The Housing, Communities and Local Government Commons Select Committee has published an interim report on protecting rough sleepers and renters through the Coronavirus pandemic. The key recommendations are: i) on rough sleeping and homelessness, a serious...
Children getting older as ‘unnatural increase’ for overcrowding
Flores, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Southwark (2020) EWHC 1279 (Admin) This was a judicial review of Southwark's allocation decision on the priority to be given to a family in accommodation which had become statutorily overcrowded. The...
Not Arkin any more
Arkin v Marshall (2020) EWCA Civ 620 This is the Court of Appeal judgment in the appellant's challenge to the lawfulness, extent and effect of the stay of Part 55 possession proceedings until 25 June 2020 under Practice Direction 51Z. The short version is...
Optimism of the will, pessimism of the intellect
According to this Inside Housing report of a Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee meeting today (4 May), the Housing Minister Robert Jenrick announced prospective measures to avoid a deluge of eviction proceedings at the expiry of the...
Assortment – Priorities, and FAQS
Priorities In case you hadn't seen it already, HMCTS are publishing a daily operational summary on courts and tribunals during coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This includes civil (County) court listing priorities. As of 15 April 2020, "Priority 1 – work...
What a difference a PSED makes…
Luton Community Housing Ltd v Durdana (2020) EWCA Civ 445 Ms Durdana was a tenant of LCH. She faced possession proceedings under ground 17 Sch 2 Housing Act 1988 - that the landlord was induced to grant the tenancy by a false statement made knowingly or...
Practice Direction 51Z – to Stay Possession Proceedings
Following the announcement yesterday evening, here is the 117th Practice Direction Update to the Civil Procedure Rules – Coronavirus Pandemic related. This introduces Practice Direction 51Z The Master of the Rolls and the Lord Chancellor have signed Practice...
All housing possession claims suspended from 27 March – Coronavirus update.
(Update 27 March. For the details of the stay, see here on the new Practice Direction 51Z ) Well now, this is big (and also finally, it would seem, some clarity). According to this MHCLG press release from this evening: From tomorrow (27 March 2020)...
Emergency legislation on possession claims
I've seen the draft amendments to the Coronavirus Bill on housing possession. A word of caution, this was a draft from 22 March, not the actual amends due to be put forward today 23 March. I was waiting for those to be made public to check, but that has not...
Working on homes
As of today, 20 March 2020, section 9B(4) of Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 means that the section 9A 'fit for human habitation' obligation applies to all periodic and secure tenancies in England that existed on 20 March 2019 and are ongoing. This means that...
No new possession claims (for at least 3 months)
The Government has just announced emergency legislation to do the following: Stop any new possession claims (social and private tenancies) being issued at court for the next three months (at least). Introduce a new pre-action protocol for possession claims,...
Emergency measures
Ahead of the government introducing the bill for emergency Coronavirus related measures later this week, Labour have published a draft bit of legislation which addresses the position of (most) renters where they fail to pay rent due to effects of the...