Speech by HHJ Jarman: Administrative Court in Wales – Challenges and Opportunities – Judiciary of England and Wales

‘His Honour Judge Jarman QC gave a speech “Administrative Court in Wales: Challenges and Opportunities” at Swansea University on 19 November 2014.’

Full speech

Judiciary of England and Wales, 6th March 2015

Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk

Proposed changes to S.21 – NearlyLegal

Posted February 9th, 2015 in bills, housing, landlord & tenant, news, notification, rent, repossession by sally

‘As well as the clauses introducing the retaliatory eviction proposals, the Government’s proposed amendments to the Deregulation Bill would make some other changes to s.21. The effects would be:

No s.21 notice can be served within the first 4 months of the shorthold tenancy, thus ending the all too widespread practice of serving a s.21 at the time the tenancy agreement is signed (though I’d still say that was probably caught by the deposit rules). The proposals also make clear that possession proceedings cannot be begun before 6 months from the start of the tenancy (that disposes of an idea some bright spark landlords had, that it was OK to start proceedings before 6 months so long as the possession order was made after the 6 month date).’

Full story

NearlyLegal, 8th February 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Southwark: Not appealing – NearlyLegal

‘It is not unknown for losing parties in a case to not be happy, indeed very upset. There are two basic options. To shut up and put up with it, or appeal. Rather unusually, faced with one of the most coruscating High Court judgments I can recall, in AA V LB Southwark [our report here], the senior officers of Southwark Council have chosen to do neither. Instead, Southwark’s Housing and Communities Strategic Director has chosen to publicly announce that the judgment was ‘unjust’ and ‘clearly wrong’, but that Southwark aren’t going to appeal it.’

Full story

NearlyLegal, 25th November 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Magic beans for that cow? – Zenith Chambers

Posted November 17th, 2014 in appeals, equity, housing, landlord & tenant, leases, mortgages, news, rent, Supreme Court by sally

‘The North East Property Buyers litigation test cases finally reached the Supreme Court and judgment was handed down on 22nd October 2014. Any practitioner in property and housing litigation in the North East, and indeed further afield, will have had some knowledge of, or dealings with, schemes such as were in these cases examined. They concerned sale and lease back agreements, a simple enough notion, involving the purchase of a vendor’s home by a nominee, often at an undervalue, in return granting the vendor a lease of the property, thereby releasing equity to the vendor and allowing them to remain in the property at a reduced rent.’

Full story (PDF)

Zenith Chambers, 24th October 2014

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

The Duty to Inform and Consult under Regulation 13 of TUPE – Tanfield Chambers

‘The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) have provided a wide range of case law since they came into force. Decisions have often been focused on issues such as what constitutes a relevant transfer or the effect ofinsolvency on a transfer. However, there has been surprisingly little case law which deals with the Regulation 13 TUPE duty to inform and consult and the Regulation 15 TUPE claim to a tribunal for a failure to inform and consult.’

Full story (PDF)

Tanfield Chambers, 16th October 2014

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Housing experts call for clampdown on rogue landlords – BBC News

Posted September 1st, 2014 in housing, landlord & tenant, news, rent, standards by sally

‘Housing experts have called for minimum standards to be better enforced in the private rental market to stop landlords exploiting vulnerable tenants.’

Full story

BBC News, 30th August 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Regina v Ali (Salah) – WLR Daily

Regina v Ali (Salah) [2014] EWCA Crim 1658; [2014] WLR (D) 366

‘It was permissible for the statutory assumptions in section 10 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to be applied in a case where a defendant was either voluntarily or involuntarily absent through illness.’

WLR Daily, 31st August 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

The UT Repays Again – NearlyLegal

Posted July 7th, 2014 in appeals, landlord & tenant, licensing, news, rent, repayment, tribunals, utilities by sally

The Upper Tribunal has again found itself considering the issue of Rent Repayment Orders and has provided some further enlightenment on its position after the case of Parker v Waller.

Full story

NearlyLegal, 6th July 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

On the naughty step: The unacceptable face of London landlords – NearlyLegal

Posted June 13th, 2014 in benefits, housing, landlord & tenant, leases, news, rent, unfair contract terms by sally

‘Some of you, those in London at least, might have noticed Boris Johnson announce a new, and completely voluntary, no compulsion here, landlord accreditation scheme. The idea being that tenants, desperate to find somewhere in the middle of the worst accommodation shortage in London for many, many years, will choose to avoid a ‘non-Boris’ landlord. This is of dubious worth, but no matter, what concerns us here is what followed that announcement. Bear with me, because it is worth it in the end.’

