The detail of this may have passed you by at the time, it certainly did me, but amongst the wind and posturing of David Cameron's 'big speech' in March on stopping immigrants from getting things from healthcare to driving licences was quite a significant...
Tell me a storey
London Borough of Islington v The Unite Group Plc [2013] EWHC 508 (Admin) This is an interesting appeal in relation to the counting of storeys for HMO licensing purposes. It actually repeats an argument dealt with in an appeal in a criminal prosecution of a...
Give Me Back My Money
We bring you two interesting reports from the world of Rent Repayment Orders. Briefly, these stem from a power under s73 and 74 of the Housing Act 2004. These sections allow a Residential Property Tribunal to award a tenant or local authority the return of...
‘Homeless Legislation – a thing of the past?’
[Update at the end of the post 15/11/2012] Now that the Guardian has the story, I feel able to quote a briefing paper by Andy Gale of the DCLG that had found its way to me. This is the briefing that Andy Gale has been giving to Council officers (not...
Let’s all move to … Wales
This is another one of our irregular posts on our theme of happenings in Wales; this time with an apology because it's all rather later than I had hoped and SO much is going on in Cardiff that they must be in a state of permanent combustion. Following on...
Laying the foundations …
The "new" housing strategy published today, Laying the Foundations: A Housing Strategy for England, has some interesting bits to it, but it is somewhat unfortunate that the government has taken the opportunity to trumpet its achievements and pronounce their...
Contracts and public law: The Cornwall case
Charles Terence Estates Ltd v Cornwall Council [2011] EWHC 2542 (QB) (subnom oh dear, oh dear) Forgive the length of this note, but this seems to be a significant case with potentially far-reaching ramifications. The judgment of Cranston J (in my view) is...
Back in the Consulting Room
The London Borough of Newham is holding a consultation on the introduction of selective licensing accross the whole borough. Selective licensing is a byproduct of the HMO licensing provisions in the Housing Act 2004. It permits a local authority to licence...
The Localism Bill: Rush, rush, rush …
It is certainly not a truism that legislation which is given the closest possible scrutiny is thereafter free from doubt - consider, for example, the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, which we always used to call the mysterious provisions...
Injunction, planning and committal, post Cala
Broxbourne Borough Council v Robb & Ors [2011] EWHC 1626 (QB) I'll give a somewhat lengthy report of this case, because it is one of the first to touch on the changing planning environment for Gypsies and travellers after the DCLG's stated intention to...
Materiality, weight and the plans of the Secretary of State
R (Cala Homes (South) Ltd) v Secretary of State (No.2) [2011] EWCA Civ 639 is one that we may have missed when it first came out (or we decided not to do it - we can't quite remember now), but, given that I have some free time this morning, I thought I'd do...
In the Consulting Room
R (Baron, Peat & Othrs) v Hyndburn District Council, Administrative Court, Manchester District Registry, 14 April 2011 (Not on BAILII as yet) J has previously alluded to this case involving an application for permission for Judicial Review of a local...