Renters (Reform) Bill – overview Part 2 – Nearly Legal

Posted May 19th, 2023 in animals, bills, housing, landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent by tracey

‘Following on from yesterday (17 May) publication of the Renters (Reform) Bill and Part 1 of my overview of what the Bill does, onwards to the rest of it. Pets! There has been a lot of fuss about this, but as Tessa Shepperson has sagely observed, it doesn’t really make much of a change to existing law. The Bill adds an implied term that the tenant has a right to request to keep a pet and that the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse such a request. Where the landlord’s own lease forbids pets, or requires the superior landlord’s consent, the landlord is to request this. It is not unreasonable for a landlord to refuse permission if their superior landlord had refused consent, or if the landlord’s own lease forbids pets.’

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Nearly Legal , 18th May 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Housing case law update – April 2023 – Local Government Lawyer

‘Emily Howe, Kelly Lloyd and Laura Waby round up the latest housing law judgments of interest to housing associations and local authorities.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 17th May 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Tighter damp and mould regulations set to impact registered providers – Local Government Lawyer

‘Six months after the conclusion of the inquest into the tragic death of Awaab Ishak, Matthew Bown and Amy Cowap outline the various measures set to be implemented to ensure tighter regulation of registered providers of social housing, with a specific focus on damp and mould issues.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 17th May 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Section 106 obligation to transfer land to council no longer enforceable – Local Government lawyer

Posted May 19th, 2023 in covenants, enforcement, housing, local government, news by tracey

‘A High Court judge has ruled that a s.106 obligation to transfer land to a council for a nominal sum of £1 where affordable housing had not been delivered by a specified date was no longer enforceable. Barristers at Francis Taylor Building explain why.’

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Local Government lawyer, 19th May 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Bristol van dwellers to challenge council injunction – BBC News

Posted May 19th, 2023 in complaints, housing, injunctions, local government, news by tracey

‘People living in vans on a residential road are to challenge legal action taken by a council to move them on. Bristol City Council was granted an injunction order on Greenbank View, in Easton, after complaints from local residents.’

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BBC News, 18th May 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Renters (Reform) Bill – the good, the potentially good and the ugly. Part 1 – Nearly Legal

Posted May 18th, 2023 in bills, housing, landlord & tenant, news, repossession by sally

‘It is finally here, a mere five years from first being promised. The Renters (Reform) Bill has started its parliamentary journey today (17 May). As it stands, it is the largest reform to tenancies in England since 1988 (Wales having done its own, even more significant, thing).’

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Nearly Legal, 17th May 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Research Briefing: The regulation of letting and managing agents (England) – House of Commons Library

Posted May 17th, 2023 in estate agents, housing, landlord & tenant, news, parliament by sally

‘This paper describes the current regulatory regime in England and plans to strengthen regulation of letting and managing agents.’

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House of Commons Library, 16th May 2023

Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk

Errol Graham: Chances missed to help man who starved to death – BBC News

‘Opportunities to help a man who starved to death were missed, a safeguarding review has found.’

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BBC News, 14th May 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Suitability duties and reasonable preferences that weren’t unreasonable – Nearly Legal

‘A judicial review on three grounds:

i) Breach of section 193(2) Housing Act 1996 duty to secure suitable accommodation;

ii) The Westminster’s allocation policy was unlawful in that it denied the applicant medical need priority reasonable preference, restricting him to homeless reasonable preference; and

iii) Breach of the duty under section 166A(9)(a)(ii) Housing Act 1996 to provide the applicant sufficient information to permit the applicant to determine whether housing accommodation appropriate to his needs is likely to be available to him and, if so, how long it is likely to be before such accommodation becomes available for allocation to him.’

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Nearly Legal, 8th May 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

London estate resident goes to high court over demolition plans – The Guardian

Posted May 10th, 2023 in housing, local government, London, news, planning by sally

‘A woman who has lived on the same council estate for 30 years has taken developers and her local authority to the high court over plans to demolish her home.’

