IMPORTANT - NOT YET UPDATED FOR 1 OCTOBER 2018 CHANGES. [Update 3 pm 03/06/2016 - improved flow chart with added HMO licensing section now at link below. Update 05/12/2016 - tidier version will small error correction. Update 07/03/2017 - correcting an error...
Tis aw a muddle – costs edition
Morales v Enver (2016) QBD (Irwin J) 28/04/2016 (Not on Bailli - note of judgment on Lawtel) Another case to file under 'things not to do'. Mr M had brought injunction for re-entry proceedings against a landlord and agents. Mr M was the tenant of a...
Deposits, leaflets and company landlords
Bali v Manaquel Company Limited, County Court at Central London (HHJ Hand QC), 15th April 2016 (Unreported elsewhere. We've seen a note of judgment) This was an appeal of a possession order made against Mr Bali at Lambeth County Court. Mr B was the assured...
AirBnBreach
The Govt seems very keen on Airbnb-style short term letting. First, the planning change in London to permit short term letting for up to 90 days in any year, then Osborne's £1000 tax break for Airbnb style landlords in the March 2016 budget. Of course, the...
Corrections, omissions, blusters
Several notes/rantlets* There will be a new prescribed Section 8 Notice Seeking Possession in force from 6 April 2016. The regulations and new form 3 can be found here. This is a prescribed form, so must be used. A 'where we are now' story on homelessness...
Righting wrong writs. High Court enforcement.
This has been a bit of an epic. First, the problem of High Court Enforcement Officers using form N293A to obtain writs of possession against tenants was raised by us in November 2015, then the scale of that use became clear by January 2016, and there were...
Su-su-subrogation
Fresca-Judd v Golovina, High Court (QBD) 5 February 2015, Holman J (Not on Bailii, available on lawtel or via notes here and here) Ms Golvina had rented a cottage from Ms Fresca-Judd. The rent was some £2,800 per month. Ms Golvina was away from the cottage...
High Court enforcement continued
In what has turned into a continuing series, there are further updates on enforcement of possession orders via the High Court, obtaining writs and the scandalous conduct of many High Court Enforcement Officers. (Previous posts here and here) Secretary of...
February is the cruellest month
Monday 1 February 2016 sees the commencement of the 'Right to Rent' regulations in all of England. All new private tenancies, sub-tenancies, lodgings, and licences (including property guardians) will be caught if it is the occupant's main residence....
A scandal unfolds: High Court enforcement again
Since our previous post on this topic, it has become apparent that there are significant and widespread issues with evictions of tenants by High Court writ, specifically by some High Court Enforcement Officer firms. In our last post, we dealt with the issue...
Not far enough on the naughty step?
Along with Ben Reeve Lewis, who as a former Tenancy Relations Officer really knows, we have long had a bee in our various bonnets about fines for illegal eviction levied by the Magistrates Court on prosecutions brought by local authorities. And so to Sead...
Disrepair miscellany: Good, bad and ugly.
Perhaps illustrating the need for the Court of Appeal to deliver the judgment in Moorjani (see preceding post), the December 2015 issue of Legal Action has Beatrice Prevatt's excellent annual 'housing repairs update'. We have covered many of the cases...