Southwark LBC are involved in two cases are being heard in the House of Lords next week. Hanoman v Southwark is a Right to Buy dispute and R (G) v Southwark is about whether there is a lawful distinction between a child who is "in need of accommodation" or...
Letting agents hit by TDS?
A recent blog post on the PainSmith blog illustrates a potentially nasty trap for letting agents (and useful alternative target for tenants) in the tenancy deposit protection system of the Housing Act 2004. According to PainSmith a let-only agent received a...
Help with service charges
Leaseholders who purchased their properties from local housing authorities under the Right to Buy (and those persons who subsequently bought on from those original purchasers) are currently facing huge service charge bills (up to £40,000 in some London...
Not taking the hint
Just a short note about an ASBO case that was decided in the Divisional Court today - Birmingham City Council v Dixon (18.3.09). Imagine, if you will, that a local authority applies for an ASBO against "X". After the application is issued, but before the...
Without Prejudice acknowledgment of title?
Ofulue v Bossert [2009] UKHL 16 was an adverse possession case - we commented on the Court of Appeal hearing here, and that post gives the background. There was an appeal to the House of Lords which was primarily concerned with the limitation period of...
Leasehold update
A couple of things to leave you with on a Friday afternoon. Leaseholders who are dissatisfied with the management of their properties are entitled to apply to a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) for the appointment of a manager - Part 3, Landlord and Tenant...
The Irish Doherty?
This is well outside our usual beat, not to say our jurisdiction, but in an interesting case, the Irish High Court in Dublin City Council v Gallagherr [2008] IEHC 354 has found, for a second time, that summary possession proceedings, infringed Art. 8 rights...
How not to carry out a child in need assessment
R (MM) v LB of Lewisham [2009] EWHC 416 (Admin) Slapped wrists all round for Lewisham's Children's Social Care Services in another Children Act 1989 "child in need" case, but in this case the issue was not whether the claimant was a child, but whether she...
Ahmad: the cup's half empty
As they say in American tv shows: ohmigod. R(Ahmad) v LB Newham [2009] UKHL 14 is now available and the Lords have done a pretty good job at destroying the jurisprudence built up by the High Court and Court of Appeal in Part 6 cases. The headlines are: (a)...
The difference in Doherty?
A Court of Appeal judgment expressly dealing with a post Doherty public law defence to termination of licence by Notice to Quit was handed down today. Doran v Liverpool City Council [2009] EWCA Civ 146 concerned a possession claim for a plot on a local...
Allocations and Homelessness amendments
Before the excitement of Ahmed tomorrow, there are two legislative developments to note. Firstly, the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2009, SI 2009/358, has just been published. It waives the requirement...
The good nephew
A rather odd case dealing with competing charges on a right to buy property turned up at the High Court. Brighton & Hove City Council v Audus [2009] EWHC 340 (Ch) was an attempt by Brighton to challenge the validity of a second charge on the property held by...