Cases yet to be written up are in a growing pile, but frankly it has been too darn hot to have the laptop on my lap for more than half an hour, so they are going to have to wait. Instead, here is a quick note on two recent DLUHC/govt publications on damp and...
Tales from the County Courts – non-occupation of council tenancy, unlawful eviction and ‘wild allegations’ all over the place
A couple of County Court judgments - by HHJ Luba KC, as a circuit judge. Buckle up for a bumpy ride through the all too familiar county court landscape of erratic pleadings, lengthy delays and parties who rather mistakenly think that their own bluster and...
Wales – Renting Homes updates: The Good, the Bad and the Converted – part 2
Our grateful thanks as ever to Mike Norman of Harrow Law Centre for Part 2 of his updates on the implementation of Renting Homes (Wales) Act. Part 1 is here. Wales - Renting Homes updates: The Good, the Bad and the Converted - part 2 Introduced by the...
Wales: The Good, the Bad and the Converted – part 1
Our very grateful thanks for the following (and hopefully Part 2) to Mike Norman of Harrow Law Centre, who has been appointed, whether he likes it or not, as our Wales correspondent - NL. (Part 2 is now here.) Followers of the updates under Renting Homes...
On the naughty step – a ‘rising star’ of Barking
Sadly, it appears that it is necessary to revive the long lapsed tradition of the Nearly Legal Naughty Step post. We have encountered a number of councils putting, or trying to put, damn silly clauses in their tenancy agreements for secure tenants, and then...
Snoring is not ASB, not even in Lambeth.
LB Lambeth v Fanfair, County Court at Clerkenwell & Shoreditch, 14 February 2023 Our grateful thanks to Angharad Monk of Garden Court and Gurminder Birdi at Cambridge House Law Centre for this note of LB Lambeth's claim for an injunction against Ms...
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...
Mea Culpa
I know, I know. Updates have been thin on the ground. I'm afraid it is the 'work and life getting in the way' thing again. I've got a lot on my plate and no time and/or energy to do case notes. So, in the meantime, here's a list of things that I will...
Homelessness and Allocation – unlawfully restricting reasonable preference
Khayyat & Anor v Westminster City Council (2023) EWHC 30 (Admin) A judicial review by two claimants of Westminster's allocation policy and its restriction of entry to the housing register to only homeless applicants to whom Westminster had decided it...
A lift too far. The extent of the section 11 obligation
Anchor Hanover Group v Cox (2023) UKUT 14 (LC) (Copy of judgment here. Not on Bailli or national archive yet) A somewhat unusual Upper Tribunal appeal concerning the application of section 11 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which ends up being about the scope...
The whirligig of time
A happy new year to all. I was going to do a new year video, as per the last two years, but as rain lashes the windows and the daylight disappeared about 2 pm, the level of faff involved was beyond me. This seems a fitting way to end 2022... After three...