Disabled children – “exempt” from the bedroom tax? At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday [6 March 2013] David Cameron claimed that “anyone with severely disabled children is exempt from the spare room subsidy”, more commonly known as the “bedroom tax”....
Bedroom tax first JR?
Just a quick post to note that a Judicial Review of the bedroom tax regulations was apparently issued on Friday 1 March 2013. From this report, it appears that the grounds are along the lines of Burnip, as I suggested here, in that the basis is...
Residing together, apart.
Sharif v The London Borough of Camden [2013] UKSC 10 Does accommodation available for occupation by a person and those reasonably expected to reside with them have to be in one unit of accommodation? In this case, the Court of Appeal had said yes (our report...
A bit too widely cast…
You may recall the discussion that took place on this blog of Wandsworth's secure tenancy terms, introduced in 2009, that sought to introduce a list of things that the tenant, "lodgers, friends, relatives, visitors and any other person living in the property...
What a tangled web…
[Update 22/01/2014 - Anyone concerned with proceedings brought by Mr Ghopee under any company name should see this new post] Since our post on Barons Finance Limited, we've heard various things about the property and landlord related activities of Barons...
Without lawful authority? The houseboats strike again
People live in boats. In some cities, such as Cambridge and London, living in a houseboat may be an affordable way somewhere where house prices would otherwise make that impossible. On so slender thread as that we at nearly legal have reported a number of...
Barons Finance Ltd
[Update 22/01/2014 - Anyone concerned with proceedings brought by Mr Ghopee under any company name should see this new post] [Important updated information at the end of the post 13/02/2013] Barons Finance Ltd & Reddy Corporation Ltd v Makanju [2013]...
Room without review: Thoughts on tackling the bedroom tax
With the beginning of the bedroom tax looming up for April and upwards of 700,000 households affected, I've been thinking about the position when the inevitable rent arrears possessions start to appear - probably by about October - and also whether the...
CLG on PRS
The CLG Select Committee was hearing evidence today on reform in the PRS. The evidence session is available to watch online, here.
When a deficiency makes no difference.
Ibrahim v London Borough of Wandsworth [2013] EWCA Civ 20 The question for the Court of Appeal in this second appeal from a homeless appeal, was "How should the courts deal with a plainly deficient homelessness decision when the deficiency has had no adverse...
Don’t tell (and didn’t ask)
Introductory tenancies require a notice under s.128 Housing Act 1996 to be served before possession proceedings. That notice shall inform the tenant of his right to request a review of the landlord’s decision to seek an order for possession and of the time...
Monkey on my back*
Even since McCann v. UK (2008) 47 EHRR 40, a lot of people (around these parts) have been waiting for a case on Article 8 and the rule in Hammersmith v Monk (Hammersmith and Fulham LBC v. Monk [1992] AC 478) to reach the higher Courts. Is the rule that...