Local government finance is a fascinating area. Honestly. Those local housing authorities which still retain housing stock are required keep records of their housing income and expenditure. They also operate a Housing Revenue Account ("the HRA"). The HRA is...
On the naughty step – on tour
Nearly Legal's naughty step has recently taken the complicated, slow and interrupted trip from Norwich to North Wales. It is is with reluctance, several changes of train, and a painful recovery of repressed traumatic memory that we now find ourselves in the...
Ahmad v Newham in the Lords
R (Ahmad) v Newham LBC is being heard in the Lords on Monday 19 January and Tuesday. This is an important case on allocation policies and cumulative need. See our post on the Court of Appeal decision here. We'll report on the outcome as soon as...
EU Workers and housing eligibility
Barry v London Borough of Southwark [2008] EWCA Civ 1440 concerned an EEA national's eligibility for social housing, via a Part VII application. EEA 'workers' are eligible for housing assistance as they are not persons subject to immigration control for the...
On the naughty step
Please welcome to the naughty step the head of housing for Norwich City Council, Kristine Reeves, along with other council officers. Why? Some pernicious housing policy or dodgy choice based letting scheme? No. Ms Reeves took a rather more personal interest...
Catch-up miscellany
Thanks, as ever, to Jan Luba and Nic Madge in Legal Action for putting out notes on cases, including those that don't make the reports. There were a few of those in December's Legal Action that are worth a mention - of course, all I have to go on is the LA...
The Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 – an update
Two new Statutory Instruments have just come out relating to this Act, and, given that I'm updating my seminar notes about the 2008 Act, I thought I'd share them with you. The Allocation of Housing (England) (Amendment) (Family Intervention Tenancies)...
CBL Guidance – More Thoughts …
Well, Nearly Legal asks and the CLG deliver. We posted a note on 12 August, when not much was happening, asking why the new CBL guidance hadn't seen the light of day (with some scurrilous thoughts), and a couple of weeks later it was published (link here)...
Choice Based Letting Guidance
The Department for Communities and Local Government has released new guidance for local authorities in regard to the operation of choice based lettings (CBL) schemes. This link is to the PDF of the Guidance. A post with an initial consideration of the...
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 naughty step?...
Faarah Allocation Appeal
This was a judicial review against Southwark's allocation policy, reported in this post, which Southwark, rather surprisingly, appealed. Faarah, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Southwark [2008] EWCA Civ 807 was the result. The issue was the...
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 (thanks J,...