Helman v Keepers and Governors of the Possessions, Revenues and Goods of the Free Grammar School of John Lyon – WLR Daily

Helman v Keepers and Governors of the Possessions, Revenues and Goods of the Free Grammar School of John Lyon [2014] EWCA Civ 17; [2014] WLR (D) 20

‘Where the tenant of a long lease became bankrupt, a notice claiming to exercise the right of enfranchisement, pursuant to Part I of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, served in the name of the bankrupt tenant by a receiver, appointed by a sub-chargee of the property, was invalid as by the time the notice was served the tenant was no longer the tenant as his tenancy had vested in his trustee in bankruptcy.’

WLR Daily, 22nd January 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

High Court slams council for “act of retaliation” against PI law firm which sued it – Legal Futures

‘A local authority’s refusal to offer a law firm tenant a new lease was “an act of retaliation, pure and simple”, to punish the firm for bringing personal injury claims against it, the High Court found last week.’

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Legal Futures, 27th January 2014

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

HB and Exempt accommodation: unreasonably high rent – NearlyLegal

Posted January 24th, 2014 in benefits, housing, landlord & tenant, news, rent, service charges by sally

‘I admit that SS v Birmingham CC [2013] UKUT 418 (AAC) has been on my to do list for a while and that, possibly, the main reason for finding the time to write it up is because I’m on a two hour strike (#fairpayinHE). But, it is a really quite important case about the application of the unreasonably high rent rule for “exempt accommodation” in Reg 13 and Sch 3 of the 2006 Housing Benefit regs. The principal question of law concerns the meaning of “suitable alternative accommodation” in those regs.’

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NearlyLegal, 23rd January 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Guarantor was released from obligations when alterations to property were made without its consent, Appeal Court confirms – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 24th, 2014 in insolvency, landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent, surety by sally

‘The guarantor of an insolvent commercial tenant cannot be held liable for outstanding obligations if changes were made to the lease without its consent which had the “potential” to increase the burden on the guarantor, the Court of Appeal has confirmed.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 23rd January 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Putting it off – NearlyLegal

Posted January 9th, 2014 in housing, landlord & tenant, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘Before I come to the facts of Scriven and others v Calthorpe Estates [2013] UKUT 469 (LC), I need, I think, to give a fair bit of background. Even by the comprehensive standards of NL, this is pretty obscure.’

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NearlyLegal, 8th January 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Shorthold tenancies and council tax liability – NearlyLegal

Posted January 6th, 2014 in appeals, benefits, council tax, landlord & tenant, local government, news by sally

‘If a tenant on a statutory periodic tenancy stops living in the property, but the tenancy is not ended, who is liable for the Council Tax?’

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NearlyLegal, 3rd January 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

What role does mediation play in social housing? – Hardwicke Chambers

‘At a case management hearing in the LVT (as it then was) back in March 2013, the chair said that, whilst normally he would direct that the parties to that dispute should attempt mediation, he was aware that it was “usually pointless” doing so where public funds are at stake as public bodies generally cannot justify the arbitrary reductions that can be necessary for a mediation to succeed, and fear creating some form of precedent. Misguided as I thought the chair was, it did seem likely that he might have been speaking from many years of experience.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 3rd December 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

The Permissive Notice – NearlyLegal

Posted December 9th, 2013 in appeals, interpretation, landlord & tenant, news, repossession by sally

‘Spencer v Taylor [2013] EWCA Civ 1600. This case was flagged recently on the Arden Chambers eflash service. This flash gave some bare bones details and led to much debate on the internal NL email discussion list. However, we now have the vital transcript and so we can give a proper report.’

Full story

NearlyLegal, 8th December 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Allocation, Allocation, Allocation – NearlyLegal

‘Leicester CC v Shearer is a rare example of a successful public law defence to a claim for possession.”

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NearlyLegal, 24th November 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/

Breaking bad – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted November 19th, 2013 in defences, landlord & tenant, leases, news by sally

“The serving of a bad or defective notice has produced a wealth of litigation over the years. The fact that no-one has been misled, confused or in any way disadvantaged has never deterred those who want to take the point, particularly where the stakes are high. And, they are usually not higher where commercial leases are concerned and the tenant wants to break the lease. Where there may be grotesquely disproportionate and serious consequences for the party (or its adviser) who gets it wrong, a range of different responses has evolved in order for the courts to produce a more just outcome.”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 4th November 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Rent recovery after exercising a break clause – New Square Chambers

Posted November 5th, 2013 in contracts, landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent by sally

“A tenant’s option to determine a commercial lease (a ‘break clause’) is a common feature of the modern landlord and tenant relationship. As a result of the weak economy and the ability of tenants to determine unilaterally an unfavourable lease on terms, there have recently been a number of reported decisions concerning the disputed exercise of break clauses. The typical interests in conflict have been described in Canonical UK Ltd v TST Millbank LLC [2012] EWHC 3710 (Ch) by Vos J (para 3): ‘This is a hard case for both sides. The tenant company … needs to know if it has successfully broken the lease because its future business depends on using its resources elsewhere. The landlord in these poor economic times seeks to use any argument it properly can to keep its building tenanted.'”

