After the Teather 'revenge eviction' member's bill was talked out by a couple of Tory MPs, (Chope and Davis), the question was would the proposals survive in another form before the election. Well today, the DCLG announced the Government's proposed...
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,...
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...
Too late for Art 8?
When should an article 8 defence be raised? And are there different kinds of social landlords, such that the analysis of Article 8 defences in Pinnock and Powell might not be applicable to all? These were questions in Lawal & Anor v Circle 33 Housing...
Of Penalties and Possession
Charalambous & Anor v Maureen Rosairie Ng & Anor [2014] EWCA Civ 1604 The Court of Appeal has again thrown the cat among the tenancy deposit protection pigeons. In Charalambous it had to grapple with the, admittedly fairly rare scenario, of a deposit...
Conscious Re-coupling and Succession
In R (Turley) v LB Wandsworth , the Claimant was the partner of the late Mr Doyle, who was the secure tenant of a property at Battersea Park Rd, London, SW8 from 1995 until his death on 17/3/2012. Mr D and Ms T had 4 children together and they lived at the...
Shared ownership – new guidance
The CML, NHF, HCA, BSA have produced new guidance on handling arrears and possession sales of shared ownership properties (the previous guidance was in 2010 and the contact details provided were out of date). I am not sure that there is a huge difference...
Human Rights Round-Up Part 2
Lemo and others v Croatia [2014] ECHR 755 (10/7/2014) Both the facts and the outcome in this case are highly reminiscent of Brezec v Croatia (see our note here). The applicants had occupied flats under protected tenancies from the 1970s until their eviction...
Stop Retaliating!
The Tenancies Reform Bill has now been formally published following its second reading. The Bill has changed substantially from the original version that was put forward by Sarah Teather MP and drafted by Shelter. We commented on the Bill before as we had...
Southwark: Not appealing
It is not unknown for losing parties in a case to not be happy, indeed very upset. There are two basic options. To shut up and put up with it, or appeal. Rather unusually, faced with one of the most coruscating High Court judgments I can recall, in AA V LB...
Angels Dancing on the Head of Anti-Social Behaviour
Telchadder v Wickland Holdings Ltd [2014] UKSC 57 I will admit to being a bit cool on static caravan parks. I used to live in an area surrounded by them and could never understand why people would want to holiday in them, much less live in them permanently....
Monk silenced
Sims v Dacorum Borough Council [2014] UKSC 63 If there is a positive to take from this, it is that it is a Supreme Court judgment that won't take long to discuss. The issue of the rule in Monk that notice by one joint tenant determines the whole tenancy came...