MA & Ors, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2016] UKSC 58 R (on the application of Carmichael and Rourke) (formerly known as MA and others) (Appellants) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Respondent) R (on...
Warrant on breach of SPO – permission required
We foreshadowed this appeal hearing here, and now we have the Court of Appeal judgment. And it is important. Cardiff City Council v Lee [2016] EWCA Civ 1034 The sole issue on the appeal was: can the court proceed to validate a warrant of possession where a...
Guest post – permission for warrants of possession?
This is a guest post by Michelle Caney and Nicholas Towers of St Ives Chambers. Anyone wanting to enforce possession orders should keep an eye on Cardiff County Council v Lee (Flowers), scheduled to be heard by the Court of Appeal on 18 or 19 October 2016,...
Housing needs and household members
Jones v Luton Borough Council [2016] EWHC 2036 (Admin) This was a judicial review of a decision by Luton Council Housing Appeals and Review Panel not to offer Mr Jones a tenancy of the property of which Mr J's late father was the tenant, but instead offer a...
Wrong warrants? Issues in N325 compliance
This is a guest post by Jonathan Holt of Garden Court North Chambers. GCN’s Jonathan Holt sets out below the background and detail to the recent emergence of a potential argument employable by those facing a warrant for possession, whether it be as the...
Conditions of repentance – SPOs
City West Housing Trust v Massey [2016] EWCA Civ 704 When considering a suspended possession order, how should the judge exercise their discretion where the tenant's evidence has been disbelieved, in whole or part? And should an SPO impose conditions which...
And the first shall be last
An accidental chain of tenancies, in which only the very first was left standing. London Borough of Haringey v 1) Hansa Ahmed & 2) Shaheeda Ahmed [2016] EWHC 1257 (Ch) (Not on Bailii yet, we've seen the judgment). Three tenancy agreements for the same...
The mystery of the Minister’s many bits
There might be much to mock and/or weep at in the Housing and Planning Bill, but this afternoon reached a degree of the surreal, as the Bill returned to the House of Lords following the Govt vote in the Commons to reject all the Lords amendments. Shelter...
Not thinking things through – miscellany
Assorted bits on the theme of acting hastily and not thinking things through... Exhibit 1. The Housing and Planning Bill. This evening, it completed third reading in the House of Lords and heads back to the Commons. While there will no doubt be some ping...
You’ve lost that loving Ealing. (Sorry)
H & Ors, R (On the Application Of) v Ealing London Borough Council [2016] EWHC 841 (Admin) Ealing's allocation policy has already had lawfulness problems, compounded by Ealing's unlawful refusal to do anything about that unlawfulness. But this judicial...
Misc on taxes – council and bedroom
Some notes on council tax liability and bedroom tax Upper Tribunal cases. Council tax - how do you go about setting aside and/or appealing a council tax liability order? It turns out to be far from straightforward (you might already have known this. I...
Nor any drop to drink
This is potentially huge. There could be millions of pounds at stake and possibly many councils and housing associations affected. It might only mean a pound or so per tenant per week, but definitely 37,000 and potentially 375,000 tenants are involved, over...