SL (FC) (Respondent) v Westminster City Council (Appellant) – Supreme Court
SL (FC) (Respondent) v Westminster City Council (Appellant) [2013] UKSC 27 | UKSC 2011/0229 (YouTube)
Supreme Court, 9th May 2013
Category: housing
Regina (JL) v Secretary of State for Defence – WLR Daily
Regina (JL) v Secretary of State for Defence [2013] EWCA Civ 449; [2013] WLR (D) 161
The occupant of a house was entitled to rely upon article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, entitling the occupant to a proportionality review, by way of opposition to the enforcement of a possession order already obtained by the owner in the exceptional circumstances where there had been a substantial change of circumstances which gave rise for the first time to an article 8 issue which neither was nor could have been pursued prior to the making of the possession order.
WLR Daily, 30th April 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Regulatory dilemmas – NearlyLegal
“The Regulatory Committee of the HCA has published Protecting Social Housing Assets in a More Diverse Sector, which is styled as a discussion paper, but which also contains some thought-provoking questions about how regulation can and should work in a much diversified, increasingly risky and entrepreneurial social housing domain. We are working in an environment which is almost unrecognisable from what it was in the 1990s and perhaps even just a few years ago. This creates regulatory dilemmas about how best to protect assets in the most proportionate manner (a familiar dilemma, and one which does not seem to have been particularly affected by the financial crash, one might think).”
NearlyLegal, 30th April 2013
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Tenants! Be the best that you can be! – NearlyLegal
“At the very beginning of social housing, with the Peabody Estates in the 1860s, prospective tenants faced imposed requirements that we would now consider to be extraneous to the tenancy: Mandatory smallpox vaccinations; curfews; and cleaning rotas before 10 am for communal areas, sinks and WCs. But even the Victorian paternalists didn’t lower themselves to the patronising, small minded and teeth-grindingly passive-aggressive approach apparently in vogue for 21st century social landlords.”
NearlyLegal, 29th April 2013
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Whether a property is a ‘flat’ depends on actual use, says county court – OUT-LAW.com
“Whether a property can be considered as a residential ‘flat’ for the purposes of
property litigation will depend on how it is actually used, a county court has
ruled.”
OUT-LAW.com, 24th April 2013
Source: www.out-law.com
The felling of a tree might breach occupier’s right to respect for a home – UK Human Rights Blog
“Lane v Kensington & Chelsea Royal London Borough Council (19 April 2013) – extempore judgement by Sir Raymond Jack QBD.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 25th April 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Judge throws out Sir Victor Blank’s bid to stop basement development – Daily Telegraph
“A High Court judge has opened the way for a City trader to build an underground
swimming pool at his London home, despite objections from a string of
high-profile neighbours, including Sir Victor Blank, the former banker, and
Richard Madeley, the television presenter.”
Daily Telegraph, 25th April 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘In the sure and certain hope of the resurrection’ – Zenith Chambers
“The concept of the tolerated trespasser came about as a result of London Borough of Brent v Burrows [1996] 1 WLR 1448. It is a concept familiar to housing lawyers, and one whose demise was little mourned. It caused much argument, litigation and confusion in housing law. The amendments introduced by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 were intended (by ensuring that a secure tenancy did not come to an end before execution of any possession order) to be the final nail on the coffin of the tolerated trespasser. As a concept, they would no longer exist.”
Full story (PDF)
Zenith Chambers, 23rd April 2013
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
Reeves (Listing Officer) v Northrop – WLR Daily
Reeves (Listing Officer) v Northrop: [2013] EWCA Civ 362; [2013] WLR (D) 141
“In determining whether occupation of a houseboat was rateable the Valuation Tribunal had fallen into error by failing to treat duration of occupation as an important factor in its assessment.”
