Before I come to the facts of Scriven and others v Calthorpe Estates [2013] UKUT 469 (LC), I need, I think, to give a fair bit of background. Even by the comprehensive standards of NL, this is pretty obscure. Estate Management Schemes Estate management...
Shorthold tenancies and council tax liability
If a tenant on a statutory periodic tenancy stops living in the property, but the tenancy is not ended, who is liable for the Council Tax? CT v Horsham District Council (HB) [2013] UKUT 617 (AAC) This was an appeal to the Upper Tribunal from the benefits...
Intentionally homeless via co-tenant.
Viackiene v Tower Hamlets LBC (2013) CA (Civ Div) 11/12/2013 [Not on Bailii, note on Lawtel, not seen full transcript] Ms V was the joint tenant of a private property under an assured short hold tenancy. The other tenant was J. Both were jointly and...
Trespass and aggravation.
One of the oddest (and probably most expensive) trespass cases we have reported (see here for the first Court of Appeal report) has ended up back in the Court of Appeal yet again. Eaton Mansions (Westminster) Ltd v Stinger Compania De Inversion S.A. [2013]...
There must be some way out of here.
'Withdrawal' of proceedings - we've been here before, with Spicer v Tuli, but this time, the purported withdrawal was in an appeal of an improvement notice to the Residential Property Tribunal. The appeal to the Upper Tribunal arose out of that. Simon v...
Paying the cost.
Watson v Simpson Croydon County Court 4 October 2012 Not a stunningly important appeal to a Circuit Judge, this one, but a useful case to be able to wave around on costs. Ms Simpson was a private AST tenant of Mr Watson, whose tenancy had become a statutory...
Benefit cap JR
I've been really slow to write this up, for which many apologies, but I have just got bogged down in other things. The benefit cap JR got lost amongst that other stuff partly because it was almost predictable after MA that the Divisional Court would find a...
Repair liability and implied lease clauses.
This one has been sitting in my draft collection for a while, but, as Christmas fades towards the new year, it finally got done. For the leaseholders in this particular appeal, it was, however, distinctly short of glad tidings. Gavin & Anor v Community...
Failed claim for adverse possession
It wouldn’t be Christmas without a post on adverse possession so here is Smart v London Borough of Lambeth [2013] EWCA Civ 1375……..(*struggles to find Christmas link*). An oddity in this case is that Mr Smart, who was claiming adverse possession against...
“Mere likelihood” not enough to engage section 149
Swan v Gill [2013] EWCA Civ 1566 apparently attracted quite a bit of attention at the HLPA conference this year, the general consensus being that the Court of Appeal was wrong in its approach to s.149 Equality Act 2010 and I’m inclined to agree. Mr Gill, an...
A Christmas gift for you: Contracting out and more
I appreciate that it isn't exactly pc still to like Phil Spector's album, but I do think it remains the best of the lot. And, in a way, Tachie, Terera and Il v Welwyn Hatfield BC [2013] EWHC 3972 (QB) is a Christmas gift for local authorities which have...
Unappealing
Haringey LBC v Goremsandhu [2013] EWHC 3834 (Admin) [Not on bailii yet] Ms Goremsandhu was the owner of an HMO, made up of four flats in Tottenham. Haringey had served her with improvement notices. When Ms G had failed to complete the word required within...