[amended on 4/7/12] This is a note of a homelessness appeal which was heard on 9/3/2012 by HHJ Worster in Birmingham County Court. The case was run by the Community Law Partnership and by counsel, James Stark, who kindly provided a transcript of...
All the blog posts, most recent first
The Norwegian Blue
Lindheim and others v Norway 13221/08 & 2139/10 is a case about leasehold enfranchisement, Norwegian style. I wanted to cover it because it might have some relevance to domestic enfranchisement law* and because there are references to a...
Introductory tenancies and s129 reviews – no conditions please
London Borough of Camden v Stafford [2012] EWCA Civ 839 This case revolves around the question of whether a review under s129 Housing Act 1996 does or doesn't uphold the original decision to serve a notice. In particular, when the decision may...
Double plus ungood
The lovely, smiling Grant Shapps, Housing Minister, who clearly in no way whatsoever wants to distract attention from the recent kerfuffle over his alleged misleading of Parliament through dodgy use of statistics (hereafter Shapptistics), has...
Judicial review of a closed minded appeal
Sharing, R (on the application of) v Preston County Court [2012] EWHC 515 (Admin) [Updated 20 June 2012 to make clear this was a permission to appeal decision, not an appeal hearing] This is by any measure an unusual case. It is a judicial review...
New LVT procedural rules: a consultation
It's been promised for a while now. The merger of the LVT (in its various forms, RAC, RPT, etc) into the Tribunal Service as a First Tier Tribunal. And so we finally have the details. In Consultation on proposed new (First Tier Tribunal) (Property...
Strengthening Powers of Possession for Anti-Social Behaviour
You may recall that, on August 3, 2011, the Government launched a consultation paper on its proposals to introduce a “mandatory power of possession” against tenants who are responsible for acts of anti-social behaviour. On August 15, 2011,...
Routes of appeal from possession claims
In Southwark LBC v Ofogba [2012] EWHC 1620 (QB) Hickinbottom J clarified the routes of appeal for appeals against orders arising in possession claims. Facts Briefly, Southwark brought a claim for possession against Mr Ofogba on the basis of rent...
Sentencing guidance for committal hearings
In Amicus Horizon Ltd v Thorley , Court of Appeal, May 30, 2012 (no transcript available yet), Mr Thorley appealed against an order sentencing him to prison for four months. Amicus Horizon had claimed for possession and an anti-social behaviour...
Paying to stay: Policy and legal dilemmas
DCLG's consultation paper on High Income Social Tenants: Pay to Stay Consultation Paper has brought out the academic in me, in part because it is about the construction of a "problem" by policy-makers. In sum, the proposal is to encourage...
Suitability Regs Consultation
DCLG has issued a consultation on suitability of accommodation in satisfaction of the main homelessness duty. It addresses two issues: the grant of an AST in the private rented sector; and the location of accommodation. The former is much more...
Cohabitant succession
All there is at the moment is a Lawtel note of Amicus Horizon v Mabott and Brand and no neutral citation. It concerns whether Mr Brand was living with Ms Mabott as her husband for the purposes of succcession to Ms Mabott's tenancy: s 17(4),...