There is an interesting note here on a county court case claiming discrimination under Equality Act 2010 for failure to make physical adjustments to a property. As is generally known, a 'controller of let premises' (section 36) does not have to make...
Bits – tenant fees, airbnb and more
The Tenant Fees Bill is now underway. The first reading was on 2 May 2018. The Bill page is here. The Govt response to the CLG select committee report on the proposals is here. Notable in the the Bill is a proposed ban on serving a s.21 notice while an...
The costs of dangerous cladding – leaseholders position
First Tier Tribunal LON/00AH/LSC/2017/0435 - Firstport Property Services Ltd v various leaseholders of Citiscape We previously saw the Salford decision on the costs of a 'waking watch' in a tower with 'Grenfell' style cladding, but this was the first, keenly...
There can be only one!
The MHCLG have announced a consultation 'Strengthening consumer redress in the housing market', which primarily about reviewing and reforming Ombudsman schemes in the housing sector, with the proposal floated for a single Ombudsman/redress scheme across the...
Fire Safety – Who Pays?
Since the extent of the issues with the cladding to blocks of flats became clear after Grenfell, and it became clear that private blocks as well as social were affected, we have been waiting for the beginning of the legal fall out over who was to pay for...
An air of unreality
Whilst winding my way home this evening, I chanced across a piece from Inside Housing in which is was reported that the Secretary of State, (Sajid Javid) had suggested that private freeholders should pick up the costs associated with fire-safety works and...
Premature forfeiture
A couple of quick notes on forfeiture of leases. Cheerupmate2 Ltd v Calce (2017) UKUT 377 (TCC) Forfeiture for ground rent arrears was not valid because: a) The wrong notice under s.166 Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 had been served. The notice was...
Incurred and incurred again
Under section 20B(1) Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, a service charge must be demanded of the tenant within 18 months of the relevant cost having been incurred by the landlord. But what happens when there is a head landlord demanding a charge from an...
Cant Pay
It is rare, if we are entirely honest, for a First Tier Tribunal decision on service charges to be exciting. It is even rarer for there to be mystery and police raids, and "Immunity from Treason" notices, and debts of "Trillions of pounds", and something...
Service charge disputes and recovery of costs
Bretby Hall Management Company Ltd v Pratt [2017] UKUT 70 (LC) This was an appeal to the UT on various issue arising from an FTT decision. We will not dwell on the issue of specific charges not being consulted on under s.20, but not - as the UT found,...
The Tribunal’s enforcer
In Octagon Overseas Ltd and Canary Riverside Management Ltd v Coates [2017] EWHC 877 (Ch), the First-tier Tribunal appointed Mr Coates as the manager of Canary Riverside (a development comprising, amongst other things, four blocks of residential apartments...
Somebody else’s money
Sheffield City Council v Oliver [2017] EWCA Civ 225 We saw this case in the Upper Tribunal, here, and I'll borrow the brief facts. Ms Oliver was the long leaseholder in a block of flats on the Lansdowne Estate, which was owned by the Council. The Council...