A few notes on events and a couple of RRO cases. Landlord Law, run by Tessa Shepperson, has achieved the remarkable feat of passing its 20th anniversary. That is really quite something for an online service - the online landscape was very different in 2001!....
No covering this up
As we reach the end of a truly awful week for the government* the National Audit Office has decided to get in on the act. The Regulation of Private Renting report is the equivalent of a (fully deserved) kicking for the government and its approach to the...
The appearance of a substantial defence in possession claims, and property guardians and possession.
Global 100 Ltd v Laleva (2021) EWCA Civ 1835 There is a hell of a lot packed into one appeal here, so I'll try to be brief. This was Global 100's appeal of a first instance appeal (our note here) in which HHJ Luba QC had held that the first instance District...
Possession news
A couple of items on possession claims and evictions. And another occasion to overuse exclamation marks. According to the Minutes of the CPR Committee meeting of 8 October 2021, Practice Direction 55C will be sort of coming to an end on 30 November 2021, but...
Possession proceedings – end of the ‘overall arrangements’.
Yesterday (3 November) a statement from the Master of the Rolls announcing the end of the 'overall arrangements for possession proceedings', as of 1 November 2021, was put up on the judiciary website. The statement is here. (The original version of this post...
There’s a cheque on the table – s.21 and return of deposit
Gul v Bilal, Stratford Hearing Centre, 18 October 2021 (unreported. We've seen a note of hearing). A County Court decision on a landlord's application which adds to the not uncomplicated history of decisions on when a tenancy deposit counts as returned to...
Rent Repayment applications – time limits for substituting parties
Gurusinghe & Ors v Drumlin Ltd (HOUSING - RENT REPAYMENT ORDER - Procedure) (2021) UKUT 268 (LC) Just a quick note on this one - an appeal to the Upper Tribunal on an FTT decision on an application to add a new respondent to an RRO application as the...
Rent Repayment Orders – not ALL the rent.
Williams v Parmar & Ors (HOUSING - RENT REPAYMENT ORDER) (2021) UKUT 244 (LC) We knew that the Upper Tribunal has been itching to get an appeal on the approach to the assessment of the amount of a rent repayment order, ever since Ficcara v James,...
Private sector assortment
Some bits for private sector tenancies (in England, mainly), including s.21 notice periods, Tenant Fees Act and tenancy 'churn', an updated electrical safety guide for tenants, and the distant prospects of a Renters Reform Bill. I've belatedly updated the...
Things! Useful and allowing for schadenfreude
An assortment of useful and amusing things for a Sunday. First, the many and varied changes to the notice periods and validity periods of section 21 notices over the last 18 months has caused headaches for all involved in trying to calculate the relevant...
Misc – erratum, Bedroom tax and DA, and Tribunal managers and reserve funds
An assortment of things... First an erratum to yesterday's post on the High Court judgment on applications to cancel a debt moratorium. The High Court had held that such an application must be by claim form. I was subsequently pointed at Practice Direction...
1 October – new (old) notice periods and new forms
New regulations were laid today (9 Sept) coming into force on 1 October 2021 for England. The snappily titled The Coronavirus Act 2020 (Residential Tenancies and Notices) (Amendment and Suspension) (England) Regulations 2021 do the following. Extend the...