When to call it a day… – Nearly Legal
‘The risks of a client deciding to go it alone at the last stage of judicial review proceedings.’
Nearly Legal, 30th November 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Category: housing
Regina (Bokrosova) v Lambeth London Borough Council – WLR Daily
Regina (Bokrosova) v Lambeth London Borough Council [2015] EWHC 3386 (Admin); [2015] WLR (D) 478
‘Whilst section 105 of the Housing Act 1985 did not refer to “consultation”, it created an obligation on landlord authorities to consult on matters of housing management and its purpose was, in part, to ensure the participation of tenants in decisions which would substantially affect their homes.’
WLR Daily, 24th November 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Removal of consultation options over housing estate “unlawful”: High Court – Local Government Lawyer
‘A High Court judge has ruled that a London borough’s decision to stop consulting on refurbishment options for a housing estate and focus on regeneration alone was unlawful.’
Local Government Lawyer, 24th November 2015
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Deposits, dog hairs, doors and defamation – Nearly Legal
‘As if tenancy deposits weren’t complicated enough, now we can add libel claims to the consequences of a heated deposit dispute. It turns out that sending potentially libellous accusations to the deposit scheme adjudication service is possibly covered by qualified privilege.’
Nearly Legal, 21st November 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Possession claims by trustee in bankruptcy – Nearly Legal
‘This was an appeal arising from a claim for possession against three properties by the trustee in bankruptcy of a bankrupt landlord. The Lawtel note rather confusingly refers to it as “accelerated possession proceedings for an order for sale”, which it can’t possibly have been.’
Nearly Legal, 22nd November 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Who got the dogs out? – Nearly Legal
‘Moosun, & Ors v HSBC Bank Plc (t/a First Direct) [2015] EWHC 3308 (Ch). This was a part – surely now the end part – of a long running saga of a mortgage possession and sale. The novel (if unsurprising) point of law concerned the “Ors” in this claim. You will have to read on – or skip to the end of the post, for that.’
Nearly Legal, 18th November 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/
Samuels v Birmingham City Council – WLR Daily
Samuels v Birmingham City Council: [2015] EWCA Civ 1051; [2015] WLR (D) 435
‘For the purposes of a person’s application for housing assistance as a homeless person, where a local authority was determining whether that person’s previous accommodation was affordable for that person and therefore whether it would be, or would have been, reasonable for that person to continue to occupy that accommodation, the local authority was to take into account all forms of the person’s income, including social security benefits of all kinds, and of relevant expenses, so that a judgment was to be made on the basis of income and relevant expenses as a whole. Benefits income, including income support, child tax credits and child benefit, was not to have any special status or treatment in that exercise or to be excluded from income which could be taken into account as income which could assist with housing costs.’
WLR Daily, 27th October 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Affordability and intentionality – adding it up – Nearly Legal
‘A second appeal from a s.204 County Court appeal that addressed the council’s decision-making on whether the property from which Ms Samuels had become homeless was affordable (and thus, whether she was intentionally homeless for failing to pay the full rent).’
Nearly Legal, 8th November 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Wales – it’s just more appealing – Nearly Legal
‘Clarise Properties Ltd v Rees [2015] EWCA Civ 1118 (Lawtel/Westlaw only from what I can see) is an interesting* permission to appeal decision. It appears that devolution has caused an odd little difference in the test for permission to appeal from the UT(LC) depending on whether the case started in England or Wales.’
Nearly Legal, 5th November 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Watford landlord fined £30,000 for housing 12 tenants in five-person flat – The Guardian
‘A landlord who made almost £27,000 a year by cramming 12 tenants into a property meant for five – with some sleeping in storerooms – has been fined £30,000 after pleading guilty to overcrowding.’
The Guardian, 4th November 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Closure, possession and legal representation – Nearly Legal
‘Courtesy of Jim Shepherd of Doughty Street Chambers comes this account of a county court appeal of a Ground 7A possession claim, following a closure order. The appeal of the possession order was partly on the basis that the Defendant could not get legal aid in time.’
Nearly Legal, 31st October 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Protecting retirement flat owners from hidden fees – a consultation – Law Commission
‘In a consultation opening today we look at what can be done to protect owners of retirement flats and their families from unexpected charges hidden in leases.’
Law Commission, 29th October 2015
Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk
Legal threat in Shropshire baby ashes scandal – BBC News
‘Lawyers representing families in the baby ashes scandal have said they are to take legal action against Shropshire Council.’
BBC News, 26th October 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Austerity and Public Law: Jed Meers: The Localism-and-Austerity Hybrid: The Case of Discretionary Housing Payments – UK Constitutional Law Association
‘In 2001, a small scale form of discretionary support was introduced to assist those on housing benefit who were unable to afford their rent: discretionary housing payments (DHPs). The numbers of awards were modest, reaching approximately 2,000 in 2002/3, and representing just £21million of expenditure per annum as recently as 2008/9 (source). This same scheme – administered by Local Authorities – now makes more than 390,000 awards per annum and the July budget of 2015 has allocated £800million for their use across the course of this Parliament.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 21st October 2015
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
High Court judge quashes planning permission over appearance of bias – Local Government Lawyer
‘A High Court judge has quashed the grant of outline planning permission for a residential development in Wiltshire over the appearance of bias.’
Full story
Local Government Lawyer, 13th October 2015
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Eviction of vulnerable family led to baby’s death, says serious case review – The Independent
‘A ten-week-old baby boy died on the night his family were evicted from their Warwickshire home, after being failed by the agencies who should have been supporting them, according to a serious case review. The circumstances around the death of the child, named ‘John’, emerged on 14 October. The baby boy was born six weeks prematurely. He and his sister Amber, who was under two, had been regarded as ‘children in in need’ by social services because of concerns over neglect.’
The Independent, 14th October 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Trial judge and costs. Ooops – Nearly Legal
‘I’ve heard about a few costs decisions by trial judges recently which might be considered, to put it politely, interesting, or brave, in the Yes Minister sense. So it was with some interest that I read the Court of Appeal decision in Begum v Birmingham City Council [2015] EWCA Civ 386.’
Nearly Legal, 8th October 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
New fast-track eviction powers could breach human rights, warns watchdog – The Guardian
‘Government proposals to legally require landlords to check the immigration status of their tenants risk a serious breach of human rights, an official watchdog has warned.’
The Guardian, 12th October 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Planning Policy Under the New Government – a briefing – Six Pump Court
‘At a Westminster Briefing event entitled ‘Planning Policy under the new Government’ on 29th September, William Upton outlined the planning reforms currently underway and the direction of the new government’s planning policy.’
Six Pump Court, 6th October 2015
Source: www.www.6pumpcourt.co.uk
Listen very carefully, I shall do this only once – Nearly Legal
‘The Claimant in R (on the application of Brooks) v LB Islington [2015] EWHC 2657 (Admin) was the mother of 3 children, who applied to the local authority as homeless following her eviction from a housing association property for rent arrears on 24/3/2015. Sadly, Ms B’s adult, terminally ill, son died two days after the offer of interim accommodation that was the subject of this judicial review.’
Nearly Legal, 27th September 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