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The Guardian, 9th May 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Ombudsman calls on major social landlord to pay more than £5k compensation after family left in “dangerous and unacceptable conditions” – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 4th, 2023 in compensation, complaints, health & safety, housing, news by tracey

‘The Housing Ombudsman found severe maladministration for housing association A2Dominion after its poor complaint handling left a mother and her family living in “dangerous and unacceptable conditions”.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th May 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

New Acts – legislation.gov.uk

Posted May 3rd, 2023 in ballots, housing, legislation, public order by tracey

2023 c. 15 – Public Order Act 2023

2023 c. 12 – Ballot Secrecy Act 2023

2023 c. 11 – Mobile Homes (Pitch Fees) Act 2023

Source: www.legislation.gov.uk

Judge allows appeal against decisions of city council over whether accommodation was unsuitable – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 3rd, 2023 in appeals, burden of proof, homelessness, housing, local government, news by tracey

‘A homelessness appeal has been allowed on three out of four grounds on behalf of a man who was placed in unsuitable accommodation by Cambridge City Council.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 2nd May 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Judge approves £150 million settlement of Grenfell compensation claims – The Independent

‘A judge has approved a “global” settlement of compensation claims made by people affected by the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.’

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The Independent, 2nd May 2023

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Suitability review – excluding information, and ending existing accommodation – Nearly Legal

Posted May 2nd, 2023 in housing, landlord & tenant, local government, news, statutory duty by tracey

‘Querino v Cambridge City Council. County Court at Cambridge, 29 March 2023. Continuing the trend (of which I wholeheartedly approve) of people sending me notes of judgments, the following is a note of a s.204 appeal of a suitability review decision from Toby Vanhegan of 4-5 Gray’s Inn and Manjinder Atwal of Duncan Lewis, for which we are very grateful. The issues were i) whether a “minded to” letter should have been sent, ii) whether the council should have been satisfied that the applicant could end his licence in time to take up the offer of Part VI accommodation, and iii) the review officer had wrongly excluded the applicant’s supporting material from CAFCASS.’

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Nearly Legal, 1st May 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Military sites and asylum seeker accommodation – Local Government Lawyer

‘The High Court recently struck out an application by a council for an injunction to prevent the use of an airfield for asylum accommodation. Paul Brown KC, Nick Grant and Rebecca Sage explain why.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 28th April 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Tree that damaged house too valuable to cut down – BBC News

Posted April 28th, 2023 in housing, local government, news, planning, trees by tracey

‘A man who claims a five-metre branch fell from a tree and damaged his house has been told it is too valuable to be cut down.’

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BBC News, 27th April 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

No surrender – Nearly Legal

Posted April 24th, 2023 in appeals, housing, landlord & tenant, local government, news by tracey

‘City of Westminster Council v Kazam & Anor (2023) EWHC 825 (KB). It is always the joint tenancies that cause problems. This was an appeal of a first instance decision dismissing a claim for possession by Westminster and declaring that Mr Rahimi had succeeded to a secure tenancy. It all turned on whether there had been a surrender and regrant of the tenancy to Mr Rahimi’s grandmother, Mrs Hussain.’

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Nearly Legal, 23rd April 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Local authority serving notices – requirements – Nearly Legal

‘Birmingham City Council v Bravington (2023) EWCA Civ 308. A quick one – A possession claim under s.84A Housing Act 1985 requires service of a notice under section 83ZA. In this case.’

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Nearly Legal, 23rd April 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Home Secretary considers new ‘sex for rent’ law – Home Office

Posted April 24th, 2023 in government departments, housing, landlord & tenant, news, sexual offences, women by tracey

‘A public call for evidence has been launched to establish the scale of “sex for rent” in the UK and ask if existing laws protect victims.’

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Home Office, 21st April 2023

Source: www.gov.uk