The lawlessness of private rent lets us all down – Garden Court Chambers Blog

Posted July 31st, 2013 in bills, landlord & tenant, local government, news, rent by sally

“Liz Davies considers the ways in which landlords have benefited from the credit crisis and explores how tenants could be given increased security through five-year tenancies.”

Full story

Garden Court Chambers Blog, 30th July 2013

Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com

Ex-wife of RAF officer fights MoD eviction order in court – Daily Telegraph

“The former wife of an RAF squadron leader is taking on the Ministry of Defence in a High Court test case, claiming that a move to evict her — after her husband walked out — violates her human rights.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 29th July 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Giving tenants a break – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted July 19th, 2013 in landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent by sally

“A recent case in the Chancery Division is the latest in a series concerning payment of rent as a condition of exercising a break clause: Marks & Spencer Plc v BNP Paribas Securities Services Trust Co (Jersey) Ltd [2013] EWHC 1279; [2013] 22 EG 92. In this series of cases, tenants have sought to overcome the apparent unfairness of paying quarterly rent due in advance as a condition of exercising a break clause part way through a quarter, leading to an overpayment of rent when compared pro rata to the period of actual occupancy.”

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 15th July 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

BDW Trading Ltd and another v South Anglia Housing Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted July 17th, 2013 in consultations, landlord & tenant, law reports, service charges by sally

BDW Trading Ltd and another v South Anglia Housing Ltd [2013] WLR (D) 282

“Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which provided for consultation requirements to apply to ‘qualifying long term agreements’ (‘QLTA’), had no application to a long term agreement entered into in relation to buildings which had not yet been constructed, or which were not let at the time of the agreement.”

WLR Daily, 15th July 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Jimmy Mubenga: Home Office official makes qualified apology to family – The Guardian

“David Wood, the head of the Home Office’s immigration enforcement, has given a qualified apology to the family of Jimmy Mubenga, the Angolan asylum seeker who an inquest jury last week ruled was unlawfully killed by three G4S escort guards.”

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The Guardian, 16th July 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

McFail – NearlyLegal

“This was a case that was potentially important for establishing whether Article 8 defences could be run by private tenants, or by licencees and occupiers of private land. Despite Sir Alan Ward’s opening, the case falls short of being that, as we shall see.”

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NearlyLegal, 7th July 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Proposals for landlord checks to tackle illegal migrants renting – Home Office

“Private landlords will be required to check the immigration status of new tenants under government proposals being launched in a consultation today.”

Full press release

Home Office,3rd July 2013

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Private landlords face £3,000 fines for renting to illegal immigrants – Daily Telegraph

Posted July 4th, 2013 in consultations, fines, immigration, landlord & tenant, news by sally

“Private landlords face fines of up to £3,000 if they fail to inspect tenants’ passports and other identity documents to establish that they are not illegal immigrants.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 3rd July 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

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Consultations on upcoming immigration bill – UK Border Agency

Posted July 4th, 2013 in bills, consultations, health, immigration, landlord & tenant, news by sally

“The government has launched two consultations seeking views on proposed immigration legislation.”

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UK Border Agency, 3rd July 2013

Source: www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk

Game “rent on administration” case to be fast-tracked to the Court of Appeal – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 3rd, 2013 in administrators, appeals, expenses, insolvency, landlord & tenant, news, rent by sally

“Landlords pursuing the administrators of Game for millions of pounds in rent that went unpaid while the retailer was insolvent will have their case fast-tracked to the Court of Appeal, according to press reports.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 2nd July 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Property tribunals combine in new first-tier chamber – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted July 2nd, 2013 in agricultural holdings, landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent, tribunals by sally

“A new consolidated property tribunal came into existence today with a single set of procedural rules aimed at simplifying the process.”

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Law Society’s Gazette, 1st July 2013

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Private landlords, disability discrimination and mandatory possession claims – What is the relevance? – Hardwicke Chambers

“Last year Arthur Moore and I ran a seminar in Chancery Lane on the (then) vexed question of to what extent Article 8 and Article 1 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights impacted upon private landlords’ possession claims.”

