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

Illegal eviction – attempted or accomplished? – Nearly Legal

Posted April 3rd, 2023 in appeals, housing, landlord & tenant, local government, news, repossession by sally

‘Not something we see very often, an appeal from a conviction for illegal eviction (not that we see many convictions for illegal eviction in the first place).’

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Nearly Legal, 2nd April 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Council prosecution sees landlords fined £434k for housing offences – Local Government Lawyer

‘Eight landlords – five individuals and three companies – have been fined £434,000 for offences under the Housing Act 2004, including the operation of 14 unlicensed houses in multiple occupation (HMO) and a catalogue of breaches relating to fire safety, tenant information and maintenance of the properties, following a prosecution brought by West Northamptonshire Council.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 3rd April 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Rakusen v Jepsen: Sam Madge-Wyld comments on the decision – Tanfield Chambers

‘On 1 March 2023, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in Rakusen v Jepsen [2023] UKSC 9. In a unanimous decision delivered by Lord Briggs and Lord Burrows in a joint judgment, the court held that the Court of Appeal had been correct in its interpretation that a Rent Repayment Order (RRO) could only be made against the immediate landlord of a tenancy that generates the relevant rent.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 3rd March 2023

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Law Commission to review “inflexible” Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 30th, 2023 in landlord & tenant, Law Commission, leases, news by sally

‘The Law Commission of England and Wales has announced it will review part of the “inflexible, bureaucratic and out of date” Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 29th March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Landlords to get power to evict antisocial tenants with two weeks’ notice – The Guardian

Posted March 28th, 2023 in landlord & tenant, news, notification, repossession by sally

‘Landlords are to be given new powers to evict problematic tenants with two weeks’ notice under government proposals to address antisocial behaviour.’

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The Guardian, 27th March 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Jed Meers, Joe Tomlinson, Alice Welsh and Charlotte O’Brien: Rights on Paper? The Discriminatory Effects of Digital Immigration Status on Private Landlord Decisions – Constitutional Law Association

‘Under the EU settlement scheme, millions of EU, EEA and Swiss nationals have been granted “digital-only” immigration status. Instead of having physical documentation to prove their immigration status, these individuals must rely on an online proof-of-status service through the GOV.UK website. We wanted to examine whether individuals with this form of “digital only” status are disadvantaged in the private rented sector by exploring the decision-making behaviour of English landlords when choosing between prospective tenants. The so-called “Right to Rent” policy requires English private landlords to check the immigration status of a tenant or lodger, to ensure they can legally rent their property. In practice, this happens by inspecting their proof of ID. We therefore had two questions. First, are the tenant preferences of English private rented sector landlords influenced by ID status? Second, to what extent is ID status a significant factor in English private rented sector landlord preferences, relative to factors already known to influence landlord decision-making (such as age, gender, ethnicity, and occupation)?’

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Constitutional Law Association, 14th March 2023

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Ombudsman issues special report on Catalyst Housing over ‘repeated failures’ indicative of wider service failure – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 13th, 2023 in complaints, housing, landlord & tenant, maladministration, news, ombudsmen by tracey

‘The Housing Ombudsman has called for significant improvements at Catalyst Housing ahead of its merger with another major social landlord, Peabody, following an investigation that found it “routinely failed to recognise formal complaints” and that aspects of its service were “arbitrary, disjointed and concerning”.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 13th March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Council told to pay nearly £10k after woman forced to live in unsuitable accommodation for three years – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found that Croydon Council placed a woman fleeing domestic violence in “unsuitable accommodation” for three years, as well as finding poor complaint handling.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 13th March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Ex-council tenant given suspended sentence, ordered to pay £10k after failing to inform London borough she had vacated property – Local Government Lawyer

‘A former council tenant who vacated the home to live at a property she had purchased elsewhere but failed to inform the local authority has received a £10,000 fine and suspended prison sentence.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 9th March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Research Briefing: The end of ‘no fault’ section 21 evictions – House of Commons Library

‘The Queen’s Speech 2022 committed to a Bill in the 2022-23 session to abolish ‘no-fault’ section 21 evictions in the private rented sector. This paper covers developments to date.’

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House of Commons Library, 7th March 2023

Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk

New judgment: Rakusen v Jepsen and others [2023] UKSC 9 – UKSC Blog

‘This appeal is about Rent Repayment Orders. These are orders that can be made against landlords that have committed certain housing-related offences. They require a landlord to repay an amount of rent paid by a tenant (or pay to a local housing authority an amount of universal credit paid in respect of rent). The question which arises is whether they can only be made against a tenant’s immediate landlord, or whether they can be made against a landlord higher up in a chain of tenancies (e.g. the landlord of the tenant’s immediate landlord) – referred to as a “superior landlord”.’

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UKSC Blog, 1st March 2023

Source: ukscblog.com

Rent Repayment Orders – just the immediate landlord – Nearly Legal

‘The issue for the Supreme Court was whether the wording of section 40 and 41 Housing and Planning Act 2016 meant that a rent repayment order could be made against only a tenant’s immediate landlord, or also against a superior landlord (where the occupying tenant’s landlord themselves had a tenancy of the property) where that landlord had also committed a relevant offence.’

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Nearly Legal, 5th March 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Court bid to protect against ‘ghost landlords’ fails – BBC News

‘A legal bid to protect tenants from so called “ghost landlords” has failed, in a move that could have significant implications for people looking to claim their rent back if they live in bad conditions.’

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BBC News, 2nd March 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Supreme Court rules rent repayment orders cannot be made against superior landlords – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Supreme Court has upheld a Court of Appeal ruling that a rent repayment order cannot be made against a superior landlord.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 1st March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Government proposes new professional requirements for social housing managers – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 28th, 2023 in examinations, health & safety, housing, landlord & tenant, news, standards by sally

‘The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced yesterday (26 February) that social housing managers must gain professional qualifications under new rules to “protect residents and raise standards in the sector”.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 28th February 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Supreme Court to rule next week over rent repayment orders and superior landlord liability – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Supreme Court will next week (1 March) hand down its ruling in a dispute over whether a rent repayment order can only be made against an immediate landlord or whether a superior landlord can also be liable.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 24th February 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Estate agent who failed to comply with selective licensing scheme to pay £35k after council prosecution – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 22nd, 2023 in estate agents, fines, housing, landlord & tenant, local government, news by tracey

‘An estate agent that failed to license three residential properties subject to a selective licensing scheme has been ordered to pay £35,000 following a successful prosecution by Enfield Council.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 20th February 2021

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk