Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets v Khan (2022) EWCA Civ 831 A Court of Appeal judgment on whether a freeholder, LB Tower Hamlets, was entitled to contractual legal costs under the lease, following a money claim for unpaid service...
A couple of fire safety updates of relevance to leaseholders. The Fire Safety Act 2021 sections 1 and 3 came into force on 12 May 2022. The FSA amended the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in order to make it clear that the duties under the 2005...
Lees v Kaye (2022) EWHC 1151 (QB) This is another judgment on the operation of the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England & Wales) Regulations 2020. (The first was part of the Brake v Axnoller...
It is being reported that reform of the private rented sector, including the abolition of section 21, will be in the next Queen's Speech. It may not be a renters reform bill but part of a larger 'levelling up' bill, which does make one wonder about its...
Behjat v Crescent Trustees Ltd (2022) UKUT 115 (LC) UTLC We've previously seen some messes happen where the First Tier Tribunal judges purport to exercise their jurisdiction as county court judges, for example here. This, unfortunately, is another instance...
Some brief notes on recent Upper Tribunal (LC) service and administration charge decisions Marshall v Northumberland & Durham Property Trust Ltd (2022) UKUT 92 (LC) The First Tier Tribunal had been wrong to grant dispensation from section 20 consultation...
Apologies, I know updates have been slow in the last few weeks - I have been very busy on a lot of time sensitive stuff and what down time I've had, has really been needed as, well, down time... But the blog has not been forgotten or abandoned, honest. There...
As I stagger towards writing up some case law at the weekend, some notes on things that have happened. The Solicitors Regulation Authority published a Guidance note - "Advising on leasehold provisions including ground rent clauses". This covers a lot of the...
Golding v Martin (2022) EW Misc 2 (CC) We first saw this forfeiture case when it went to the Court of Appeal (our note). Briefly, Ms Martin had bought a leasehold flat, and indeed extended the lease. In 2003, she went to live in Majorca. She left no...
There were a few announcements today and a Supreme Court decision. By far the biggest one, if you live in or are a landlord, or indeed a housing lawyer, in Wales is that the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 will be implemented (come into force) on 15 July...
Today (Monday) was Michael Gove's big day. Not the getting stuck in a lift at Broadcasting House for half an hour, but the announcement of his plans to tackle the Building Safety Crisis. There was a distinct change in rhetoric - with developers and...
I decided to ignore 2021 altogether this new year. Instead, here is a look forward (if not entirely an enthusiastic one) to potential policy and legislative changes in 2022, for England, at least. (If Wales finally brings in the Renting Homes (Wales) Act in...