Landlords in England get ready for right to rent – Home Office

‘Landlords in England are being reminded that there is less than a month to go before “right to rent” rules go live.’

Full press release

Home Office, 8th January 2016

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Radical thinking on enfranchisement – Tanfield Chambers

Posted December 9th, 2015 in enfranchisement, housing, landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent by sally

‘The law of enfranchisement is very complicated. A whole industry has evolved to try to interpret the provisions of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 (“the 1967 Act”) and the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (“the 1993 Act”) and put them into practice. The cost and frustration to leaseholders of such a convoluted process is considerable.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 3rd December 2015

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Interim Rent under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted December 9th, 2015 in housing, landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent by sally

‘While many practitioners are familiar with the general workings of lease renewals under the ’54 Act, there is one aspect of the law that is often overlooked: interim rent under sections 24A to D. Andy Creer takes a look at the law.’

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Hardwicke Chambers, 20th November 2015

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Marks and Spencer plc v BNP Paribas Securities Services Trust Co (Jersey) Ltd and another – WLR Daily

Posted December 4th, 2015 in apportionment, interpretation, landlord & tenant, law reports, leases, rent by tracey

Marks and Spencer plc v BNP Paribas Securities Services Trust Co (Jersey) Ltd and another: [2015] UKSC 72; [2015] WLR (D) 501

‘A term would only be implied into a detailed commercial contract if its implication were necessary to give business efficacy to the contract or so obvious that went without saying.’

WLR Daily, 2nd December 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Over egging it – Nearly Legal

‘This was a Court of Appeal hearing on an appeal on costs. The original case was the landlord’s claim for rent arrears of some £6,000 and interest. The landlord also claimed for physical damage to the property by the tenant amounting to some £20,000 and consequential loss of rent. The tenant agreed some £6,000 in rent arrears, but denied the property damage. The tenant counterclaimed for failure to repair the property and breach of quiet enjoyment. The tenant also challenged the landlord’s identity as landlord and the interest rate claimed.’

Full story

Nearly Legal, 9th November 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Affordability and intentionality – adding it up – Nearly Legal

‘A second appeal from a s.204 County Court appeal that addressed the council’s decision-making on whether the property from which Ms Samuels had become homeless was affordable (and thus, whether she was intentionally homeless for failing to pay the full rent).’

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Nearly Legal, 8th November 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Watford landlord fined £30,000 for housing 12 tenants in five-person flat – The Guardian

‘A landlord who made almost £27,000 a year by cramming 12 tenants into a property meant for five – with some sleeping in storerooms – has been fined £30,000 after pleading guilty to overcrowding.’

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The Guardian, 4th November 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Landlord must hand back £70,000 in rent for letting substandard flat – The Guardian

Posted October 23rd, 2015 in landlord & tenant, news, proceeds of crime, rent, repayment by sally

‘A landlord who rented out a storage basement as self-contained accommodation for £975 a month after it was declared substandard has been ordered to pay back £70,000 in rent under the Proceeds of Crime Act.’

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The Guardian, 22nd October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Right to rent checks introduced for landlords in England – Home Office

Posted October 21st, 2015 in bills, documents, human rights, immigration, landlord & tenant, news, passports, penalties, rent by sally

‘The government has announced today that from 1 February 2016, all private landlords in England will have to check new tenants have the right to be in the UK before renting out their property.’

Full story

Home Office, 20th October 2015

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Austerity and Public Law: Jed Meers: The Localism-and-Austerity Hybrid: The Case of Discretionary Housing Payments – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted October 21st, 2015 in benefits, bills, budgets, housing, local government, news, rent by sally

‘In 2001, a small scale form of discretionary support was introduced to assist those on housing benefit who were unable to afford their rent: discretionary housing payments (DHPs). The numbers of awards were modest, reaching approximately 2,000 in 2002/3, and representing just £21million of expenditure per annum as recently as 2008/9 (source). This same scheme – administered by Local Authorities – now makes more than 390,000 awards per annum and the July budget of 2015 has allocated £800million for their use across the course of this Parliament.’

Full story

UK Constitutional Law Association, 21st October 2015

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Listen very carefully, I shall do this only once – Nearly Legal

‘The Claimant in R (on the application of Brooks) v LB Islington [2015] EWHC 2657 (Admin) was the mother of 3 children, who applied to the local authority as homeless following her eviction from a housing association property for rent arrears on 24/3/2015. Sadly, Ms B’s adult, terminally ill, son died two days after the offer of interim accommodation that was the subject of this judicial review.’

Full story

Nearly Legal, 27th September 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

‘It did seem to be expensive’ – Nearly Legal

Posted August 14th, 2015 in landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent, service charges by tracey

‘Gateway (Leeds) Management Ltd v (1) Naghash (2) Shamsizadeh [2015] UKUT 333 (LC). If a head leaseholder, or managing company passes on as a service charge, rent charged by a freeholder for property in order to provide services, does this amount to a variable service charge for the purposes of s.18 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and so only payable if the rent costs were reasonably incurred and if the services or works to which they relate were of a reasonable standard?’

