A triplet of brief notes. Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring won a judicial review of the Magistrates and Crown Court decisions upholding RB Kensington & Chelsea's Notice under s.215 Town and County Planning Act 1990, ordering her to paint her Kensington property...
Water and youth
Not, I hasten to make clear, a Daily Mail style piece on the health giving properties of drinking expensive water, but a couple of quick notes. First, a Southwark rent arrears possession case, demonstrating that the effects of Jones v London Borough of...
Andy Gale, misuse and me. FAO housing options officers
[Update 20/03/17 - Locata have come back to me again and are changing the relevant wording in the toolkit. The issue is resolved.] I didn't want to have to write this, but sadly I have to, to protect my and our own position here on NL. Because Andy Gale...
Erratum – s.21 flowchart
I am surprised it had not happened sooner, because there had to be some, but today someone spotted an error in the section 21 notice flowchart - specifically in the end-note about s.21(4)(a) notices for tenancies that were periodic from the outset. A...
“Perverse Incentives”
Osman, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Harrow [2017] EWHC 274 (Admin) A challenge to Harrow's allocation policy, specifically on the 'downgrading' of allocation priority for overcrowded households in PRS accommodation, while existing Harrow...
It ain’t what you do, but the way that you do it – property guardians & ‘licences’
(1) Camelot Property Management Ltd, (2) Camelot Guardian Management Ltd v Greg Roynon. County Court at Bristol, 24 February 2017 (copy of Judgment) We've noted the issues bubbling away between Camelot and property guardians in Bristol (here, and here), and...
Failings and functions
BBC News reported on the effect of the Retaliatory Eviction provisions in the Deregulation Act, some 16 months on. A large scale FOI request produced the result that only 19% of councils had recorded stopping even 1 retaliatory eviction through service of an...
Tales of the private sector
A collation of cases and stories from the private sector, and a series of reminders that a database of rogue landlords, and indeed banning orders, can't come soon enough. In Sheffield, John Cashin was convicted of 56 offences involving HMO management,...
We’re going to need another canto – 2016 roundup
"We to the place have come, where I have told thee Thou shalt behold the people dolorous Who have foregone the good of intellect." (canto 3) Midway between Christmas and new year, I found myself, fat and indolent, on the sofa, contemplating a year-end post....
Suspense surrounds suspended possession orders
Ever since Cardiff City Council v Lee [2016] EWCA Civ 1034 (our note), there has been a ferment and a gnashing of teeth amongst landlords, particularly social landlords, about the best way to deal with the 'new' requirement under CPR 83(2) to make an...
Begging and questions
First the begging - or at least a request - though not on our own behalf. As you all know, the NL team all work on the blog for free. We do it because we all really enjoy reading, writing and thinking about housing law and we’re grateful (and still a bit...
Rather too certain to be uncertain
Leeds City Council v Broadley [2016] EWCA Civ 1213 This was Leeds' second appeal of a Valuation Tribunal decision on council tax liability. We covered the first High Court appeal here. Full disclosure, I acted for the intervener in this second appeal, the...