R (Gargett) v LB Lambeth [2008] EWCA Civ 1450; on appeal from [2008] EWHC 663 (Admin). A Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) is a discretionary payment made by a local housing authority to a person who is (a) in receipt of housing benefit or council tax...
Vulnerability and incapacity benefit
Mangion v Lewisham LBC only appears on lawtel as an ex tempore judgment on 11.12.08 so if somebody out there has a transcript/better note of the Court of Appeal's judgment, that would be helpful to understand this decision. What appears to have happened is...
Adverse possession and estoppel
In St Pancras & Humanist HA v Leonard [2008] EWCA Civ 1442, the Court of Appeal held that, although Mr Leonard had possession of the relevant property (a garage), he nevertheless was estopped from claiming a right by adverse possession against the...
Effluxion of time and enfranchisement
Ackerman and another v Lay and others [2008] EWCA Civ 1428 (not on Bailli, but available via Lawtel) The appellants/tenants were the leasehold owners of a building and the respondents were the freehold owners of the same. The building had been subdivided...
Homeless review, Reg 8(2) and changed facts
Reg 8(2) of the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Review Procedures) Regulations 1999 provides that if a reviewing officer on s.202 review considers: that there is deficiency or irregularity in the original [s.184] decision, or the manner in which it...
A Post-Doherty Appeal?
Doherty v Birmingham CC [2008] 3 WLR 636 left us all wondering about the form and limits of a challenge to summary possession proceedings. My attempt at smuggling proportionality into a public law defence settled, for instance -good for the client, rather...
Risky business
In CDS Housing v Bellis [2008] EWCA Civ 1315, the Court of Appeal in a short judgment upheld a possession order made in favour of the Claimant housing association against Mr Bellis, a secure tenant, who suffered from serious delusions. Mr Bellis appears to...
Knowsley v White etc. in more detail
Knowsley HT v White, Honeyghan-Green v LB Islington & Porter v Shepherds Bush Housing Association [2008] UKHL 70 - for anyone who hasn't read it yet. There is lots to unpick here, so I'll go case by case. It is made easier by there being pretty much one...
Family Intervention Tenancies
From 5th January 2009 — in England at least — we will all be faced with a new beast the "Family Intervention Tenancy", previously alluded to by my colleague J. Since the last significant piece of the legal jigsaw was completed when the rules for local...
Payments to return and Art 8.
AC, R (on the application of) v Birmingham City Council [2008] EWHC 3036 (Admin) was a judicial review which concerned funding for an illegal overstayer and her family under s.17 Children Act 1989, although it would also apply for s.20 funding. The Claimant...
Enfranchisement – is it all hope(value)less?
Earl Cadogan and other v Pitts and another; Earl Cadogan and another v Sportelli and another [2008] UKHL 71 Enfranchisement is the process whereby leaseholders can force their freeholder to sell them the freehold of the property. The Leasehold Reform Act...
Tis aw a muddle
A reminder, if one was needed, of the perils and pitfalls of constructive trust cases can be found in Elithorn v Poulter & Others [2008] EWCA Civ 1364 The problems in this case were not just the confused and confusing evidence (not only that of Dr...