Mitu v London Borough of Camden [2011] EWCA civ 1249 In which the Court of Appeal splits over the proper interpretation of Regulation 8(2) of The Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Review Procedures) Regulations 1999, while agreeing on the outcome in...
Just one small but crucial fact..
Tricky things, ex parte interim injunctions. Dealt with on the papers, or possibly by a phone hearing with a duty Judge, there is little time for detail and, obviously, no argument from the other side. Which makes it all the more important that the applicant...
Not a mother-in-law joke
Abdullah v Westminster City Council [2011] EWCA Civ 1171 Do matrimonial home rights apply where notice to leave to a non-tenant spouse has been given by a joint tenant who is not the spouse? A question raised and answered in this homeless case. This was a...
Contracts and public law: The Cornwall case
Charles Terence Estates Ltd v Cornwall Council [2011] EWHC 2542 (QB) (subnom oh dear, oh dear) Forgive the length of this note, but this seems to be a significant case with potentially far-reaching ramifications. The judgment of Cranston J (in my view) is...
Morris dancing
Bah v The United Kingdom - 56328/07 [2011] ECHR 1448 This is a decision of the European Court of Human Rights on the regulations for eligibility for housing support, after the declaration of incompatibility in Westminster v Morris [2005] EWCA Civ 1184. It is...
Homelessness, Workers and ‘effective employment’
Falastin Amin v Brent LBC, Wandsworth County Court 2011 A county court s.204 appeal on the issue of eligibility of an EU citizen as a 'wroker'. While it is not binding, it sets out a clear position which, given the involvement of Minos Perdios in the review...
The Localism Bill: Rush, rush, rush …
It is certainly not a truism that legislation which is given the closest possible scrutiny is thereafter free from doubt - consider, for example, the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, which we always used to call the mysterious provisions...
Eligibility: Reg 6(2)(a)
News has reached us at NL Towers (or lock-up - see image at bottom of page) from a regular reader/correspondent, Simon Marciniak, of an interesting and potentially important s 204 homelessness appeal decision on the ambit of Regulation 6(2)(a), Immigration...
You don’t want to do it like that.
The Local Government Ombudsman receives over 300 complaints a year about Local Authorities' handling of homeless applications. The LGO is clearly concerned by what it sees in the matters referred to it as it has now produced a 'focus report' , called "How...
Standards in private renting: A bit of a mess?
My good friend, Alex of Alex's Archives, has sent me a link to a discussion in the GLA corridors of power on standards in the private rented sector. I haven't finished listening to the GLA debate, but, as Alex said in his email, it does expose some "shaky...
Contracting out reviews
In Karaj v Three Rivers DC [2011] EWCA Civ 768, Ward and Rimer LJJ granted permission to appeal on what appears to be the "Shacklady" issue (links to our report), viz whether a failure to follow the proper rules regarding the contracting out of the review...
Unintended clarity from the DCLG
A leaked letter has emerged, sent from the DCLG to the office of the Prime Minister. The full text of the letter is here. Written by Eric Pickles' private secretary, apparently at Pickles behest, the letter sets out the DCLG's concerns at the effects...