Full story (PDF)

New Square Chambers, 31st October 2013

Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk

Don’t ignore the Court of Appeal – NearlyLegal

Posted November 1st, 2013 in appeals, damages, harassment, landlord & tenant, news, repossession by sally

“A rather unusual unlawful eviction case, this, involving as it does breaches of Court of Appeal stays of warrant, and High Court appeals of judgment and damages where both parties were in person.”

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NearlyLegal, 31st October 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

PGF II SA v OMFS Co 1 Ltd – WLR Daily

PGF II SA v OMFS Co 1 Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 1288 ; [2013] WLR (D) 405

“As a general rule, complete silence in the face of a serious invitation to consider alternative dispute resolution amounted to unreasonable conduct and the judge in his discretion could impose costs sanctions.”

WLR Daily, 23rd October 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Landlords threaten legal action over mortgage rates – BBC News

Posted October 28th, 2013 in contracts, interest, landlord & tenant, mortgages, news, rent by sally

“Buy-to-let landlords are threatening to take legal action against what they say are unjustified interest rate rises.”

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BBC News, 26th October 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Landlord handed £75K confiscation order after admitting planning breaches – Local Government Lawyer

Posted October 24th, 2013 in confiscation, landlord & tenant, news, planning, proceeds of crime by tracey

“A landlord who illegally split two houses into flats has been ordered to pay a London council £75,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.”

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Local Government Lawyer, 23rd October 2013

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

High Court decision is a reminder of the dangers of a lengthy holding over period followingon lease expiry, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 18th, 2013 in landlord & tenant, leases, news by tracey

“A recent High Court decision should act as a reminder to both landlords and
tenants that the frequent practice of the tenant continuing in occupation of
commercial premises (holding over) after the expiry of some leases can lead to
unexpected consequences, an expert has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 18th October 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Strike while the iron’s hot – recent developments in Tenancy Deposits, with more surely on the way – Zenith Chambers

Posted October 15th, 2013 in appeals, deposits, landlord & tenant, news, repossession by sally

“The facts of this new Court of Appeal decision – on the effect of a change in tenancy status on a landlord’s duty to protect a tenancy deposit – are deceptively simple. Its wider effects on claims to recover possession are yet to be felt.”

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Zenith Chambers, 10th October 2013

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

POSHFA! – NearlyLegal

Posted October 15th, 2013 in confiscation, crime, housing, landlord & tenant, news, rent by sally

“The Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act comes into force tomorrow (Tuesday 15 October 2013) in England only. The text of the Act is here. A key point is the introduction of ‘Unlawful Profit Orders’, which get around the decision of the Court of Appeal in Sumal v Newham London Borough Council [2012] EWCA Crim 1840 that confiscation of rent was not possible because ‘the continued receipt of the rent was not the product of the appellants crime’. (Admittedly that was a prosecution for an unlicensed property in a selective licensing area under section 95(1) of the Housing Act 2004, but the point about confiscation not being enabled under statute had broader application).”

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NearlyLegal, 14th October 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Do you have a Right to Rent? – NearlyLegal

Posted October 11th, 2013 in bills, housing, human rights, immigration, landlord & tenant, news by sally

“The Government has today published the Immigration Bill in the Commons. We have previously commented on this planned bill and we had been hoping that it might be quietly shelved or downgraded. However that appears not to be the case. From our point of view we are only interested in the housing related provisions in Chapter 1 of Part 3 (which start here) and I am not going to discuss the rest of the Bill.”

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NearlyLegal, 10th October 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

The (absence of) reasons in Redcar – NearlyLegal

Posted October 7th, 2013 in appeals, benefits, disabled persons, housing, landlord & tenant, news by sally

“You may well have seen or heard press stories on a First Tier tribunal bedroom tax appeal decision in Redcar and Cleveland. There has been a lot of excitable comment about it representing a ‘landmark appeal‘ and ‘hope for 440,000 disabled’. Even the tenant’s landlord, who supported her, described it as ‘fantastic news’ which ‘which should give hope to hundreds of thousands of disabled people right across the country’.”

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NearlyLegal, 5th October 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk