Along with Ben Reeve Lewis, who as a former Tenancy Relations Officer really knows, we have long had a bee in our various bonnets about fines for illegal eviction levied by the Magistrates Court on prosecutions brought by local authorities. And so to Sead Alimajstorovic, of East Holme, Bordesley Green, Birmingham. Mr Alimajstorovic was the landlord of a […]
Category Archives: Unlawful eviction and harassment
Eviction and High Court Enforcement
A couple of recent cases have highlighted the issues involved in transferring County Court possession orders to the High Court for enforcement by High Court Enforcement Officers. This is done by landlords, by and large, to bypass the wait for a county court bailiff appointment, but also has the effect (not unwelcomed by some landlords, […]
Cities behaving badly and other bits
A remarkable note on the Community Law Partnership site sets out what may possibly amount to a mass unlawful eviction of secure tenants by Birmingham City Council. Birmingham CC have been using High Court Sheriffs for evicting secure tenants after a possession order. This is often quicker than county court bailiffs and importantly, there is […]
Doesn’t it make you proud to be English?*
The Immigration Bill 2015 has been published and will have a Second Reading in the House of Commons on October 13, 2015. It contains some truly remarkable provisions about housing. But first, short re-cap to remind you how we got to this stage. The Immigration Act 2014 introduced the concept of the “right to rent”. […]
All of the wrong. And then some more.
Kazadi v Martin Brookes Lettings Estate Agents Limited & Faparusi, Edmonton County Court 14 May 2015 Thanks to Legal Action September 2015 Housing law updates for this one. An assured shorthold tenancy deposit and unlawful eviction case in which everyone involved save the tenant – letting agent, landlord and police – did things about as […]
Unlawful eviction and harassment quantum update
With grateful thanks to Jan Luba QC and HHJ Madge’s housing update in the December 2014/January 2015 Legal Action, here are a few recent County Court cases on unlawful eviction and harassment. Alabbas v Uppelle. Leicester County Court, 8 October 2014 Mr Alabbas was Ms Uppelle’s assured shorthold tenant from April 2008. In April 2009, Mr A complained […]
How much?! Damages for unlawfully evicted secure tenants
Loveridge v London Borough of Lambeth [2014] UKSC 65 So, if a local authority unlawfully evicts a secure tenant (and yes, it happens) what should the measure of damages be? Under s.27 and s.28 Housing Act 1988, damages fall to be assessed under a valuation exercise, governed – so far as is relevant to this […]
Southwark: Not appealing
It is not unknown for losing parties in a case to not be happy, indeed very upset. There are two basic options. To shut up and put up with it, or appeal. Rather unusually, faced with one of the most coruscating High Court judgments I can recall, in AA V LB Southwark [our report here], […]
A very unlawful eviction
(Finally) AA v London Borough of Southwark [2014] EWHC 500 (QB) This High Court judgment is remarkable in many ways, most of them worrying. It was the result of a six day hearing, with Southwark putting Kelvin Rutledge QC up against Mr AA in person and ended with findings against Southwark that were as bad as […]
How much is a secure tenancy worth?
London Borough of Lambeth v Loveridge [2013] EWCA Civ 494 We are appallingly late with this one, and have no excuse. But this case has just been given permission by the Supreme Court, so this is a good moment to make amends. Mr L was the secure tenant of Lambeth. Lambeth unlawfully evicted him. Mr […]
