I'm going to break one of our rules (well, more of a guideline really) and comment on a case in which I had a role. I supervised the case, in which one of my colleagues acted for the claimant. It is also a report on a settled County Court claim, so not...
Selection box
Brief notes on an assortment of cases. Kensington & Chelsea RLBC v Airbnb Payments Ltd (2022) EWHC 2209 (Ch) - not on Bailii Kensington sought a Norwich Pharmacal order against Airbnb Payments Ltd to require disclosure of whether there were booking for...
Awaab Ishak – Coroner’s ruling and Reg 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths
We now have the Coroner's Findings and Conclusion for the inquest into the death of Awaab Ishak, and also the Regulation 28 Report for the purpose of preventing future deaths. (My previous post on the death of Awaab Ishak is here. It was written quickly and...
Residential care, succession and human rights incompatibility
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Mailley (2022) EWHC 2328 (QB) A quick note on this possession claim, which involves a challenge to Section 87 Housing Act 1985 as incompatible with Article 8 and 14 ECHR. Ms Mailley was defending possession of a Dudley...
Assorted notes: joint tenancies, RROs – rent arrears and late evidence, and disrepair damages periods
Pile v Pile (2022) EWHC 2036 (Ch) The High Court confirms that Procter v Procter (2022) EWHC 1202 (Ch) is authority for the proposition that it is not a breach of trust for one joint tenant to give notice to quit on the joint tenancy, even where this is done...
We don’t need no tariffs
Khan v Mehmood (2022) EWCA Civ 791 (Housing Law Practitioners Association intervening) This was, it has to be said, in part a rather odd appeal to the Court of Appeal. The background was a rent arrears possession claim by Ms Khan and a defence and disrepair...
And no extensions
Kalonga, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough of Croydon (2022) EWCA Civ 670 The Court of Appeal was faced with the question of whether a local authority had the power to extend time for a flexible tenant to request a review of the authority's decision...
Fixed term secure tenancies and forfeiture
Croydon London Borough Council v Kalonga (2022) UKSC 7 In which the Supreme Court considered the position on termination of 'flexible tenancies' - fixed term secure tenancies - during the fixed term. We saw the Court of Appeal judgment dismissing Croydon's...
Delays to services…
Apologies, I know updates have been slow in the last few weeks - I have been very busy on a lot of time sensitive stuff and what down time I've had, has really been needed as, well, down time... But the blog has not been forgotten or abandoned, honest. There...
Excluded grounds of possession and subsequent grounds
Poplar HARCA v Kerr. Clerkenwell & Shoreditch County Court. February 2022. DJ Bell (Unreported, we've seen a note of extempore judgment.) Our thanks to Daniel Skinner for the note of judgment in this case, which is of interest on the argument that the...
News things
There were a few announcements today and a Supreme Court decision. By far the biggest one, if you live in or are a landlord, or indeed a housing lawyer, in Wales is that the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 will be implemented (come into force) on 15 July...
Remedying breach of Public Sector Equality Duty (or not)
Metropolitan Housing Trust Ltd v TM (2021) EWCA Civ 1890 We saw in Taylor v Slough Borough Council (2020) EWHC 3520 (Ch) (our note) that in possession claims where a defence of breach of public sector equality duty was raised, the courts would be prepared to...