We've seen reports of a case called R (Ambrose) v City of Westminster (Admin Court 13 May 2011. Not on Bailii or reported elsewhere so far). It was a judicial review of a refusal to provide interim accommodation pending review. Westminster had apparently...
Service charges and legal costs: am I missing something?
Forgive me for what may turn out to be a silly question, but this is something I've been thinking about recently and wanted to see what everyone else thought. Leasehold property and legal costs A well-drafted lease will usually contain a provision requiring...
Permission and costs
Cockett v Moore [2011] EWCA Civ 493 (Casetrack only; noted on the GC Bulletin). The Court of Appeal has refused permission to appeal in this costs dispute. Mr Moore was the tenant of Ms Cockett in a one bed flat. There appear to have been a series of tenancy...
Now that’s gotta hurt
Just a short note on Leeds cc v Price (LSC intervening) [2011] EWHC 849 (QB) because it isn't a housing case at all. It's the costs fall-out from Price v Leeds CC [2006] UKHL 10; [2006] 2 A.C. 465 (the other case with Kay v LB Lambeth). You'll remember that...
Remedying immoral use
Patel v K&J Restaurants [2010] EWCA Civ 1211 deals with a number of interesting questions concerning relief from forfeiture. Although the lease in question (of a restaurant and residential flats) fell within the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, the case has...
RTM costs (or, how not to grant permission to appeal)
Wilson v Lesley Place (RTM) Company Ltd [2010] UKUT 342 (LC) I confess to being a bit bitter about this case. The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) is hideously overworked. It can (and often does) take over a year for an appeal from an LVT to get before the...
Jackson: the waiting begins
'What!' I hear you say, 'wasn't the final Jackson report on costs released on 14 January?' Why yes it was. All 584 pages of it. But amid the headlines about scrapping CFA success fees and recoverable ATE insurance premiums, introducing contingency fees, and...
Costs on conceded appeals
We had noted City of Westminster v Man [2009] EWCA Civ 236 when it was a permission to appeal hearing. Just a bit late, we have found the outcome. The issue was whether an interim costs order, on an application I think, was payable where proceedings as a...
Intermittently exposed
Now, this is a bit of an oddity. Mohammadi v Shellpoint Trustees Ltd & Anor [2009] EWHC 1098 (Ch) was an appeal from the Supreme Court Costs Office. It concerned when a person should have the protection from liability for costs under s.17 Legal Aid Act 1988....
Judicial Review costs
Mendes & Anor v Southwark LBC (2009) CA (Civ Div) 24/03/09 [not on Bailii], is a useful case for those representing JR claimants. The report is on Lawtel. Southwark had made an erroneous decision on Mr Mendes' eligibility for housing assistance under Part...
S.190 homeless duties and JR costs
I'd managed to miss this one somehow, so thanks to the Garden Court bulletin of August for mentioning it. R (Dumbaya) v Lewisham LBC [2008] EWHC 1852 (Admin) was the end point of a rather messy sounding set of proceedings. The Claimant had been accommodated...
Disrepair protocol costs
Birmingham City Council v Lee [2008] EWCA Civ 891 concerns claimant's costs incurred while following the disrepair pre-action protocol. It is not uncommon for a landlord to do repairs after an early notification letter, or letter of claim, but pre issue (not...