Garside and another v RFYC Ltd and another [2011] UKUT 367 (LC) By s.19(1)(a), Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, leaseholders are only liable to pay service charges to the extent that they are reasonably incurred. The property in question has something...
All the blog posts, most recent first
It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission
Westbrook Dolphin Square Ltd v Friends Provident Life and Pensions Ltd [2011] EWHC 2302 (Ch) This is probably one of the most factually complicated collective enfranchisement cases imaginable. In outline, as you know, qualifying tenants of flats...
Forms and formalities
Gateway Property Holdings Ltd v 6-10 Montrose Gardens RTM Co Ltd [2011] UKUT 349 (LC) is a rare creature - a decision of the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) on a Right to Manage issue. It also appears to be the UT(LC) debut for HHJ Walden-Smith. As...
Misrepresenting law on squatting: Draft letter
Things have moved on about the idea of a letter from housing lawyers. A letter has been prepared for housing lawyers and law academics to sign and arrangements are under way for getting it publicity. I'm sending the text of the letter to everyone...
On legal aid and letters pages: bits from last week
Some bits and pieces from the last week that didn't quite fit in elsewhere. First - developments in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. At the committee stage a large number of amendments were tabled, both by the Government...
Some footnotes: Helden v Strathmore
Helden v Strathmore [2011] EWCA Civ 542 contains lots of useful footnotes and pointers on different issues, so it's worth a read. In this note, I'm going to focus on two such footnotes, which have a bearing on issues with which it's fair to say...
Helpful Housing Hints
Two, quite distinct, bodies have put out some free guides. The DCLG have released some booklets aimed at private landlords and tenants, giving guidance on requirements and best practice: Top Tips for Tenants: Assured Shorthold Tenancies Top Tips...
Three for the LVT mavens
I promised to write the second of these case reports a week ago. Mea culpa. Still, by delaying, I've managed to find two other cases to include. So, without further ado... Ayres and others v Roberts and others In All's Well That Ends Well (Act.1,...
Sinking feeling
I'm afraid that this is beyond parody, but couldn't go unremarked. Anyway, it is a quiet time for judgments. Today the National Housing Federation took the view that housing provision in the UK, or England at least, is basically demented, with...
Ain’t no Cicero
This, the second post on the riot related possession proposals (the first is here), looks at an article published on the ConservativeHome website by Jake Berry MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Grant Shapps, and Tory MP for the gritty urban...
Losing localism
Or, more accurately 'locality'. Sorry if that got anyone excited over nothing. As has been widely announced, the DCLG consultation on introducing a mandatory ground for possession on grounds of conviction for a housing related ASB offence etc,...
Starter tenancy: proportionality ‘just about arguable’
West Kent Housing Association v Haycraft [2011] EWCA Civ 992 (Not on Bailii. We've seen a transcript) This was a renewed application for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal on a second (or perhaps first- see below) appeal from the granting...