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 20th June 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

There’s no place like home – NearlyLegal

“Reading BC v Holt is an important case on the approach to be taken by the courts when making possession orders under Ground 16 (and since 1/4/12, 15A) of the Housing Act 1985.”

Full story

NearlyLegal, 23rd June 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Cravecrest Ltd v Trustees of the Will of the Second Duke of Westminster and another – WLR Daily

Posted June 21st, 2013 in appeals, enfranchisement, landlord & tenant, law reports, leases, valuation, wills by tracey

Cravecrest Ltd v Trustees of the Will of the Second Duke of Westminster and another: [2013] EWCA Civ 731; [2013] WLR (D) 243

“Where there were intermediate leases which subsisted between the freehold and the leases of the participating tenants and which were to be acquired by the nominee purchaser on the collective enfranchisement, and a single owner of those leases or of those leases and the freehold could realise development value by developing the property for use other than as a building containing separate flats, the hope of realising such development value had to be taken into account in fixing the price to be paid for the intermediate leases.”

WLR Daily, 19th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Tenant was able to remove items it had installed in property, High Court rules – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 20th, 2013 in energy, landlord & tenant, news by sally

“A recent High Court decision in which a tenant was entitled to remove large items it had installed on rented premises will provide comfort to developers in the energy and minerals sectors, an expert has said.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 20th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Superstrike Ltd v Rodrigues – WLR Daily

Posted June 18th, 2013 in appeals, deposits, landlord & tenant, law reports by sally

Superstrike Ltd v Rodrigues [2013] EWCA Civ 669; [2013] WLR (D) 235

“Where a tenant had paid a deposit under an assured shorthold tenancy for a fixed term which began before, but ended after, the commencement of section 213 of the Housing Act 2004, the landlord was obliged to deal with the deposit in accordance with an authorised scheme within 14 days of the coming into being of a new statutory periodic tenancy upon expiry of the fixed term; and by virtue of section 215(1) of the 2004 Act, non-compliance with that obligation precluded service by the landlord of a valid notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.”

WLR Daily, 14th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Granting alterations licence discharged guarantor from liability, High Court rules – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 18th, 2013 in landlord & tenant, leases, news by sally

“Granting a licence for alterations without the consent of the guarantor can be enough to discharge the guarantor’s liability under the lease, the High Court has said.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 18th June 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Deposit received, one way or another – NearlyLegal

Posted June 17th, 2013 in appeals, deposits, landlord & tenant, news, penalties by sally

“There are still some questions to be cleared up on tenancy deposit law and this Court of Appeal case neatly deals with one of them, while opening up what might be a very large can of worms.”

Full story

NearlyLegal, 15th June 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Reading Borough Council v Holt – WLR Daily

Reading Borough Council v Holt [2013] EWCA Civ 641; [2013] WLR (D) 222

“When determining whether a possession order should be made under section 84 of the Housing Act 1985, the expression ‘suitable accommodation’ in section 84(2)(b) and (c) and Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1985 was broad enough to encompass accommodation identified by reference to its essential characteristics and did not require the identification of a specific property.”

WLR Daily, 7th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Johnson v. Old, deposits and rent paid by housing benefit – The Barristers’ Hub

Posted June 13th, 2013 in appeals, benefits, deposits, housing, landlord & tenant, news, rent by sally

“We’ve all seen the ubiquitous scene from the American court-room drama where the bespectacled and previously underrated legal assistant/student/intern etc. bursts into the back of the crowded court, and shouts ‘State v. Jones’ whilst waving the paper judgment triumphantly at the judge. The judge is thereby stopped from making the patently unjust ruling he was about to make, changing his mind in favour of the film’s protagonist. This doesn’t happen in real life, so it was with much anticipation that I awaited the case of Johnson v Old [2013] EWCA Civ 415, which I used in court less than 24 hours after it was handed down. My thanks go to Karen Reid, one of our pupils at 1 Gray’s Inn Square, who rushed from the RCJ, clutching the judgment, ink still drying from Sir John Chadwick’s quill (well, printer at least).”

Full story

The Barristers’ Hub, 12th June 2013

Source: www.barristershub.co.uk