This is not a usual blog post. I was asked to do an analysis of the proposed £23,000 pa benefit cap, its impact on housing, homelessness and the legal position, with a focus on London, for use elsewhere and for a purpose which shall remain...
All the blog posts, most recent first
Co-ops again …
Often, I will read a judgment with which I disagree; but it is rare that I read one that I think is just plainly wrong. The judgment of Hildyard J in Southward Housing Co-Operative Ltd v Walker and Hay [2015] EWHC 1615 (Ch) falls in to the latter...
From ‘pillar to post’
In a judgment of undisguised anger, Cobb J described the conduct of LB Tower Hamlets and LB Havering as "shameful" in the way in which they treated AM and his family. I haven't come across Cobb J before but his judgment in AM v Tower Hamlets LBC...
Deposits, penalties and discretions
Okadigbo & Anor v Chan & Anor [2014] EWHC 4729 (QB) When awarding a penalty for breach of the Section 213 Housing Act 204 requirements for tenancy deposits, the court has a discretion over the amount of penalty under section 214 "(4) ...
Well I wouldn’t start from here*
Davis Solicitors LLP v Raja & Anor [2015] EWHC 519 (QB) A cautionary tale on how, when things go badly wrong, it is, by and large, better not to take active steps to make them worse. Davis Solicitors LLP (a sole practitioner practice run by...
No duty of care in allocation decisions
Darby (administratrix of the estate of Lee Rabbetts deceased) v Richmond Upon Thames LBC [2015] EWHC 909 (QB) [Not on Bailii, we've seen the judgment]. Can a council's failure to carry out its responsibilities under its allocation scheme be the...
Care orders and accommodation pending appeal
Our post on Nzolameso v City of Westminster [2015] UKSC 22 is here, but behind the headlines of the judgment (and it is a good judgment) is a whole history, even between the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court hearings. R(N) v Westminster City...
Discretionary Housing Payments – the trouble with DLA.
Hardy, R (on the application of) v Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council [2015] EWHC 890 Oh, we have been waiting for this one. According to DWP survey evidence, some 75% of Councils take Disability Living Allowance into account as income when...
Relief from sanctions for not turning up?
In Home Group v Matrejek [2015] EWHC 441 (QB), the High Court has applied Rule 3.9 of the Civil Procedure Rules and the guidance on applications for relief from sanctions in Denton v TH White Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 906 (our note here) to a possession...
Rising Damp
There is reason for Rigsby to look worried in Uddin & Anor v LB Islington (2015) CA Civ Div 10/03/2015 [Lawtel note only so far.] This was Islington's appeal of a first instance decision awarding the tenants damages for breach of repairing...
The judicial review of regulations on funding judicial review
Ben Hoare Bell Solicitors & Ors, R (On the Application Of) v The Lord Chancellor [2015] EWHC 523 (Admin) The legal aid funding regulations for judicial reviews, in effect from April 2014, were the subject of this judicial review. To cut to the...
Miscellaneous
Assorted things of note. The closing date for applications for the Tower Hamlets Law Centre Housing Solicitor post has been extended to 11 March 2015. Southend have been refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in Southend v Amour (our...