Austin v London Borough of Southwark [2010] UKSC 28 It has been a long story for Mr Austin and a long, long, long story for the tolerated trespasser. But this Supreme Court judgment should be the last time the Supreme Court is troubled by the...
All the blog posts, most recent first
Farewell, then, to “Roof”
The last issue of Shelter's excellent Roof magazine has landed on my desk today. It's been a mainstay of my preoccupation with housing issues for the past 20 years, and it would be wrong to let its passing go without a short note. The last issue...
A farewell to the pink campervan?
It appears that the Tenant Services Authority is living on borrowed time and is on route to being the shortest lived social housing regulator ever, having got its full powers only in April 2010. There will probably be an announcement at the...
Contracting out homelessness reviews: Technical issues
With thanks to Robert Latham, we have the transcript of an interesting section 204 homelessness appeal brought by Ms Shacklady against Flintshire CC in the Mold County Court before HHJ Gareth Jones (07.05.2010). The substance of the appeal...
Waiting For Tiensia
A case in Central London CC has considered the meaning of ‘received’ in relation to tenancy deposit protection.
Measuring a measured duty
Lambert & Ors v Barratt Homes Ltd & Anor [2010] EWCA Civ 681 This was the Court of Appeal hearing of an appeal by Rochdale MBC (the anor in this case) against the judgment of HHJ Grenfell in the Technology and Construction Court. The issue...
Gateway (b), CPR 55.8(2), and disclosure: Brent LBC v Stokes
The Court of Appeal have refused permission to appeal in Brent LBC v Stokes [2010] EWCA Civ 626 (not on Baili yet) - we reported the High Court judgment here, which contains the summary of the facts and the important decision of King J. The case...
A(nother) Cautionary Tale
In Crawford v Croydon LBC [2010] EWCA Civ 618 (not on Baili yet), the Court of Appeal refused Mr Crawford's application for permission to appeal against a suspended possession order made against him by HHJ Ellis in the Croydon County Court after a...
A bumper pack of unlawful eviction – updates from Legal Action
In the second post of County Court cases you will already have read in June's Legal Action Housing updates, we turn to unlawful eviction and harassment. And it appears to have been a rich few months in this regard, with no fewer than five cases to...
Re-entry and re-opening: updates from Legal Action
June's Legal Action housing updates have a bumper collection of interesting county court cases, as you'll already know. For our archives, this is the first of a couple of posts. This one deals with cases on post-eviction re-entry and on re-opening...
Pulling the Rugg out from under them
Housing Minister Grant Shapps has now confirmed that not only the National Landlord Register is finished as a proposal. Also dead in the water are regulation of letting and managing agents, and compulsory written tenancy agreements. Councils are...
Housing policy dribbles
Or the good, the bad and the ugly from the Housing minister and the Communities and Local Government secretary. Grant Shapps, housing minister has been setting out some plans, or perhaps aspirations. Mostly, these seem to involve encouraging people...