It takes a special kind of person who, faced with the multifaceted horrors of our disfunctional housing system, decides that what is really needed is to make it harder for some people to access social housing and to create new grounds or possession.** Yet...
The HMO that wasn’t – Rent Repayment Order appeal
Barker v Shokar (HOUSING - RENT REPAYMENT ORDER - criteria for identifying a 'self-contained flat' - whether building was a house in multiple occupation - adequacy of reasons) (2024) UKUT 17 (LC) This was a landlord's appeal of a rent repayment order made by...
Housing and Children Act – homeless 17 year olds
A couple of brief notes on two judicial reviews on housing, the Children Act 1989 and 'looked-after children'. BC, R (On the Application Of) v Surrey County Council (2023) EWHC 3209 (Admin) BC was a child who had been asked to leave the family home because...
An end to ‘a reasonable period’? Awaab’s Law
As you will doubtless recall, the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 introduced a new section 10A Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, implying a term into all social tenancies that the landlord will comply with all 'prescribed requirements' on responding to...
Homelessness in Wales: An update
(Our very grateful thanks to Mike Norman of Harrow Law Centre - our official Wales correspondent, whether he knows it or not - for the following update.) On 10th October 2023, the Welsh government released its Consultation on the White Paper on Ending...
Upper Tribunal on ‘person managing’ and ‘person in control’ of HMO for an RRO
Cottam & Ors v Lowe Management Ltd (HOUSING - RENT REPAYMENT ORDER - statutory definitions of "person managing" and "person in control of" an HMO) (2023) UKUT 306 (LC) This is a quite significant Upper Tribunal decision on a rent repayment order...
Failed succession, residential care and human rights incompatibility
Dudley Metropolitan Council v Mailley (2023) EWCA Civ 1246 We first saw this very sad case on first instance in the High Court - our note here. Ms Mailley was defending possession of a Dudley property of which her late mother had been the secure tenant since...
Deficient enquiries and accommodation pending review
Saint Sepulchre, R (On the Application Of) v Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (2023) EWHC 2913 (Admin) A judicial review of RBKC's refusal to provide temporary accommodation pending section 202 review of the decision that Mr S was not homeless. Mr S...
Varying a possession order from discretionary to mandatory ground
Poplar HARCA v Kerr. Central London County Court 26 July 2023. (Unreported. Judgment here.) This was a county court appeal to a circuit judge on the issue of whether a pre-existing suspended possession order, made on a discretionary ground, could be varied...
Staying to make the parties try dispute resolution. A bit of a Tydfil
Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (2023) EWCA Civ 1416 For transparency purposes, I acted for the Housing Law Practitioners Association on its intervention in this appeal. There was a great weight of expectations on this appeal, with...
Section 21 and Gas Safety – post start of tenancy installations
Our grateful thanks to Noah Gifford of Pallant Chambers for the following note of a County Court judgment on the endlessly vexed issue of gas safety records and section 21 notices. (We've seen the judgment). This time, the issue is the requirements when a...
Saying you are broke isn’t enough to avoid a duty – suitable accommodation and resources
Imam, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Croydon (2023) UKSC 45 Full transparency - I acted for Crisis on an intervention in this case. This is the long awaited Supreme Court decision in Imam v Croydon on what conditions a court should have regard...