Livewest Homes Ltd v Bamber (2019) EWCA Civ 1174 This was the Court of Appeal hearing of a second appeal on the issue of when six months notice of intention to terminate a tenancy must be given under section 21(1B). We noted the first appeal here. The brief...
Hypothetical bedrooms
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Hockley & Anor (2019) EWCA Civ 1080 If you can only actually fit one child into a bedroom and you have two children, how many bedrooms should you be allowed under the bedroom tax regulations (Regulation...
Too late to waive
Yildiz v London Borough of Hackney (2019) EWCA Civ 1331 Where a tenant has succeeded to a secure tenancy on the death of the former tenant, and the landlord seeks possession on the basis that the property is under occupied, there are time limits on when and...
Reasonable Expenses and intentional homelessness
Samuels v Birmingham City Council (2019) UKSC 28 The Supreme Court, finally, has delivered its judgment on the issue of the assessment of 'reasonable expenses' when considering the affordability of rent in homelessness decisions. In this case, where Ms...
Deposit penalties. How many breaches is too many?
Howard v Dalton, County Court at Dartford, 7 May 2019 (unreported, note of judgment with grateful thanks to Rea Murray of 4-5 Grays Inn Square). A quick note, because Rea Murray has done the heavy lifting for me. We've seen the 'claims for multiple deposit...
Possession and the PSED (again)
London and Quadrant HR v Patrick [2019] EWHC 1263 (QB) follows hard on the footsteps of Powell v Dacorum BC [2019] EWCA Civ 29 and Forward v Aldwyck Housing Group Ltd [2019] EWHC 24 (QB) (our note here), with Turner J making some fairly caustic observations...
Gimme Gimme Gimme
Curo Places Ltd v Pimlett (LANDLORD AND TENANT – service charges – tenancy agreement of a bungalow in a sheltered housing scheme) (2019) UKUT 130 (LC) Another Upper Tribunal case on a landlord adding additional services and charges to assured tenancy...
Getting Guidance wrong and the perils of not updating legislation
MHCLG recently (April 2019) put out a guidance document called "Landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities in the private rented sector". Under a heading "Guidance for tenants renting in the private sector: rights, responsibilities and advice", on page...
Mistaken protection
Hook v Hawkins (LANDLORD AND TENANT – Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976) (2019) UKUT 147 (LC) It is not often we get cases involving the Rent (Agriculture Act) 1976. This Upper Tribunal appeal does concern that Act, albeit only to decide that the Act wasn't...
Don’t go changing…
Wilcock v The Guinness Partnership Ltd (2019) UKUT 146 (LC). This is an Upper Tribunal appeal on the meaning of 'variable service charge'. Mr W had an assured shorthold tenancy of a flat from Guinness. The tenancy agreement provided that the landlord would...
Misc – talking about Fitness, new section 21 notice, and leasehold shenanigans
This will be a busy few weeks for me on the Homes(Fitness for Human Habitation) Act. On the off chance that anyone wants to hear and question me and others on the Act, here are some dates and details: 15 May 2019 - HLPA meeting, with Steve Lawrence of the...
Cladding and the private sector: a good first step
There have been rumours of this for a while now, but in the last few mins (9.5.19, 8.30am) the government has announced that it will make public funds available to help fund private sector cladding remediation works. The details (such as they are) are here....