Chase v Islington LBC Clerkenwell & Shoreditch County Court 30/07/2010 This case is reported in the October 2010 'Recent Developments' in Legal Action. It is an interesting case on the use of applications under Schedule 11, 21(3) Housing and Regeneration Act...
An offer you can refuse*
*but it remains open. Not a housing post per se, but this case concerns Part 36 offers which are a vital tool in any disrepair or nuisance claim or counterclaim, so worth a brief note for practitioners. Gibbon v Manchester City Council [2010] EWCA Civ 726...
All mimsy were the borogoves
The Jabberwock of the tenancy deposit scheme came whiffling again, in the tulgey wood of Northampton County Court. This time it was the clause that catch to beware of. And there's a disrepair claim in there too. Paula O'Brien v Jacqueline Jones & Andrew...
Of fair rents, disrepair and unreasonable temptations
Ahmed & Ors v Murphy [2010] EWHC 453 (Admin) This was an appeal to the High Court of a decision by the London Rent Assessment Committee (LRAC) that the maximum fair rent payable by Mr Murphy for the flat in Brick Lane, Spitalfields was £8.50 per week. The...
Disrepair Quantum – Ombudsman
Local Government Ombudsman Report Report ref 09 005 422 Harlow District Council Ms S was Harlow's secure tenant. Due to a leak, the ceiling in her daughter's bedroom became damaged, in danger of falling and unsafe. Despite Ms S's complaints, Harlow did not...
Newham in the news
The London Borough of Newham is, without doubt, a hard-pressed council with extremely high levels of housing need, insufficient accommodation of any sort of decent quality to meet that need, and an engaged staff, as anybody who read Ahmad would tell you. In...
Access to Justice
An anecdotal rant, for which forgive me. Sometimes one needs to vent, but this is hardly an unusual situation. It is 'just' an example of the viciousness of the public funding boundaries. I've combined a few instances in what follows, and changed details for...
Underhand but not abusive
Andrew Henley v Shelly Bloom [2010] EWCA Civ 202 This was a second appeal to the Court of Appeal of a first instance decision that Mr Henley's claim for disrepair against his former landlord, Ms Bloom was an abuse of process, the first appeal to a Circuit...
Condensed Condensation
Herelle v South London Family Housing Association Limited, Lambeth County Court, 26 November 2009 Ms Herelle was the assured tenant of SLFHA (now part of Horizon Housing). Her tenancy of the one bed flat began in September 2001. There had been problems with...
Catching up with LAG
The January 2010 Housing updates in Legal Action have some County Court case reports that hadn't reached us. You will naturally have already read them in Legal Action, but for our archives... Tenancy Deposits O'Brien v Hill Barnet County Court 22/09/2009 Mr...
Jackson: the waiting begins
'What!' I hear you say, 'wasn't the final Jackson report on costs released on 14 January?' Why yes it was. All 584 pages of it. But amid the headlines about scrapping CFA success fees and recoverable ATE insurance premiums, introducing contingency fees, and...
On the Naughty Step
And what a thoroughly deserving new entrant to the roll we have in Anthony Carroll, apparently known as 'Uncle Tony', although 'Uncle' to whom and whether any Godfather style references were intended is not at all clear. Mr Carroll is a Nottingham based...