Ciftci v London Borough of Haringey (2021) EWA Civ 1772 A second appeal to the Court of Appeal on Haringey's decision that Ms Ciftci was intentionally homeless. Ms C lived in Switzerland, where she had a rented flat, which was suitable and affordable for...
Davidoffed.
Since our post on the FTT decision in Maharaj & Lo Porto v Richard Davidoff (Tribunal appointed manager) LON/00AL/LSC/2020/0111, there have been some developments with regard to Richard Davidoff and his company ABC Block Management. First, ABC Block...
Recitation is not application
SR v Lambeth London Borough Council, County Court at Central London, 21st October 2021 H40CL201 – HHJ Roberts (unreported elsewhere) Our thanks to Justine Compton of Garden Court Chambers for the following note of a section 204 appeal judgment on a priority...
Reasonable evidence of in reasonable condition – private sector discharge
Hajjaj v City of Westminster (2021) EWCA Civ 1688 Where a local authority proposes to discharge the homeless duty by an offer of private sector accommodation, what does it have to do to satisfy itself that the property is suitable, with regard to the...
They’re making a list, they’re checking it twice*
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council are proposing to amend their tenants' secure tenancy agreements. Unfortunately, in their wisdom, they have decided to include a new tenancy condition as follows: "You, people living with you and any visitors to your...
Possession news
A couple of items on possession claims and evictions. And another occasion to overuse exclamation marks. According to the Minutes of the CPR Committee meeting of 8 October 2021, Practice Direction 55C will be sort of coming to an end on 30 November 2021, but...
Review or repetition?
There is always a danger in reading too much into a Westlaw note of judgment and, as we all know, context is everything, but even allowing for that, the decision in R (Bereket) v Waltham Forest LBC QBD, 4 November 2021 (Westlaw note only) looks like a very...
Damp and Mould – “It’s not lifestyle”.
The Housing Ombudsman has released a special spotlight report addressing the issue of damp and mould, called "Spotlight on: Damp and mould. It’s not lifestyle" It is the result of both the media spotlight on social housing conditions (ITV News with Dan...
Possession proceedings – end of the ‘overall arrangements’.
Yesterday (3 November) a statement from the Master of the Rolls announcing the end of the 'overall arrangements for possession proceedings', as of 1 November 2021, was put up on the judiciary website. The statement is here. (The original version of this post...
There’s a cheque on the table – s.21 and return of deposit
Gul v Bilal, Stratford Hearing Centre, 18 October 2021 (unreported. We've seen a note of hearing). A County Court decision on a landlord's application which adds to the not uncomplicated history of decisions on when a tenancy deposit counts as returned to...
Rent Repayment applications – time limits for substituting parties
Gurusinghe & Ors v Drumlin Ltd (HOUSING - RENT REPAYMENT ORDER - Procedure) (2021) UKUT 268 (LC) Just a quick note on this one - an appeal to the Upper Tribunal on an FTT decision on an application to add a new respondent to an RRO application as the...
Waiver and determining breach of lease
Bedford v Paragon Asra Housing Ltd (LANDLORD AND TENANT - BREACH OF COVENANT - shared ownership lease) (2021) UKUT 266 An interesting Upper Tribunal appeal decision on whether the Tribunal can proceed to make a determination of breach of lease under section...