Zeeshan v Mahmood, County Court at Manchester, 27 October 2017. (Our grateful thanks to Amy Tagoe of Stephensons Solicitors for the following note of this unlawful eviction case) The Claimants were the tenants of a property owned by the Defendant by way of...
Illegal subletting – an ‘elaborate farrago of lies’
Poplar Housing & Regeneration Community Association Ltd v Begum & Ors [2017] EWHC 2040 (QB) We are no fans of illegal subletting of social housing here at NL. So here is an appeal by the landlord of a county court decision to grant a suspended...
One Million Pounds!
Diaz v Karim [2017] EWHC 595 (QB) The schedule of special damages - never straightforward. The belongings that had to be thrown out, or were taken and not returned. The difficulty in evidencing them, the difficulty in evidencing proof of purchase (who keeps...
Tales of the private sector
A collation of cases and stories from the private sector, and a series of reminders that a database of rogue landlords, and indeed banning orders, can't come soon enough. In Sheffield, John Cashin was convicted of 56 offences involving HMO management,...
Don’t try this at home
Gibson v Douglas & Anor [2016] EWCA Civ 1266 In which the court of appeal almost but not quite consider the notice requirements for licencees excluded from the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 Mr G had been living at Mrs D's property, which she also...
PRS enforcement corner
Three items relating to PRS licensing/HMO regulations and property management enforcement, with some added harassment of tenants thrown in. Thanks to Dean Underwood at Cornerstone for news of this Magistrates Court case. London Borough of Waltham Forest v...
Landlords behaving badly
While the Magistrates Courts continue to hand out paltry fines to landlords on conviction for illegal eviction, despite the removal of the upper £5000 limit, it is good to see that the civil courts are capable of taking a more reasonable approach to quantum....
Wrong warrants? Issues in N325 compliance
This is a guest post by Jonathan Holt of Garden Court North Chambers. GCN’s Jonathan Holt sets out below the background and detail to the recent emergence of a potential argument employable by those facing a warrant for possession, whether it be as the...
From the County Courts – deposits, evictions and introductory tenancies
Some county court cases reported in the indispensable 'Housing: Recent Developments' in Legal Action for May 2016. Cases involve introductory tenancies, deposits, harassment and illegal eviction. Hammersmith & Fulham LBC v Patterson. County Court at...
Tis aw a muddle – costs edition
Morales v Enver (2016) QBD (Irwin J) 28/04/2016 (Not on Bailli - note of judgment on Lawtel) Another case to file under 'things not to do'. Mr M had brought injunction for re-entry proceedings against a landlord and agents. Mr M was the tenant of a...
Not thinking things through – miscellany
Assorted bits on the theme of acting hastily and not thinking things through... Exhibit 1. The Housing and Planning Bill. This evening, it completed third reading in the House of Lords and heads back to the Commons. While there will no doubt be some ping...
A scandal unfolds: High Court enforcement again
Since our previous post on this topic, it has become apparent that there are significant and widespread issues with evictions of tenants by High Court writ, specifically by some High Court Enforcement Officer firms. In our last post, we dealt with the issue...