First Tier Tribunal LON/00AH/LSC/2017/0435 - Firstport Property Services Ltd v various leaseholders of Citiscape We previously saw the Salford decision on the costs of a 'waking watch' in a tower with 'Grenfell' style cladding, but this was the first, keenly...
Errata – AST regulations and non-existent requirements.
Yes, there is indeed a backlog of cases to write up, covering issues from who pays for cladding removal, through Tribunals and the Human Rights Act, to the proper venue for a claim for accommodation pending s.204 appeal where there was no review decision....
More vulnerability
Rother DC v Freeman-Loach [2018] EWCA Civ 368 is the latest installment on the interpretation of vulnerability for the purposes of homelessness law, with a sting in the tail about s 204A appeals. Mr Freeman-Loach suffered from ostoarthritis, anxiety and...
Deposits – don’t mislead about compliance. And the multiple breach issue
(14/11/2019 NB, this post has been edited following a complaint from Mr Scott, details of which will be set out below) Thank you to my colleague and fount of wisdom Deirdre Forster for this case note on a tenancy deposit claim. Howard Davies v Scott, County...
On a Housing Court and (not) making things simpler.
A specialist Housing Court is in the air. Sajid Javid, Minister for Housing. Communities and Local Government, has repeatedly mentioned 'discussions' with the judiciary on a housing court, ever since the last Tory conference in October. There has been no...
How late it was, how late
On the death of a tenant (without successor, if there is a possible succession) section 18 Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1994 provides: “Notices affecting land: service on personal representatives before filing of grant. (1) A notice...
Bits and pieces
Yes, I know we still need to write up Rother District Council v Freeman-Roach (2018) EWCA Civ 368 on the approach to 'significantly more vulnerable' in homeless review decisions, and we will, we will. And there are other cases too. I also want to write...
Possession and section 11, Children Act 2004
In Davies v Hertfordshire CC [2018] EWCA Civ 379, the Court of Appeal addressed the question of the relevance of s 11, Children Act 2004 on a mandatory possession claim brought by Herts against Mr Davies, a former school caretaker living in tied...
Promises, promises: Estoppel in the West Country
As we University academics are currently on strike (pension cuts - see today's report and this Guardian article), I can catch up on a little blogging as a form of "teaching out". While Bristol Combined Court was flooded, HHJ Matthews, an academic judge,...
Oh the Humanity!
'Humanity Torbay' is apparently a charitable incorporated organisation, and one that has worthy, if semi literate, aims. So it would be a little surprising to find Humanity Torbay being described as vigilantes by the local council and told to stop their...
‘No DSS’ and discrimination
The BBC ran a new report today on a case in Birmingham. The headline - "Landlords who say 'no DSS' breaking equality laws" - was, as we shall see, somewhat misleading, but the report did indeed cover a discrimination claim against a letting agency who had...
There can be only one!
The MHCLG have announced a consultation 'Strengthening consumer redress in the housing market', which primarily about reviewing and reforming Ombudsman schemes in the housing sector, with the proposal floated for a single Ombudsman/redress scheme across the...