Swan v Gill [2013] EWCA Civ 1566 apparently attracted quite a bit of attention at the HLPA conference this year, the general consensus being that the Court of Appeal was wrong in its approach to s.149 Equality Act 2010 and I’m inclined to agree....
All the blog posts, most recent first
A Christmas gift for you: Contracting out and more
I appreciate that it isn't exactly pc still to like Phil Spector's album, but I do think it remains the best of the lot. And, in a way, Tachie, Terera and Il v Welwyn Hatfield BC [2013] EWHC 3972 (QB) is a Christmas gift for local authorities...
Premature expectations
Isaac Odeniran v Southend on Sea BC [2013] EWHC 3888 (Admin) [Not on Bailii yet] Mr Odeniran had been convicted by the Magistrates of failing to comply with an improvement notice under s.11(2) and 12(2) Housing Act 2004, relating to category 2...
Unappealing
Haringey LBC v Goremsandhu [2013] EWHC 3834 (Admin) [Not on bailii yet] Ms Goremsandhu was the owner of an HMO, made up of four flats in Tottenham. Haringey had served her with improvement notices. When Ms G had failed to complete the word...
There’s no place like HMO
Shah v Croydon LBC [2013] EWHC 3657 (Admin) [Not on Bailii yet. Seen full transcript of judgment] An appeal by way of case stated from a Magistrates Court decision that a property owned by Mr Shah was an HMO and that Mr S was therefore liable for...
For Whom the Bell Tolls, Pt 2
Durrant v Avon & Somerset Constabulary [2013] EWCA Civ 1624 This is not housing law, not even close, but is an important decision on procedure that follows on from Mitchell v News Group Newspapers. We covered that decision (see For Whom the...
Bedroom tax decisions update
There are two new First Tier Tribunal bedroom tax appeal decisions on the FTT decisions page, at the bottom. One from Liverpool and one from Edinburgh. Both are Article 14 discrimination based, with disabilities meaning a bedroom could not be...
Out of order
R (CN) v LB Lewisham; R (ZH) v Newham LBC [2013] EWCA Civ 804 This is a very important decision from the summer. For some reason we haven’t got round to writing it up before now. In the meantime England have managed to retain (yay) and then lose...
What use is a Zambrano right of residence?
A couple of years ago a lot of lawyers practising in housing, immigration and welfare benefits got very excited by the case of Ruiz Zambrano (European citizenship) [2011] EUECJ C-34/09. The reason for this excitement was that the ECJ said...
Allocations and legitimate expectation
In R(Alansi) v Newham LBC, Stuart-Smith J held that, although Ms Alansi had a legitimate expectation that she would remain a priority homeseeker on Newham's housing register, Newham had not acted unreasonably and in abuse of its power by...
On families, powers and duties to accommodate
R (on the application of MK) v Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council [2013] EWHC 3486 (Admin) [Judgment on Lexis, not on Bailii yet] A judicial review raising the extent of a Council's duties and powers under s.17 Children Act 1989 and s.1...
More children and housing duties
AT & Ors v London Borough Of Islington [2013] EWCA Civ 1505 We are a bit late with this one, but while we are on the interrelation of duties to children and housing duties, this was an an application for permission to appeal a judicial review...