Full story

Nearly Legal, 8th August 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

‘It did seem to be expensive’ – Nearly Legal

Posted August 11th, 2015 in appeals, costs, landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent, service charges, tribunals by sally

If a head leaseholder, or managing company passes on as a service charge, rent charged by a freeholder for property in order to provide services, does this amount to a variable service charge for the purposes of s.18 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and so only payable if the rent costs were reasonably incurred and if the services or works to which they relate were of a reasonable standard?

Full story

Nearly Legal, 9th August 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Insurers win the latest round in credit hire match – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted July 28th, 2015 in appeals, insurance, news, rent by sally

‘The insurers have won the most recent bout in what has been an ongoing slugfest between them and credit hire organisations (CHOs) for more than 20 years. The Court of Appeal has given guidance about calculating the basic hire rate (BHR) which favours the Insurers.’

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 2nd June 2015

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Assessment of interim rent – New Square Chambers

Posted July 25th, 2015 in landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent, time limits by sally

‘As everyone knows, the court, in the case of a business lease with security of tenure, and subject to certain grounds for refusal, can order the grant of a new business for a term of up to 15 years. The new lease normally now starts from the date of the court order. However there may be a gap between the expiry of the original lease and the start of, or as the case may be, the refusal of a new lease, a gap that may be significant in the case of a hotly contested case. During this interim period, the court can order that the tenant pay an interim rent to the landlord.’

Full story

New Square Chambers, 29th July 2015

Source: www.newsquarechambers.co.uk

Right-to-buy battle looms in Lords – The Guardian

Posted July 20th, 2015 in bills, budgets, charities, housing, local government, news, parliament, rent, statistics by tracey

‘The Tories’ plan to extend the right to buy to housing association tenants will face stiff opposition in the House of Lords this week, amid growing concern that it will compromise the independence of charities and add hugely to government debt.’

Full story

The Guardian, 18th July 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

An inconvenient problem – Nearly Legal

Posted June 12th, 2015 in benefits, homelessness, housing, local government, news, rent by sally

‘This is not a usual blog post. I was asked to do an analysis of the proposed £23,000 pa benefit cap, its impact on housing, homelessness and the legal position, with a focus on London, for use elsewhere and for a purpose which shall remain nameless. But I feel this needs wider sharing.’

Full story

Nearly Legal, 10th June 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Dear Occupier – Nearly Legal

Posted June 9th, 2015 in costs, housing, land registration, mortgages, news, rent by tracey

‘For reasons that will become clear in this post, rentcharges are a bit of a legal oddity. It has been a new realm for me, but I was intrigued by this case, and wiser members of the NL collective have held my hand as I headed down this particular rabbit hole.’

Full story

Nearly Legal, 8th June 0215

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Credit Hire Simplified? – Zenith PI Blog

Posted May 21st, 2015 in appeals, consumer credit, damages, news, rent by sally

‘In cases where the hirer of a car on credit terms is not impecunious, we thought we knew where we stood after Dimond v Lovell [2001] 1AC 384. The Claimant was entitled to recover the ‘spot rate’ or, as the Court of Appeal in Pattni v First Leicester Buses Ltd [2012] RTR 17 insisted, ‘basic hire rate’ or BHR. In Burdis v Livsey [2003] QB 36, three possible ways of calculating the basic hire rate were considered and indeed that consideration was repeated by Aikens LJ in Pattni. Both the Court of Appeal in Burdis and the Court of Appeal in Pattni rejected the mode of calculation of applying a reasonable discount to the credit hire rate charged. That left two methods of calculation. The first, which was not favoured by the Court of Appeal in Burdis, was to break down the charge made by the credit hire company and remove the additional elements from the claim in respect of credit, claim handling and delivery &c. The Court of Appeal in Burdis thought that the cost of working all that out might well be disproportionate. The court in Pattni, however, considered that where the actual credit hire company which had hired the replacement car to the Claimant, disclosed the BHR for that type of car in that area at that time, that might well be the best mode of calculation.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 20th May 2015

Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com

UK housing crisis ‘in breach of human rights’ – The Guardian

Posted April 28th, 2015 in charities, housing, human rights, news, rent, reports by sally

‘The UK is in breach of its own United Nations human rights commitment to provide people with adequate homes because the housing crisis is so serious, a consortium of leading housing charities has warned. They cite soaring housing rental costs, unhealthy conditions in homes, and rising levels of homelessness and warn of “profound issues of lack of supply, increasing housing costs, lack of security of tenure and homes of such poor quality that they are unfit for habitation”.’

Full story

The Guardian, 28th April 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk