At the very beginning of social housing, with the Peabody Estates in the 1860s, prospective tenants faced imposed requirements that we would now consider to be extraneous to the tenancy: Mandatory smallpox vaccinations; curfews; and cleaning rotas before 10...
Legal Aid Agency FAQs*
The Legal Aid Agency has released a set of 'frequently asked questions' on scope and funding after 1 April just gone. A copy is here. The housing section is at 74-109 There are few surprises, but worthy of note is the position on disrepair: 81. Are damages...
Formerly known as…
If you look carefully, there is a small change on the site. A clue is in the header to this post. I (NL as was) have decided to write under my real name. After nearly 7 years of pseudonymity, I thought 'what the hell', and it isn't as if it isn't widely...
Of statutory defences and bottles of urine
An appeal against conviction on an illegal eviction case. We didn't report it at the time, but in R v Jay Allen & Razwan Mohammed, in Sheffield County Court, September 2012, Jay Allen was convicted of illegal eviction under section 1(3A) Protection from...
When is a spouse a spouse? We’ll find out
Just a note on a permission to appeal hearing: Northumberland & Durham Property Trust Ltd v Ouaha [2013] EWCA Civ 291 [Not on Bailii yet, noted in the Garden Court Bulletin] A Rent Act tenant died in November 2010. The other occupant was his 16 year old...
‘Transforming Legal Aid’*
No, it isn't over yet. The MoJ has issued a consultation on the next round of legal aid cuts, called 'Transforming Legal Aid'. There are some specific proposals that affect legal aid housing work. Hold on to your chairs... Residence requirement for funding....
Shelter briefing on private sector discharge
Shelter have produced a briefing on the use of Localism Act powers to place homeless applicants in private sector accommodation, aimed at Local Authorities and Councillors, Changes in the Localism Act 2011 give local authorities more scope to place homeless...
The Wasteland*
April is the cruellest month, breeding LASPO out of the dead land, mixing Memory and despair, stirring Dull anger in its train. Winter left us bare, covering Estates in fears and so, feeding An edge of life with dread of worse. Summer no surprise for us,...
Justice Ill Served, LiPs and the sweating mules of mediation
It is not a housing case at all, but the opening paragraphs of Sir Alan Ward's Court of Appeal judgment in Wright v Michael Wright Supplies Ltd & Anor [2013] EWCA Civ 234 are a remarkable and powerful statement of the position that the Court finds itself...
Unclear judgment on unclear occupancy
London Borough of Brent v Tudor [2013] EWCA Civ 157 This was an appeal of a Circuit Judge's finding that LB Brent's possession claim under Ground 16, Schedule 2 Housing Act 1985 failed because the property was reasonably needed to accommodate those living...
Bedroom Tax: Shifts, U-turns and rumours
Now that was a busy day on the Bedroom Tax front, complete with a parliamentary statement, new DWP Guidance to Local Authorities, rumours and conjecture. Let us start with the definite bits. The new Guidance on disabled children unable to share a bedroom....
Guest post by CPAG – disabled children and bedroom tax
Disabled children – “exempt” from the bedroom tax? At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday [6 March 2013] David Cameron claimed that “anyone with severely disabled children is exempt from the spare room subsidy”, more commonly known as the “bedroom tax”....