You may recall the discussion that took place on this blog of Wandsworth's secure tenancy terms, introduced in 2009, that sought to introduce a list of things that the tenant, "lodgers, friends, relatives, visitors and any other person living in the property...
ASB and Possession
Birmingham CC v Ashton is a case which illustrates the difficulty that judges face when they are invited to make possession orders on the grounds of nuisance and anti-social behaviour against tenants with mental health problems. The Council relied on four...
Consultations, bills and mysterious advisors
A bit of a miscellany, with Government skullduggery and posturing galore. First up, Grayling's MoJ has announced a consultation into revising the rules on Judicial Review. Broadly, he is against it. Responses are due by 24 January 2013, so a busy holiday for...
Not round these parts
R(Carney) v Bolton-at-Home Limited [2012] EWHC 2553 (Admin) Did historic ASB by the daughter of a former evicted tenant allow the local authority to refuse to allow her accommodation in the same area? This was the issue in this judicial review of...
Strengthening Powers of Possession for Anti-Social Behaviour
You may recall that, on August 3, 2011, the Government launched a consultation paper on its proposals to introduce a “mandatory power of possession” against tenants who are responsible for acts of anti-social behaviour. On August 15, 2011, following the...
Sentencing guidance for committal hearings
In Amicus Horizon Ltd v Thorley , Court of Appeal, May 30, 2012 (no transcript available yet), Mr Thorley appealed against an order sentencing him to prison for four months. Amicus Horizon had claimed for possession and an anti-social behaviour injunction...
Barking and Dagenham LBC v Bakare; too little too late
Just a brief note on this. As yet no transcript. This is another example of a fairly robust antisocial behaviour decision being upheld on appeal and it reinforces the well established principle that an appellant who is essentially attacking the discretion of...
Full of Sound and Fury…
Signifying nothing* (*And yes, I am aware that the preceding line is 'A tale told by an idiot'.) The much trumpeted Wandsworth riot related eviction has stalled even before possession proceedings were issued. According to a press release from Liberty,...
Fairness for hedges
R(Pelling) v Newham LBC [2011] EWHC 3265 (Admin), 28.10.2011 (not on Bailii yet) It's fair to say that I have an unnatural (purely) academic interest in high hedges - my colleagues laugh every time I try to discuss it sensibly. I've always found it...
Ain’t no Cicero
This, the second post on the riot related possession proposals (the first is here), looks at an article published on the ConservativeHome website by Jake Berry MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Grant Shapps, and Tory MP for the gritty urban constituency...
Losing localism
Or, more accurately 'locality'. Sorry if that got anyone excited over nothing. As has been widely announced, the DCLG consultation on introducing a mandatory ground for possession on grounds of conviction for a housing related ASB offence etc, previously...
Wandsworth: headed for the naughty step?
As is now pretty well known (and as I noted in the comments below this post) Wandsworth Council apparently made a bid to bring the first riot related possession proceedings. There are some things about Wandsworth's behaviour that should be pointed out, but...