One of the best known judgment in the English speaking world is Miller v Jackson [1977] QB 966. The start of the judgment of Denning LJ (for it is he) is worth setting out, just to remind you all: In summertime village cricket is the delight of everyone....
You’re ‘avin’ a giraffe
Francis v LB Southwark [2011] EWCA Civ 1418 This was a brave attempt to try and get something out a local authority’s mistaken denial of a right to buy application, but it was not one which the Court of Appeal had any truck with. Mr Francis was a tenant of...
And you find that power where?
By s.168, Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, a landlord may not serve a notice under s.146, Law of Property Act 1925, or otherwise exercise a right of re-entry (i.e. forfeiture) in respect of a breach of a covenant (other than one to pay rent - which...
Laying the foundations …
The "new" housing strategy published today, Laying the Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England, has some interesting bits to it, but it is somewhat unfortunate that the government has taken the opportunity to trumpet its achievements and pronounce their...
No further forward
One of the most vexing questions in service charge litigation is the interaction between default judgment and s.81, Housing Act 1996. In summary, s.81, 1996 Act requires that, before any notice under s.146, Law of Property Act 1925 (forfeiture) can be...
Service charge accounting
The Association of Residential Managing Agents have, together with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (and their sister body in...
Calling Hercules J
Freeholders of 69 Marina, St Leonards-on-Sea v Oram and another [2011] EWCA Civ 1258 A case on costs of LVT and county court proceedings, and quite an important one at that. 69 Marina is a building in St Leonards-on-Sea. It has been converted into 6 flats,...
The Housing Law Conference 2011
The HLPA Housing Law Conference 2011 14 December 2011 The Royal College of Surgeons 35-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields London WC2A 3PE Registration here This year has already thrown up a number of significant challenges for housing law practitioners and these...
No facts please, we’re reviewing
Bubb v London Borough of Wandsworth [2011] EWCA Civ 1285 In an appeal under s.204 Housing Act 1996, should the County Court determine disputed factual issues? In this second appeal, the Court of Appeal effectively holds not. Ms Bubb was in temporary...
Until the Abbott be deposed: uncertain terms
Berrisford v Mexfield Housing Co-operative Ltd (Rev 1) [2011] UKSC 32 What happens to a lease for an uncertain term? Or a tenancy that ends on some specified event, whose date is not known and which may or may not happen? Can either the tenant or the...
Jones v Kernott: Ending the big debate?
One of the things I really don't like about academics is the way they sit in their offices with their heads so full of doctrinal legal theory that they forget (if they ever knew) about the ways real people lead their lives. What got me through land law as a...
Jones v Kernott: The Headline
I've got parental duty so can't do a full note on Jones v Kernott [2011] UKSC 53 now. The headlines, though, are: (a) Ms Jones won the appeal so that her 90% share in the disputed property was re-instated; (b) the UKSC agree on the outcome but there is...