London Borough of Bromley v Broderick (2020) EWCA Civ 152 When assessing the suitability of a (refused) offer of accommodation made under s.193 Housing Act 1996 duty, what is the relevant date, or dates? That was the issue for the Court of Appeal in this...
Finally, lawful non-evictions
Why yes, we have been going on about the apparent unlawfulness of the Lord Chancellor suspending evictions by, well, just asking bailiffs not to evict people. We said it in the first place, and also when it was extended for the national lockdown. Today it...
Of late reviews and multiple appeals
Stanley v Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (2020) EWCA Civ 1458 A second appeal on the vexed issue of s.204 appeals of late or 'out of time' s.202 reviews. We've seen this issue come up earlier this year (and indeed before) but now the Court of Appeal has had...
Water Sellers
The Mayor & Burgesses of the Royal Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames v Moss (2020) EWCA Civ 1381 This was RB Kingston upon Thames' appeal of the High Court's finding that it was a 'water reseller' under the Water Resale Orders 2001 and 2006, and thus not...
I’m not demanding, I’m telling you – section 8 notices
Prempeh v Lakhany (2020) EWCA Civ 1422 We saw this case on a first appeal in the County Court. The issue was whether a section 8 notice on rent arrears grounds, in this instance grounds 8, 10 and 11, is a 'demand for rent' for the purposes of section 47...
Death and Notices.
Gateway Housing Association v Personal Representatives of Ali & Anor (2020) EWCA Civ 1339 In which the Court of Appeal grapple with the requirement to serve a copy of a notice to quit on the Public Trustee, when serving notice on the personal...
Nomination agreements and discrimination
Z & Anor, R (on the application of) v Hackney London Borough Council & Anor (Rev 1) (2020) UKSC 40 The issue of the application of the Equality Act to local authority nomination agreements with housing charities reached the Supreme Court. This was...
Lockdown 2 evictions
Look, I have to be honest, this is getting silly now. On evictions during the now commenced lockdown, the Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland QC, has once again written a letter to the High Court Enforcement Officers Association (and one has to presume written...
Assortimenti – pre action protocols and stay of eviction hearings
A couple of notes of things of interest and concern. Firstly. The Civil Justice Council is currently conducting a review of the Pre-action protocols. As part of this review we are seeking preliminary views from interested parties on the purpose and operation...
This isn’t going to be Priti
On 22 October 2020, the government published just over 500 pages of changes to the immigration rules. Thankfully, most of those can be ignored by this blog. But there is one bit that we really, really, need to talk about. With effect from 9am on 1 December...
Rent Repayment Orders – the Upper Tribunal is firm
Chan v Bilkhu & Anor (HOUSING - RENT REPAYMENT ORDER - amount awarded) (2020) UKUT 289 (LC) This was an appeal from an FTT rent repayment order decision. The FTT decision was made before the Upper Tribunal decision in Vadamalayan v Stewart and others...
Which Tier are you in, or out?
Via the High Court Enforcement Officers Association, comes sight of a letter from the Lord Chancellor to the HCEOA requesting that no evictions are carried out: a) where Tier 2 or Tier 3 restrictions are in place, and b) during the 11 December 2020 to 11...