A case is reported in the Guardian which apparently extends local authorities' duty to protect tenants from third parties to include vulnerable adults, not only children. A couple, both with learning difficulties, were terrorised in their flat by a...
All the blog posts, most recent first
Brit blawg law blog review
Ruthie's Law dons the mantle of one of the all-too-rare British hostings of a Blawg Review, and a damn fine review it is. More details on Blawg Reviews here. I believe Geeklawyer is due to be the next British host, so anyone whose business is...
Caravan sites and Tomlin orders
A couple of interesting permission to appeal hearings have appeared on Bailii. Permission granted in both cases for Court of Appeal hearing. Lee v Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council [2008] EWCA Civ 523 concerns whether a Local Authority...
Wondering about McCann
Well, McCann v UK certainly seems to have stirred things up. Naturally, most of the speculation is on the effect and extent of the judgment. I'm still trying to work out for myself what the likely or even possible effects are, so this is a work in...
Snippets
A few bits and pieces... Gilboy v Liverpool CC has a hearing at the Court of Appeal on 19 or 20 May (thanks J and GCN). Doherty v Birmingham is at the House of Lords later this year, which should be a big test for the legacy, if any, of McCann...
Possession and human rights – blimey!
Just when, post Kay v Lambeth in the Lords, it looked like the issue of human rights defences to possession claims was pretty much settled (i.e. there pretty much weren't any), the ECtHR has decided to put a large stick in the spokes. As many...
Letting repossessed property
As a follow-up to the mortgage repossession post below, I've just spotted a sad story on Landlord Law blog. Tessa had a case in which private tenants discovered, when the bailiffs turned up, that the property they had just rented was subject to a...
When does enforceability end?
Or, to be precise, when does a Suspended Possession Order for rent arrears cease to be enforceable? In broad terms, the answer is clear - when all sums due under the order have been paid off. But when is that? After Marshall v Bradford MC, it is...
Mortgage possessions – Gordon feels your pain
Mortgage repossessions are rising at the fastest rate since 1991. According to the MoJ quarterly figures [pdf]: Possession claims in the first quarter of 2008 were 38,688, 7% more than in the last quarter of 2007. The rise over the last year was...
The value of disinterest
That's disinterestedness, not uninterestedness, should anybody who went to school after about 1990 be reading this. Does nobody really read Kant any more? But, in a rather dismal demonstration of the trope of irony, this is likely to be an outright...
Cardiff homeless – tactical lessons?
Thanks to Housed and Garden Court's bulletin for the pointer to this Ombudsman's report [pdf] on Cardiff's failure to provide temporary accommodation pending enquiries on what was a prima facie case of 'not reasonable to remain' homelessness....
Mental Capacity
William Flack has made another considered post on the issue of mental capacity for the purposes of Civil Procedure Rule 21 on his blog. He has also begun a wiki on the topic, which could be a very useful step. (For those not sure what a wiki is,...