Ah, Ground 8. How we love it. We have been asked by some researchers, who are investigating housing association rent arrears management as well as their use of Ground 8, if readers would get in touch with them if they have experience of RSLs using Ground 8...
Darling's Keynesian splurge
And what is promised for housing? According to this DCLG press release, the following (with my comments in brackets): * Agreement with major lenders to wait at least three months before initiating repossession proceedings, in order to explore all other...
Not enough of a house
This is another of the occasional cases on s.2(1) Leasehold Reform Act 1967 - the definition of a 'house' for the purposes of leasehold enfranchisement. Not strictly on point for Nearly Legal, but I enjoy them, so you get them... Grosvenor Estates Ltd v...
HMO licensing actually working?
Thanks to Tessa at landlordlaw for pointing me to this news snippet from Liverpool, in which the HMO licensing scheme is not only enforced, but the Local Authority aids the tenants, Following conviction of the landlords, Raymond Whalley, and Ray Whalley Ltd,...
Enforcing Postponed Possession Orders
LB Wandsworth v Whibley [2008] EWCA Civ 1259. If a postponed possession order is made and the landlord takes the view that the conditions of postponement have been broken, the application for a date for possession should be conducted on a summary basis and...
Pour encourager les autres
Webb v Wandsworth LBC (Court of Appeal, November 12, 2008, extempore judgment and only noted in Arden Chambers Eflash 328) Ms Webb was the secure tenant of LB Wandsworth. Between 2005 and 2006 her son was involved in a number of serious criminal and...
Harassment by possession claim
In what appears to be a good week for somewhat bizarre cases, may I present Carlos Allen v London Borough of Southwark [2008] EWCA Civ 1478. This was an appeal by Mr Allen to the Court of Appeal of the striking out of his claim for harassment against LB...
Access to benefits and proportionality
While Zalewska v Department for Social Development (Northern Ireland) [2008] UKHL 67 is not a housing case as such, I hope that many of our readers will still find this useful and interesting. It is the second time in a fortnight (after RJM) that the House...
A Curious Footnote
Mich-Onyibe v Wandsworth LBC (04/11/08, CA, judgment currently unavailable otherwise than by way of e-flash from Arden Chambers) is a kind of a curious footnote to homelessness law. Wandsworth accepted that they owed the full Part VII housing duty to Ms...
It's the end of the world as we know it
Housing Minister Margaret Beckett dropped a bit of a bombshell yesterday. The Government has (according to leaks in the Times) responded warmly to a CIH proposal to end secure and assured tenancies as we know them and replacing them with fixed term contracts...
Retaliatory Eviction Campaign
As many readers will know, Debbie Crew has been conducting a campaign about retaliatory evictions - typically in private tenancies where a tenant has complained about conditions in the property and got Environmental Health in, and the landlord promptly...
Homelessness fact finding and Article 6
What more could you wish for on a Friday afternoon that a bit of homelessness law in the Court of Appeal? Don't answer that. Anyway, on to Ali & Ibrahim v Birmingham City Council [2008] EWCA 1228. Two joined appeals, one on behalf of Ms Ali and one on...