‘Many of you, I suspect, will be like me – you hear from clients, prospective clients, tenants etc., on a very frequent basis that in making a housing decision, or indeed in not making it, the council or housing association has ‘breached its duty of care’ to them.’
Nearly Legal, 11th April 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A tribunal has overturned the listing of an allotment site in Lancashire as an asset of community value (ACV), on the grounds that nearby housing development makes it “highly unrealistic” that the site will ever be used as allotments again.’
OUT-LAW.com, 11th April 2017
Source: www.out-law.com
‘Ms Oliver was the long leaseholder in a block of flats on the Lansdowne Estate, which was owned by the Council. The Council carried out city wide major works, which included works on the Lansdown Estate. Some of the works were eligible for a contribution from a commercial energy company as part of the Community Energy Savings Programme (“CESP”). In total 15 of the 25 blocks on the Lansdowne Estate were eligible to receive CESP funding. The contribution to Ms Oliver’s block was £43,570.44. The Council decided not to pass the CESP directly to the leaseholders as a set off against their service charge contributions. Rather, the Council decided to attribute the money to the funding of works to its city-wide housing stock. The effect of this was that every leaseholder’s service charge was reduced irrespective of whether their block had been entitled to CESP funding.’
Nearly Legal, 10th April 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A couple of county court cases on Airbnb/short let use by leaseholders. One was reported in the newspapers, the other has not been reported anywhere before. Both show the potentially serious consequences of leaseholders letting out on short lets, where lease clauses arguably prevent it. We have seen the clause ‘use only as a private residence’ in the Upper Tribunal Nemcova, and subletting without consent, “otherwise than as a private residence for occupation by a single household” and carrying out a trade, business or profession from the Property in the FTT in LON/00AY/LBC/2015/0021. In both these cases, other lease clauses were involved, so there is an extension of the kind of clause catching Airbnb/short let use.’
Nearly Legal, 7th April 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘This was a judicial review of Southwark’s allocation policy as it applied to transfers. Specifically, the issue was whether Southwark’s policy, in awarding ‘priority stars’ for ‘community contribution’ discriminated against women and the disabled.’
Nearly Legal, 9th April 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against a decision that two joint tenants had lost security of tenure under the Housing Act 1985 because they no longer occupied the property as their only or principal home.’
Arden Chambers, 16th March 2017
Source: www.ardenchambers.com
‘In Sheffield City Council v Oliver (2007) EWCA Civ 225 the local authority was unsuccessful in its appeal from an Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) decision concerning the funding of major refurbishment works to several blocks of flats of which it is the freeholder.’
Local Government Law, 5th April 2017
‘The Court of Appeal has held that the difference in the residence requirements for statutory succession to secure tenancies between married couples (or civil partners) and unmarried couples living together as man and wife (or as civil partners) under the former s.87, Housing Act 1985, was not a breach of Art.14, European Convention of Human Rights, read with Art.8.’
Arden Chambers, 24th March 2017
Source: www.ardenchambers.com
‘The Court of Appeal has held that the words “costs … incurred” in the service charge provisions in a right to buy lease were to be given a natural and not a special meaning; accordingly, the Upper Tribunal had been wrong to hold that such costs were reduced by third-party energy-saving funding received by the landlord from an energy provider in relation to a major works programme; but the Court was required to determine for itself the “fair proportion” of the costs to which the leaseholder was required to contribute, and a deduction was to be made in relation to part of the funding received which was attributable to the leaseholder’s flat.’
Arden Chambers, 4th April 2017
Source: www.ardenchambers.com
‘Did the pre Localism Act 2011 succession rules for a secure tenancy amount to a breach of article 8 and 14 (private life and non-discrimination), and if so, should a declaration of incompatibility be made if the Housing Act 1985 could not be read compatibly? This was the issue in this appeal.’
Nearly Legal, 3rd April 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Local Government Ombudsman has issued a quite withering decision on a complaint about Barnet Council’s failure to make a formal decision on repeated homeless applications by a homeless woman.’
Nearly Legal, 30th March 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘This was an appeal against an order that Canal and River Trust could remove Mr Jones boat from a canal near Bradford on Avon, under its powers under s.8 of the British Waterways Act 1983 and s.13 of the British Waterways Act 1971. Mr J had advanced a defence of breach of article 8 European Convention on Human Rights.’
Nearly Legal, 26th March 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A Cambridge-educated law lecturer has left his brother homeless – and facing a £200,000 legal bill – after winning a court battle to sell a £750,000 flat bought by the pair with money left to them by their mother.’
Daily Telegraph, 20th March 2017
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘R (on the application of Halvai) v Hammersmith and Fulham LBC (2017) QBD (Admin) (Sara Cockerill QC) 09/03/2017. This was a judicial review of H&F’s refusal of Discretionary Housing Payments to Ms H. Ms H has severe autism and learning and behavioural difficulties. She requires one-to-one care, suffered from extreme anxiety and so had vital and complex accommodation needs, including a very quiet environment.’
Nearly Legal, 14th March 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A section 204 Housing Act 1996 appeal of the suitability of LB Brent’s offer of private sector accommodation to Mr B of a property in Birmingham. Mr B, his wife and three daughters were in temporary accommodation in Brent, a full s.193 housing duty having been accepted by Brent. In 2014, an offer of accommodation in Birmingham was made. Mr B sought a review, which upheld suitability. A s.204 appeal was settled on the basis of a fresh review. That review decision of May 2016, again upholding suitability, was the subject of the present appeal.’
Nearly Legal, 10th March 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘In recent years, the Courts have come up with a pragmatic resolution to the clash of property and Article 8 rights which typically occur in housing cases. Where the tenant is trying to use Art.8 to fend off a possession order, because he is in breach of some term of the tenancy, then the Courts, here and in Strasbourg, have resolved the issue in the favour of the local authority, save in exceptional circumstances.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 10th March 2017
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Osman, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Harrow (2017) EWHC 274 (Admin). A challenge to Harrow’s allocation policy, specifically on the “downgrading” of allocation priority for overcrowded households in PRS accommodation, while existing Harrow tenants kept the higher priority for overcrowding on a transfer application.’
Nearly Legal, 26th February 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The London fire brigade has said it hopes “lessons are learned” after a council was fined £570,000 over safety failings at a 14-storey block of flats where six people died in a fire.’
The Guardian, 28th February 2017
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘A local authority did not have good reason for departing from statutory guidance requiring it to provide accommodation and support to an unaccompanied young person pending a lawful age assessment, a High Court judge has ruled.’
Local Government Lawyer, 27th February 2017
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘On 29th September 2004 the Trustees of the Ashtead United Charity allocated Mrs Janet Watts accommodation in an almshouse, in fact one of 14 residential flats the Charity owned at Ashstead in Surrey. In May 2015 they issued proceedings for possession based on the allegations that Mrs Watts had acted in an anti-social manner, swearing, spitting, and aggression. This was a breach of the terms of the Appointments Letter under which she was allocated the property. At the first directions hearing the District Judge ordered a trial of the issue of whether Mrs Watts occupied as a licensee of the Charity or a tenant. If the former of course it would be relatively easy for the Charity to evict her; if the latter, much less so.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 18th January 2017
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
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