In Bagum v Hafiz and Hai [2015] EWCA Civ 801, the Court of Appeal considered, apparently for the first time, the extent of its discretion under section 14, Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 ("TLATA"). The case is a sad and...
All the blog posts, most recent first
Primary considerations
In Mohamoud v RB Kensington and Chelsea and Saleem v Wandsworth LBC [2015] EWCA Civ 780, the Court of Appeal were faced with the difficult argument about the interaction between section 11, Children Act 2004 and possession proceedings brought by a...
CA to hear bedroom tax appeals this year
The CA is to hear bedroom tax appeals in A (the DV sanctuary appeal - our note here) and SR (where a minor requires overnight care - our note here) next term. A had been stayed pending the UKSC appeal in MA. However, Underhill LJ and Sir Stanley...
Normal service may be interrupted.
I (that being NL) am off on holiday for a couple of weeks. As I'm not the only one doing posts, there may well be posts during that time. But I am the only one who knows how the sending of updating emails works (and it is currently a bit of a...
The homelessness budget
After several days of a mixture of swearing and incredulity, I am finally ready to write about the 'emergency' budget (the emergency apparently being the pressing need to raise inheritance tax thresholds). For housing, the budget will have a...
How late it was, how late
Khuja v Chowdhury [2015] EW Misc B18 (CC) A County Court deposit protection case, and an illustration of some of the ways in which landlords still haven't figured out how the deposit rules work. Ms C was the assured shorthold tenant of Mr K,...
Party like it’s 1957
1957 was an important year. Russell Endean became the first man to be out "handled the ball" in a Test Cricket match. Anthony Eden resigned and Harold Macmillan became PM. The Cat in the Hat was first published. And it was the last time that anyone...
Westminster again…
In R(Alemi) v Westminster CC [2015] EWHC 1765 (Admin), which has been widely reported already (eg here; and all over my twitter feed), HHJ Blair QC found that Westminster's allocation scheme was unlawful in disbarring successful homeless applicants...
Go away!
Johnston v City of Westminster [2015] EWCA Civ 554 A curious case on the effect of a s.198 Housing Act 1996 referral of a homeless applicant to another Authority. Mr Johnston had applied to Westminster as homeless in 2011."For 7 years from 2004...
A tantalizing note
R (Faizi) v Brent LBC (Admin Court, 17.6.15) is only available as a Lawtel note and all may become clear once a transcript is obtained, but it is a very confusing little case. At the risk of overly simplifying , in England, homelessness is governed...
An inconvenient problem
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...
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...