Things are hotting up on the Airbnb front. We've noted breach of lease issues here and here. Then there has been the big issue of massive and widespread breaches of the Greater London 'no short letting of whole for more than 90 days per calendar year without...
Don’t try this at home
Gibson v Douglas & Anor [2016] EWCA Civ 1266 In which the court of appeal almost but not quite consider the notice requirements for licencees excluded from the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 Mr G had been living at Mrs D's property, which she also...
Odds and Ends
Assorted updates. Right to Rent - the new criminal offence. The Immigration Act 2016 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2016 have been made and come into force on 1 December. The draft DCLG Guidance for the courts on the defence of...
Second (non-) succession
In Holley v Hillingdon LBC [2016] EWCA Civ 1052, Mr Holley was seeking to challenge the council's decision to evict him and his brother from a three bedroom property that could sleep up to six persons, in which Mr Holley had lived for 32 years of his life...
We eat ham and jam and spam a lot
Property guardian companies. Just when you think that most of the firms involved have managed some form of legality around their possession and eviction practices, they go and disappoint you. Way back in 2012, we noted the widespread failure of property...
Curiosities and wonders
When the First Respondent in a possession case is styled "The Sovereign Indigenous Peoples of Scotland" and the second, named, Respondent describes himself as "A Member of the Government of Scotland", you suspect that you know in advance how things will go....
Tis aw a muddle – costs edition
Morales v Enver (2016) QBD (Irwin J) 28/04/2016 (Not on Bailli - note of judgment on Lawtel) Another case to file under 'things not to do'. Mr M had brought injunction for re-entry proceedings against a landlord and agents. Mr M was the tenant of a...
February is the cruellest month
Monday 1 February 2016 sees the commencement of the 'Right to Rent' regulations in all of England. All new private tenancies, sub-tenancies, lodgings, and licences (including property guardians) will be caught if it is the occupant's main residence....
Co-ops again …
Often, I will read a judgment with which I disagree; but it is rare that I read one that I think is just plainly wrong. The judgment of Hildyard J in Southward Housing Co-Operative Ltd v Walker and Hay [2015] EWHC 1615 (Ch) falls in to the latter category,...
Miscellaneous
Assorted things of note. The closing date for applications for the Tower Hamlets Law Centre Housing Solicitor post has been extended to 11 March 2015. Southend have been refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in Southend v Amour (our report on the...
Human Rights Round-Up Part 1
Tijardovic v Croatia [2014] ECHR 637 (19/6/2014) Mrs T and her family occupied a flat in Split, Croatia, which her father-in-law had held under a specially protected tenancy with the Split Municipality, from 1983 onwards. Between 1985 and his death in 1998,...
Landlord Immigration Checks from 1 December
The Home Office has (finally) announced the 'pilot' areas for the landlord immigration check requirement under Immigration Act 2014. The areas are Birmingham, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton. The requirement will come in to force in those areas...