Seven and a half years on, the Law Commission has now completed its work on the reform of housing law with the publication of its final report, Housing: Encouraging Responsible Letting. The Consultation Paper, on which this report is based, voted...
All the blog posts, most recent first
Institutionally racist
We are not institutionally racist. SRA October 2007 This is not housing law related, but it is of significance to many in the sector. Lord Ouseley, the former head of the Commission for Racial Equality, was jointly commissioned by the Solicitors...
Why are we waiting?
Now that it's the silly season and there's not much happening out there, there's an opportunity to reflect on what's not happening with the Code of Guidance on Choice-Based Lettings, or more accurately, why it hasn't been issued. Is CLG on the...
Surely your best point is…
Swanlane Estates Ltd v Woods and others LRX/159/2007 (.pdf) This case concerns the not uncommon situation of a court or tribunal (in this case, a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal) taking a point which the applicant / claimant had not expressly pleaded...
Nearly Legal 2.0
Having posed some questions about this blog's future a couple of weeks ago, I am delighted to be able to announce the next stage for Nearly Legal. First and most importantly, you will notice case notes, news and opinion pieces by other people...
ASB corner
The August 2008 Legal Action contains a couple of cases concerning anti-social behaviour possession claims that weren't recorded elsewhere. Ealing LBC v Jama B5/08/0104 was a Court of Appeal matter. Mrs Jama was Ealing's secure tenant of a two bed...
Amour fou
Unsurprisingly, the papers and blawgers have been all over the story of Kylie McGrath, detained under the Mental Health Act after breaking into the home of solicitor Emma Eardley, whom McGrath had been stalking for over two years. McGrath began as...
It's oh so quiet…
Or at least after last week's tsunami of housing cases, it is quiet. This is good because I am a) perversely very busy, what with everyone else being on holiday, and b) behind the serene exterior of the blog, there is intense plotting and...
Retrospective CFAs
Forde v Birmingham City Council [2008] EWHC 90105 (Costs) In brief, where a firm had asked a client to sign a second CFA for a disrepair claim, at a time when it appeared that the first CFA might be found unenforceable, and the second CFA provided...
Estoppel – needs something to estop
I'm not going to do a report on this one as it is a) epic, b) unprecis-able and thankfully c) pretty much off topic for housing law. But anyone who, like me, is a bit of an equity hobbyist on the side, the House of Lords judgment in Yeoman’s Row...
What is a locality?
R (on the application of Heffernan) (FC) (Appellant) v The Rent Service) (Respondents) [2008] UK 58 concerns the meaning of locality in para 4(6) of Part 1 Schedule 1 Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Order 1997. Locality serves to define...
Enforcing positive covenants
Cantrell v Wycombe District Council [2008] EWCA Civ 866 concerns enforcement of positive covenants by a Local Authority. In return for funds towards the purchase of another property, a housing association had granted the Council nomination rights...