We have already reported briefly on the Supreme Court decision to refuse permission to appeal to the tenant in the case of a Spencer v Taylor on the grounds that no new points of law were raised. As the solicitor acting for the landlord in the Supreme Court...
Article 8 and the Private Sector-the Court of Appeal Speaks
In McDonald v McDonald & Anor [2014] EWCA Civ 1049, the Defendant held an assured shorthold tenancy of a property in Witney, Oxfordshire. The tenancy was granted by Ms McD's parents in breach of the terms and conditions of a mortgage agreement with...
Bedroom tax ‘lead case’ in Upper Tribunal?
Some bits on the bedroom tax and room size First, a new FTT decision from Rochdale (Reasons here ). A room of 64 square feet was too small for a lodger and had not been used as a bedroom since the appellant’s son moved out in 2010. The room was instead...
Just bonkers, absolutely bonkers
Just what did Sandwell think they were doing? They set a minimum residence requirement of two years (why two you might ask) for their local council tax reduction scheme and thought that would be acceptable. They did so on the basis that they were concerned...
Extremely loud and incredibly close
This is about loud and disturbing noises. I was going to write up Coventry & Ors v Lawrence & Anor [2014] UKSC 13 when it came out in February, given that it made some significant changes to common law nuisance claims. But it was 249 paragraphs and...
More on post possession order disrepair counterclaims
This is an issue we’ve looked at before, bringing a disrepair counterclaim after a possession order has been made. Now the Birmingham County Court has dealt with the issue on an appeal from the decision of a District Judge. Midland Heart Ltd v Idawah...
The point of having policies….
A post on a County Court case, one well worth looking at for the application of public law principles, the Equality Act and reasonableness. I'm working from a note of judgment, so any quotes should be taken as being from a note, rather than a transcript....
Missing tenants and missing sentences: Council tax and periodic tenancies
Further to my post here on council tax liability for statutory periodic tenancies, I have heard about another Valuation Tribunal case, this time involving a contractual periodic tenancy, and also oddly involving this blog. The issue was council tax liability...
Spencer v Taylor – section 21 news
The Appellant tenant in Spencer v Taylor [2013] EWCA Civ 1600 (our note here) has had permission to appeal to the Supreme Court refused, on the grounds that it did not raise an arguable point of law. This means that the Court of Appeal decision stands. Where...
Pyrrhic victory corner: Costs on appeal from a small claim
Akhtar v Boland [2014] EWCA Civ 943 Just a quick note on this one, after a conversation with a colleague reminded me I hadn't written it up. The details of the case need not detain us, it was a PI case which had been allocated to the small claims following...
Trouble out west
In O'Brien v Bristol CC [2014] EWHC 2423 (Admin) [heard at the RCJ instead of in the Bristol admin court? Not on Bailii yet but we have seen a transcript], a range of issues arose out of the council's decision to seek and obtain a possession order of an...
Reforming a bad policy, badly.
There has been a lot of noise about the Lib Dem's change of position/u turn on the bedroom tax announced on Wednesday. Out of that noise, it has been possible to glean a little detail about what Nick Clegg, Danny Alexander and the Lib Dem leadership are...