Siddeeq v Alaian. K00BF465 County Court at Mayor's and City of London County Court. HHJ Hellman. 9 August 2024 (unreported). A County Court Circuit Judge appeal from a possession claim at Brentford County Court, on the validity of a section 21 notice due to...
Suitable accommodation under section 190 Housing Act 1996
ZRR, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough of Bexley (2024) EWHC 2073 (Admin) This was a judicial review of Bexley's contention that temporary accommodation offered to ZRR under s.190 Housing Act 1996 was suitable and its duty was discharged when ZRR...
Housing Need Assessments and Suitability – Getting it wrong. Again.
UO v London Borough of Redbridge (2024) EWHC 1989 (Admin) We first saw UO and Redbridge in this judicial review of an unlawful housing needs assessment (HNA) and suitability decision. That decision was, to say the least, scathing about Redbridge's decision...
Miscellaneous – legal costs under leases, Tribunal appointed managers and the BSA, and estopping a van Hoogstraten
Thanet Lodge (Mapesbury Road) & Anor v Mirchandani (LANDLORD AND TENANT - SERVICE CHARGES - recovery of legal and mediation expenses as service charges) (2024) UKUT 205 (LC) This was an appeal on a leaseholder's challenge to the payability of legal costs...
The future beckons…
So, the King's Speech today (17 July) and the legislative programme of the new government. What does it hold for housing? There were few surprises, I suppose, given the Labour manifesto commitments, but we can now be sure that two housing/leasehold related...
The meaning of maintenance
London Borough of Tower Hamlets v Lessees of Brewster House and Malting House (2024) UKUT 193 (LC) (11 July 2024) This was an appeal to the Upper Tribunal on whether a service charge for major works to remedy structural defects to two blocks of flats was...
I, for one, welcome our new housing minister overlords*
And there we are, we have two (so far) new housing ministers. But, for once, and as opposed to the 16 (16! Five in the last two years!) between 2010 and 2024, it isn't because their predecessor was useless/promoted/resigned for unlawfully doing things for...
Section 188(1) accommodation, suitability and mandatory orders
We are very grateful to Alice Irving of Doughty Street Chambers for the following note of a judgment in the Administrative Court on an application for interim relief. It is a very interesting case not only on section 188(1) accommodation but also on...
Leasehold miscellaneous
A few quick notes on various leasehold related cases. Howe Properties (NE) Ltd v Accent Housing Ltd (2024) EWCA Civ 297 Accent Housing levied a management fee on leaseholders which was at flat rate and a) differed by tenure (freehold and assured tenancies...
Different treatment for other boroughs – discriminatory policy
AK, R (On the Application Of) v Westminster City Council (2024) EWHC 769 (Admin) This was a judicial review of Westminster's Allocation policy as it applied to 'reciprocal transfers' between another borough and Westminster. As background: The Claimant lives...
Ch-ch-ch-changes
Manifesto series (in order of publication) Conservative Lib Dem Green Labour Labour I'm deputising for J on the last of the manifesto posts, and (because it was the last published) it is Labour's. As before, I'm not going to be commenting on the...
This land is our land
Manifesto series (in order of publication) Conservative Lib Dem Green Labour Greens I want to like the Greens. I really do. But I can’t shake the concern that they are fundamentally opposed to development on the scale needed to address our national problems...