MacGregor v B M Samuels Finance Group Ltd [2013] UKUT 471 (LC) was, I'm afraid, handed down over two months ago. Such is the state of the NL backlog that I'm only getting to it now. Sorry about that. As those of you who could not wait must have already...
Benefit cap JR
I've been really slow to write this up, for which many apologies, but I have just got bogged down in other things. The benefit cap JR got lost amongst that other stuff partly because it was almost predictable after MA that the Divisional Court would find a...
Repair liability and implied lease clauses.
This one has been sitting in my draft collection for a while, but, as Christmas fades towards the new year, it finally got done. For the leaseholders in this particular appeal, it was, however, distinctly short of glad tidings. Gavin & Anor v Community...
Failed claim for adverse possession
It wouldn’t be Christmas without a post on adverse possession so here is Smart v London Borough of Lambeth [2013] EWCA Civ 1375……..(*struggles to find Christmas link*). An oddity in this case is that Mr Smart, who was claiming adverse possession against...
“Mere likelihood” not enough to engage section 149
Swan v Gill [2013] EWCA Civ 1566 apparently attracted quite a bit of attention at the HLPA conference this year, the general consensus being that the Court of Appeal was wrong in its approach to s.149 Equality Act 2010 and I’m inclined to agree. Mr Gill, an...
A Christmas gift for you: Contracting out and more
I appreciate that it isn't exactly pc still to like Phil Spector's album, but I do think it remains the best of the lot. And, in a way, Tachie, Terera and Il v Welwyn Hatfield BC [2013] EWHC 3972 (QB) is a Christmas gift for local authorities which have...
Premature expectations
Isaac Odeniran v Southend on Sea BC [2013] EWHC 3888 (Admin) [Not on Bailii yet] Mr Odeniran had been convicted by the Magistrates of failing to comply with an improvement notice under s.11(2) and 12(2) Housing Act 2004, relating to category 2 hazards. The...
Unappealing
Haringey LBC v Goremsandhu [2013] EWHC 3834 (Admin) [Not on bailii yet] Ms Goremsandhu was the owner of an HMO, made up of four flats in Tottenham. Haringey had served her with improvement notices. When Ms G had failed to complete the word required within...
A sign of things to come?
In the December edition of Legal Action, I noticed a decision from November 2012 (yes, 2012), called Miah v McGrogan [2012] EWCA Civ 1685 (Casetrack only). Mr Miah seems to have been the landlord of a house which had been let to a number of students. They...
Nowhere to go and nothing to do with my time
There are two things in life I really, really enjoy. The first is listening to Queen/Freddie Mercury. The second is leasehold property disputes. I am doing the first whilst writing about the second. The case of Burchell v Raj Properties Ltd [2013] UKUT 433...
There’s no place like HMO
Shah v Croydon LBC [2013] EWHC 3657 (Admin) [Not on Bailii yet. Seen full transcript of judgment] An appeal by way of case stated from a Magistrates Court decision that a property owned by Mr Shah was an HMO and that Mr S was therefore liable for some 14...
Bedroom tax decisions update
There are two new First Tier Tribunal bedroom tax appeal decisions on the FTT decisions page, at the bottom. One from Liverpool and one from Edinburgh. Both are Article 14 discrimination based, with disabilities meaning a bedroom could not be shared, one...