London Borough of Brent v Tudor [2013] EWCA Civ 157 This was an appeal of a Circuit Judge's finding that LB Brent's possession claim under Ground 16, Schedule 2 Housing Act 1985 failed because the property was reasonably needed to accommodate those living...
Article 8, Undue Influence and much, much more…
The recent case of Birmingham CC v Beech contains a wealth of legal issues but sadly for the Defendant, none of them was decided in her favour. Mrs Beech's parents had been joint tenants of a 3 bedroom property at 31 Tilshead Close, Birmingham since 1967....
Bedroom Tax: Shifts, U-turns and rumours
Now that was a busy day on the Bedroom Tax front, complete with a parliamentary statement, new DWP Guidance to Local Authorities, rumours and conjecture. Let us start with the definite bits. The new Guidance on disabled children unable to share a bedroom....
Guest post by CPAG – disabled children and bedroom tax
Disabled children – “exempt” from the bedroom tax? At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday [6 March 2013] David Cameron claimed that “anyone with severely disabled children is exempt from the spare room subsidy”, more commonly known as the “bedroom tax”....
Bedroom tax first JR?
Just a quick post to note that a Judicial Review of the bedroom tax regulations was apparently issued on Friday 1 March 2013. From this report, it appears that the grounds are along the lines of Burnip, as I suggested here, in that the basis is...
A bit too widely cast…
You may recall the discussion that took place on this blog of Wandsworth's secure tenancy terms, introduced in 2009, that sought to introduce a list of things that the tenant, "lodgers, friends, relatives, visitors and any other person living in the property...
Room without review: Thoughts on tackling the bedroom tax
With the beginning of the bedroom tax looming up for April and upwards of 700,000 households affected, I've been thinking about the position when the inevitable rent arrears possessions start to appear - probably by about October - and also whether the...
Monkey on my back*
Even since McCann v. UK (2008) 47 EHRR 40, a lot of people (around these parts) have been waiting for a case on Article 8 and the rule in Hammersmith v Monk (Hammersmith and Fulham LBC v. Monk [1992] AC 478) to reach the higher Courts. Is the rule that...
Request for information
[Updated 20/12/12. See below] There is a rather odd case note on Lawtel on a High Court appeal of a dismissed defence to possession following an apparently failed succession... Evans v Brent London Borough Council QB (Ramsey J) 18/12/2012 [note of extempore...
‘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...
Tempest Tossed?
Does the landlord's repairing duty under Section 11 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 extend to damage by fire, flood or tempest? LB Hammersmith and Fulham v Carty is a County Court judgment reported on Hardwicke Chamber's site which raises some interesting...
Not round these parts
R(Carney) v Bolton-at-Home Limited [2012] EWHC 2553 (Admin) Did historic ASB by the daughter of a former evicted tenant allow the local authority to refuse to allow her accommodation in the same area? This was the issue in this judicial review of...