The out of borough temporary accommodation position continues to get worse, with increasing numbers of homeless shipped out of borough (and for London councils, often out of London). London Councils (pace Nzolameso v Westminster CC ) have put the DCLG...
Unnoticed
Another Court of Appeal disrepair judgment! I can barely contain myself. And on a fairly important issue too. So.. Edwards v Kumarasamy [2015] EWCA Civ 20 Mr Edwards rented a second floor flat from Mr Kumarasamy. Mr K was the leaseholder of that flat, but...
Just because you are paranoid…
... doesn't mean that they aren't out to get you. The MoJ and Legal Aid Agency have put out a leaflet on Legal aid and "Help for people at risk of losing their home". The trouble is that it doesn't mention, anywhere, at all, not even in little small print,...
Qualification criteria and allocations: An outlier?
In R(Hillsden) v Epping Forest DC [2015] EWHC 98 (Admin), McCloskey J held the council's allocation scheme valid in circumstances which, I must say, did not seem propitious to the council. The council's new allocation scheme, which came in to force in...
Disrepair damages update
With very grateful thanks to Beatrice Prevatt’s annual disrepair update in the December 2014/January 2015 Legal Action, here is a bumper pack of County Court cases and settled cases on damages for disrepair. Armes v Wheel Property Co Ltd, Clerkenwell and...
Unlawful eviction and harassment quantum update
With grateful thanks to Jan Luba QC and HHJ Madge's housing update in the December 2014/January 2015 Legal Action, here are a few recent County Court cases on unlawful eviction and harassment. Alabbas v Uppelle. Leicester County Court, 8 October 2014 Mr...
Is there a maximum award for general damages arising under contract?
The case of Rendlesham Estates Plc v Barr Ltd [2014] EWHC 3968 (TCC) is a bit off the housing law beaten track and as a result I have only recently got round to reading it properly. It concerned s.1, Defective Premises Act 1974, which is the statutory...
Squeezed Out of London
A friend of ours has asked us to help promote a potential documentary. What follows is a slightly edited version of the original email: Kash is a Hackney based production company that specialises in all forms of digital and short form content. We've been...
Leaving it to the last minute
No, not a post about the time-management skills of barristers, rather, some research that Z2K are putting together. As they say: Concern is mounting about councils, especially in London, delaying completion of homelessness reviews until right at the end of...
English Tenancy Deposits Are Less Interest-ing
A very brief note to point up the slightly less than earth shattering Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Specified Interest Rate) (Revocation) (England) Order 2015. This comes into force on 4 February 2015 in England only and revokes the equally fascinating Housing...
Hot, hot, hot
Here is an interesting First Tier Tribunal bedroom tax appeal decision from Bexleyheath. [Decision notice]. It is a decision made after the Fife Upper Tribunal decision, but upholds the tenant's appeal on the basis, in part, that the room is inadequately...
Asking for relief
This is a housing case, but the procedural issue in this decision is only tangentially related to that. Nonetheless, it is a matter worth noting. Cutler v Barnet LBC [2014] EWHC 4445 (QB) [Not on Bailii yet, we've seen a transcript]. Ms C had been Barnet's...