WLR Daily, 17th April 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Randy, rating, and his (house)boat – UK Human Rights Blog
“Randy Northrop is a Californian and a wanderer in spirit. He lives with his family aboard MY Cannis – see the pic. He got fed up of ‘living in a grotty council house in a rough area’ of Bristol, so bought and renovated this former Thames tug. And nice inside it sounds too – two open fireplaces, several flat screen TVs, a music room and grand piano.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 18th April 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Not So Great Expectations – NearlyLegal
“We are all aware that there is no general entitlement to permanent accommodation via the Part VII route (R v Brent ex p Awua). So it is interesting to find a s.204 appeal where it was argued that the Appellant had a legitimate expectation of permanent accommodation in preference to anything else that the Council might offer.”
NearlyLegal, 17th April 2013
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Don’t look down: The decision in El-Dinnaoui v Westminster City Council – Hardwicke Chambers
“The duty that local authorities have to accommodate homeless applicants in priority need is well established. But that duty, in section 193 of the Housing Act 1996, ceases to apply if a homeless applicant refuses to accept accommodation which is suitable for them.”
Hardwicke Chambers, 12th April 2013
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
Anti-social behaviour – The future – Hardwicke Chambers
“In February 2011 the Home Office produced the consultation document ‘More Effective Responses to Anti-Social Behaviour’ – a response to the earlier document ‘The Coalition: our programme for government’.”
Hardwicke Chambers, 12th April 2013
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
Barratt Homes Ltd v Dŵr Cymru Cyfyngedig (Welsh Water) (No. 2) – WLR Daily
“The breach by a sewerage undertaker of its duty under section 106 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to permit connection of a private sewer to the public sewer did not give rise to a liability in nuisance.”
WLR Daily, 27th March 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Lakanal House fire victims’ families seek compensation – BBC News
“The families of the six people who died in the Lakanal House fire are taking legal action for compensation, BBC London has learned.”
BBC News, 4th April 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
One into Two will go – but only if it’s done reasonably and proportionately – Zenith Chambers
“The Supreme Court has allowed Camden’s appeal from the Court of Appeal ([2011] EWCA Civ 463) on the issue that two separate flats on the same floor of a hostel building could be considered as ‘accommodation available for occupation’ for the applicant, her school-age sister, and her father, who was in ill-health and needed his daughter to care for him.”
Full story (PDF)
Zenith Chambers, 28th March 2013
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
Bedroom Tax, Spare Room Subsidy, or Big Headache – any solutions? – Zenith Chambers
“The Regulations applying the Government’s ‘social sector under-occupancy penalty’ (a politically neutral description at least) are in force from 01/04/13. Broadly, social housing tenants of working age will see a deduction of 14% or 25% of the eligible rent component from their housing benefit, if the HB authority finds they have one or two spare bedrooms respectively.”
Full story (PDF)
Zenith Chambers, 28th March 2013
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
Islington London Borough Council v Unite Group PLC – WLR Daily
Islington London Borough Council v Unite Group PLC: [2013] EWHC 508 (Admin); [2013] WLR (D) 120
“For the purposes of article 3(2) of the Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Prescribed Description) (England) Order 2006 it was the house in multiple occupation that had to comprise of three storeys and not the building in which a house in multiple occupation happened to be found.”
WLR Daily, 22nd March 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Unclear judgment on unclear occupancy – NearlyLegal
“This was an appeal of a Circuit Judge’s finding that LB Brent’s possession claim under Ground 16, Schedule 2 Housing Act 1985 failed because the property was reasonably needed to accommodate those living there. Very unusually, the appeal was in large part a challenge to the Judge’s findings of fact.”
NearlyLegal, 24th March 2013
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/
Tell me a storey – NearlyLegal
“This is an interesting appeal in relation to the counting of storeys for HMO licensing purposes. It actually repeats an argument dealt with in an appeal in a criminal prosecution of a Mr Williams by Cotswold District Council from way back in 2008 although the result here was different (see ‘Recount Your Storeys’ (2009) 12 JHL 1).”
NearlyLegal, 22nd March 2013
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
