Sebastiampillai v Parr. Central London County Court, 11 April 2019 (Our thanks to William Ford of Osbornes for note of this case) Does a change of landlord require provision of fresh prescribed information? How does this operate in view of section 215B...
Sectoral Regulation Without Section 21
One of the interesting potential side effects of removing section 21 from the Private Rented Sector is the damage it might do to landlord regulation. Over time s21 has become a backdoor regulatory tool to help ensure landlord compliance. If the notice is...
When an ‘or’ is an ‘and’ in Wales
Evans v Fleri (2019) EW Misc 12 (CC) A lesson in drafting from Wales. The Housing (Wales) Act 2014 provides at Section 7(1) The landlord of a dwelling subject to a domestic tenancy must not do any of the things described in subsection (2) in respect of the...
Prohibition Orders and ending tenancies
T v W. County Court at Central London. 16 April 2019 (Unreported) T was the owner of a property. The property was subject to a prohibition order served by LB Croydon. Nonetheless, T let a dwelling in the property to W. (T denied knowledge of the prohibition...
When is a licence a secure tenancy?
Mohamed v London Borough of Barnet (2019) EWHC 1012 (QB) Ms M was placed in temporary accommodation by LB Barnet following a homeless application. Barnet found her to be intentionally homeless but continued to provide accommodation under Children Act 1989....
The End of Section 21
I'd suggest sitting down before you read this. The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire, has announced/is to announce depending on when you read this, that the Government is to abolish section 21. Honest....
Second possession orders and estoppel
Salix Homes v Mantato (2019) EWCA Civ 445 A court of appeal decision on a first instance application, where the main issue was whether, given an historic possession order, the landlord could bring fresh possession proceedings. Mr Mantato was Salix Homes...
Game of forfeits
Golding v Martin (2019) EWCA Civ 446 It seems to be a bit of a thing, buying a leasehold flat, then leaving it unoccupied, moving abroad and forgetting about rent and service charges. Semi-fortunately for the leaseholder in this second appeal, the outcome...
Forthcoming…
In case you needed reminding (and don't worry, there will be another reminder), the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 comes into force for new tenancies this coming Wednesday, 20 March. Our thumbnail guide is here and some thoughts on 'fitness'...
Bits of news and things to respond to.
Assorted things... MHCLG have published guidance for tenants, landlords and local authorities on the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 - or as they call it, 'the Homes Act'. There are separate guidance documents for tenants, landlords and local...
No release from gas
Trecarrell House Limited v Rouncefield, County Court at Exeter, 13 February 2019 (unreported elsewhere) The gas safety certificate section 21 wars rumble on. Following Caridon Property Ltd v Monty Shooltz (our note here), we have a further County Court...
U Can’t Do This*
This is another in what turns out to be an occasional series of unregulated, unqualified 'Evictions R Us' outfits making catastrophic errors and costing their clients large amounts of money. You may recall Kassam v Gill & Gill, featuring 'Remove a...