Salva v Singh-Potiwal (HOUSING - HOUSE IN MULTIPLE OCCUPATION) [2019] UKUT 307 (LC) This was the appeal of a First Tier Tribunal decision on Ms Salva's application for a rent repayment order. Ms Salva has a tenancy of a room in a property owned by Mr...
“I know it gives a person pause”
Camelot! Camelot! I know it gives a person pause But in Camelot, Camelot Those are the legal laws Camelot Guardian Management Ltd previously pleaded guilty to 15 charges for failing to licence an HMO and for multiple breaches of HMO management regulations in...
Property Guardians and Rent Repayment Orders
Oxley v Live in Guardians Limited LON/00BG/HMF/2019/0037 Thanks to Flat Justice (who represented the applicant) for news of this First Tier Tribunal decision. Ms Oxley occupied a room and shared communal space at a property that was formerly industrial...
FTT fails natural justice on tenant’s RRO application
Wilson v Campbell (HOUSING - RENT REPAYMENT ORDER) (2019) UKUT 363 (LC) In which the Upper Tribunal gives the First Tier Tribunal a thorough ticking off over its decision on a rent repayment order application. Ms Wilson had rented a room in a house from Mr...
Unlicensed HMO and date of offence
Luton Borough Council v Altavon Luton Ltd & Ors (2019) EWHC 2415 (Admin) An appeal by way of case stated from a DJ's decision at Luton Magistrates. The sole issue was whether the informations in the case had been laid within 6 months "from the time when...
Banned leader
Look, look! A banning order! I don't know if this is the first, it may well be. It is certainly the first decision I have seen. 43 Dudmaston, Telford, Shropshire TF3 2DF: BIR/00GF/HSH/2019/0001 This is the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) decision on...
Property Guardians and HMOs – guilty
For some reason that, quite frankly, escapes me, assorted 'powers that be' have been non-committal on whether the Housing Act 2004 provisions on HMOs, licensing etc., and also the Part 1 enforcement of conditions and HHSRS, apply to properties occupied by...
Who lives in a shared home like this?
Nottingham City Council v Parr & Anor [2018] UKSC 51 It is not every day you see the Supreme Court setting HMO licence conditions, but today is that day. This was Nottingham's appeal from the Court of Appeal (and before that, the Upper Tribunal, and the...
Still more on 1 October – HMOs, storeys and rooms.
I thought we'd already covered this, but it turns out we haven't fully. So, from 1 October 2018, the definition of a HMO subject to mandatory licensing changes, and separately there are new room size requirements. The Licensing of Houses in Multiple...
Service not included.
The Queen on the application of Mr Peter Gaskin v LB Richmond Upon Thames (2018) EWHC 1996 (Admin) We didn't report round 1 of this, probably because it was so completely inconclusive, but here is round 2 and a decision that will very significant for every...
Forthcoming law (and informed consent)
The Tenant Fees Bill has had its second reading. The current Bill and its progress are here. There is a lot to digest in the Bill and I suspect there will be amendments on route. There are a whole new range of civil penalties, possible offences and...
Fewer floors for HMOs and minimum room sizes.
The Housing Minister, Alok Sharma, has confirmed that the Government will be going ahead with its proposals to change the conditions for a mandatory license for HMOs to any property with 5 or more occupants in 2 or more households, regardless of the layout...