Following on from yesterday (17 May) publication of the Renters (Reform) Bill and Part 1 of my overview of what the Bill does, onwards to the rest of it... Pets! There has been a lot of fuss about this, but as Tessa Shepperson has sagely observed, it doesn't...
Renters (Reform) Bill – the good, the potentially good and the ugly. Part 1
It is finally here, a mere five years from first being promised. The Renters (Reform) Bill has started its parliamentary journey today (17 May). As it stands, it is the largest reform to tenancies in England since 1988 (Wales having done its own, even more...
Local authority serving notices – requirements
Birmingham City Council v Bravington (2023) EWCA Civ 308 A quick one - A possession claim under s.84A Housing Act 1985 requires service of a notice under section 83ZA. In this case: The respondent, Mr Drew Bravington, has since 2018 had a secure tenancy of a...
No surrender
City of Westminster Council v Kazam & Anor (2023) EWHC 825 (KB) It is always the joint tenancies that cause problems... This was an appeal of a first instance decision dismissing a claim for possession by Westminster and declaring that Mr Rahimi had...
How to Rent Guide – new version
DLUHC has today (24 March 2023) issued a revised version of the How to Rent guide. This is important because for any post 1 October 2015 assured shorthold tenancy, or ‘renewal’ tenancy (where the guide as been updated at the time of the new tenancy), the...
Contempt and Conduct of Litigation
Baxter v Doble & Anor (2023) EWHC 486 (KB) This was an application for committal for contempt of court for provision of legal services by a person not entitled to do so, arising out of a possession claim in Devon. It is of considerable significance in...
Unravelling a mental health moratorium
Kaye v Lees (2023) EWHC 152 (KB) We've seen previous instalments in this matter here and here. The result of those was that Mr Kaye's eviction of Ms Lees after a charging order and order for sale was unlawful as the eviction was after notification of a...
Leasehold Leftovers
Assorted quick leasehold related notes, to be done before they go off in the fridge. Kaye v Lees (2022) EWHC 3326 (KB) The aftermath of the decision on a mental health moratorium that we noted here. In the previous judgment, it was held that a warrant of...
Not quite Notice to Quit
O G Thomas Amaethyddiaeth CYF & Anor v Turner & Ors (2022) EWCA Civ 1446 In which the Court of Appeal considers whether a notice to quit that named the wrong tenant was valid. This was an agricultural tenancy, originally granted to Owen Thomas in an...
Residential care, succession and human rights incompatibility
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Mailley (2022) EWHC 2328 (QB) A quick note on this possession claim, which involves a challenge to Section 87 Housing Act 1985 as incompatible with Article 8 and 14 ECHR. Ms Mailley was defending possession of a Dudley...
Notes and events: rent and evictions freezes, illegal eviction – the police and Art 8, & DA and benefit caps
A few things of interest... The Scottish government has put the cat amongst the pigeons by announcing that there will be a ban on evictions and a freezing of rent increases until 31 March 2023, to be implemented by fast track legislation. This would apply to...
Solicitors’ agents and rights of audience – appeal decision
[Updated 8 August 2022 to correct re LPC being on the record as party's solicitor and significance of this.] This is an issue that has come up here a few times (eg this post and this post) - the rights of audience of people who do not have a right of...