Full story

NearlyLegal, 12th June 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Approximate grounds – NearlyLegal

Posted May 19th, 2014 in appeals, housing, interpretation, landlord & tenant, news, rent, repossession by sally

‘When a notice is served under Section 8 Housing Act 1988, how precise does the wording of the ground(s) under which possession will be sought have to be?’

Full story

NearlyLegal, 18th May 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Court of Appeal’s reversal of break clause rent decision restores certainty to landlords, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 15th, 2014 in appeals, landlord & tenant, news, rent by tracey

‘Retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S) must repay over £1 million to the landlord of its former head office after the Court of Appeal ruled that it was not entitled to reclaim rent and other charges covering the period after it exercised a break clause.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 15th May 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Letting agents ‘will have to publish their fees in full’ – BBC News

Posted May 14th, 2014 in bills, consumer protection, fees, landlord & tenant, news, regulations, rent by sally

‘The government has said letting agents in England face a new obligation to display full details of their fees both on their websites and in their offices.’

Full story

BBC News, 14th May 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Disrepair: La luta continua! – NearlyLegal

Posted April 14th, 2014 in children, costs, damages, fees, landlord & tenant, legal aid, news, rent, repairs by sally

‘2013 was a difficult year for claimant disrepair. Changes in legal aid funding have made it all but impossible to pursue a disrepair claim under legal aid alone, as funding is only available for an order to carry out repairs to where there is serious risk to health or well being of the tenant or other occupiers, and not for further repairs or the damages claim (although full funding remains for a counterclaim to a possession claim, which can be brought after the possession order).’

Full story

NearlyLegal, 13th April 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Not adding up – NearlyLegal

Posted April 8th, 2014 in appeals, homelessness, housing, local government, news, rent by sally

‘As the number of people becoming homeless from private sector accommodation continues to rise, and as private sector accommodation is used for discharge of duty and temporary accommodation by Councils, the issue of affordability becomes more and more important. Both intentional homeless decisions and suitability decisions can rest on affordability.’

Full story

NearlyLegal, 7th April 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Landlords are wrong and tenants right? The two sides of the eviction story – The Guardian

Posted April 7th, 2014 in landlord & tenant, news, rent, repairs, repossession by sally

‘Tenant evictions are a thorny subject. On one side tenants say they are often evicted illegally, without reason, and far too often. On the other, landlords complain that ousting troublesome tenants is expensive and time-consuming. We’ve looked at two evictions – one from a landlord’s point of view and the other from the tenant’s, and offered a guide to your rights – whichever side you are on.’

Full story

The Guardian, 5th April 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Backing just one horse in a consultation process can be unfair – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted March 31st, 2014 in consultations, human rights, judicial review, news, rent by sally

‘Public law principles allow you to challenge a decision of a public authority if the consultation process preceding it was unfair. Unfairness comes in many shapes and sizes, but the commonest one alleged is that it was not carried out at the formative stage. The authority had already made up enough of its mind so the consultation process ceased to mean anything – it was just going through the motions.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 28th March 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

“Game, set but not quite match” following the C of A decision re rents in administration – 11 Stone Buildings

Posted March 10th, 2014 in administrators, expenses, insolvency, leases, news, rent by sally

‘Many commercial landlords will be delighted with the Court of Appeal’s unanimous decision in Jervis v Pillar Denton Limited (Game Station) and Others [2014] EWCA Civ 180, overruling the decisions in Goldacre and Luminar. The Court of Appeal held that, applying the Lundy Granite principle, the question of whether quarterly rent due under a lease was an administration expense or a provable debt depended not on whether the rent fell due during the period of the administration, but whether the property had been used for the benefit of the administration. Sarah Clarke gives the background to these cases, sets out the Game appeal decision and highlights its consequences as well as the real concerns for officeholders.’

Full story

11 Stone Buildings, February 2014

Source: www.11sb.com

Jervis and others v Pillar Denton Ltd (Game Station) and others – WLR Daily

Posted February 28th, 2014 in administrators, expenses, insolvency, law reports, rent by sally

Jervis and others v Pillar Denton Ltd (Game Station) and others [2014] EWCA Civ 180 ; [2014] WLR (D) 94

‘In the context of insolvency, where rent was payable in advance the office holder should make payments at the rate of the rent for the duration of any period during which he retained possession of the demised property for the benefit of the winding up or administration. The rent would be treated as accruing from day to day. Those payments were payable as expenses of the winding up or administration. The duration of the period was a question of fact and was not determined merely by reference to which rent days occurred before, during or after that period.’

WLR Daily, 24th February 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Landlords win legal battle over Game – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 25th, 2014 in appeals, insolvency, landlord & tenant, news, rent by sally

‘Court of Appeal ruling gives high street landlords more protection in administrations’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 24th February 2014

Source: www.telegraph.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.’

Full story

NearlyLegal, 23rd January 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk