The SNP have announced that they intend to abolish the right to buy for all new build council and social housing in Scotland. The policy is intended to safeguard up to 18,000 social homes. Figures in England show a steep decline in interest in the right to...
Continuity of tenancy
London Borough of Lewisham -v- Litchmore. 2 October 2009, Bromley County Court Since the beginning of replacement tenancies on May 2009, there have, rather surprisingly, not been any reports on cases involving the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 Schedule...
Unwelcome in the valleys
While we are in Wales and with thanks to the Garden Court housing bulletin, we report an Ombudsman's decision Complaint against Cardiff CC 200702358 [pdf] Mr Davies and Miss Brown complained about Cardiff Council's failure to deal with noise nuisance and...
Webb v Wandsworth LBC – Take 2
We first noted Webb v LB Wandsworth [2008] EWCA Civ 1643 in November 2008 when it was discussed in an Arden Chambers eflash. Earlier this week, the transcript was finally released. Slightly later this week, it was corrected so as to make sense. Thus, 9...
HLPA Conference
The Housing Law Practitioners Association ("HLPA") host their annual conference on December 15, 2009 at the Royal College of Surgeons, London. Details have just been released (with more to follow later in September) and can be found at...
Extending the role of the TSA
The Government has just issued a consultation paper (available here) on extending the TSAs regulatory role to local housing authorities. Whilst the document is expressed to be a consultation, the tone of the document suggests that the Government is already...
Draft Allocations Code of Guidance
DCLoG which, by all accounts, was cockahoop over Ahmad has issued a new draft Code of Guidance on allocations for consultation: Fair and Flexible. This amends parts of the 2002 Code and the 2008 Code on CBL. The new draft Code is obviously aimed at...
Allocations policies: Publication
In R (Boolen) v Barking and Dagenham LBC reported on Lawtel, the Claimant applied for judicial review of the the council's allocation scheme on the basis that (1) the council had implemented a "local connection" criterion into its prioritisation decisions...
Pinnock and Proportionality
The CA have just handed down judgment in Manchester CC v Pinnock[2009] EWCA Civ 852, concerning the evidence that can be taken into account to justify a breach of a demoted tenancy at a review panel, the proper role of the County Court in such a...
The good, the bad and the aesthetically challenged
'Building Britain's Future', a broad Government policy direction document, has been put out and must be regarded as an early draft of the Labour election manifesto. As people may well have heard, social housing and the allocation thereof features in the...
Austin to the Lords
Word reaches us that LB Southwark v Austin (our report on the Court of Appeal here) has been given permission by the House of Lords (or Supreme Court as it will be). It seems that the time of the tolerated trespasser troubling the Lords is not yet over, as...
Take it as is or not at all
Ryan v London Borough of Islington [2009] EWCA Civ 578 concerned Ms Ryan's Right to Buy under Part V Housing Act 1985 and whether or not it had been deemed to be withdrawn. Ms Ryan was the secure tenant of a an Islington property. In January 2003, she served...