from it, not at all. The reverse in...
There must be some way out of here.
'Withdrawal' of proceedings - we've been here before, with Spicer v Tuli, but this time, the purported withdrawal was in an appeal of an improvement notice to the Residential Property Tribunal. The appeal to the Upper Tribunal arose out of that. Simon v...
Paying the cost.
Watson v Simpson Croydon County Court 4 October 2012 Not a stunningly important appeal to a Circuit Judge, this one, but a useful case to be able to wave around on costs. Ms Simpson was a private AST tenant of Mr Watson, whose tenancy had become a statutory...
Repair liability and implied lease clauses.
This one has been sitting in my draft collection for a while, but, as Christmas fades towards the new year, it finally got done. For the leaseholders in this particular appeal, it was, however, distinctly short of glad tidings. Gavin & Anor v Community...
Premature expectations
Isaac Odeniran v Southend on Sea BC [2013] EWHC 3888 (Admin) [Not on Bailii yet] Mr Odeniran had been convicted by the Magistrates of failing to comply with an improvement notice under s.11(2) and 12(2) Housing Act 2004, relating to category 2 hazards. The...
Unappealing
Haringey LBC v Goremsandhu [2013] EWHC 3834 (Admin) [Not on bailii yet] Ms Goremsandhu was the owner of an HMO, made up of four flats in Tottenham. Haringey had served her with improvement notices. When Ms G had failed to complete the word required within...
There’s no place like HMO
Shah v Croydon LBC [2013] EWHC 3657 (Admin) [Not on Bailii yet. Seen full transcript of judgment] An appeal by way of case stated from a Magistrates Court decision that a property owned by Mr Shah was an HMO and that Mr S was therefore liable for some 14...
Bedroom tax decisions update
There are two new First Tier Tribunal bedroom tax appeal decisions on the FTT decisions page, at the bottom. One from Liverpool and one from Edinburgh. Both are Article 14 discrimination based, with disabilities meaning a bedroom could not be shared, one...
Blow the rent, have another egg nog
Hammersmith & Fulham Council have come up with a novel way of angering their tenants. Faced with a substantial rent arrears problem, with a reported 46% of tenants in arrears (what with the bedroom tax, the end of council tax benefit and all), H&F...
Shortfalls, guidance and intentionality
Birmingham City Council v Balog [2013] EWCA Civ 1582 A s.202 review decision on affordability was at the centre of this second appeal, brought by Birmingham after a s.204 appeal decision went against them. The issue was to what extent the review decision...
Housing Law Conference 2013
It is that time of year again. The HLPA housing law conference 2013 is on Tuesday, 10 December. A decent sprinkling of NL people will be there. It promises to be a very good day, details are below. There are a few places left, or at least there were on...
On families, powers and duties to accommodate
R (on the application of MK) v Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council [2013] EWHC 3486 (Admin) [Judgment on Lexis, not on Bailii yet] A judicial review raising the extent of a Council's duties and powers under s.17 Children Act 1989 and s.1 Localism Act...