‘In our last post, we dealt with the issue of an application for a High Court writ being made in tenant possession cases by way of form N293A. To recap, this is the form which expressly states “This judgment or order has been sent to the High Court for enforcement by (Writ of Possession against trespassers) only”.’
Nearly Legal, 6th January 2016
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘This is county court case, but a very interesting one on the issue of disability discrimination in mortgage possession proceedings.’
Nearly Legal, 3rd January 2016
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘In cases involving social housing, English courts have traditionally taken what we might call a “managerial” approach: their starting-point for analysis has not been the tenant or applicant for housing as a rights-holder, but the need of local authorities to distribute their scarce resources effectively. In Burrows v Brent LBC [1996] 1 WLR 1448, for example, where a tenant who was permitted to remain after a possession order was held not to have been impliedly granted a new tenancy, Lord Browne-Wilkinson said that “housing authorities try to conduct their housing functions as humane and reasonable landlords” (at 1455). The tenant might be forgiven for wondering why this should count against him, but clearly the implication is that as ‘humane and reasonable landlords’ local authorities should be left to manage their housing stock with as little interference from the courts as possible. More recently this attitude led to the courts’ extreme reluctance to enable a public sector tenant to rely on article 8 ECHR in possession proceedings. When the Supreme Court finally acceded to pressure from Strasbourg, it nevertheless drew the teeth from the human rights defence by agreeing with the Secretary of State’s submission that “a local authority’s aim in wanting possession should be a ‘given’ ” (Manchester CC v Pinnock [2011] UKSC 6, per Lord Neuberger at [53]), so that “there will be no need, in the overwhelming majority of cases, for the local authority to explain and justify its reasons for seeking a possession order” (Hounslow LBC v Powell [2011] UKSC 8, per Lord Hope at [37]). The local authority is simply assumed to be acting in a way which benefits the general welfare; this assumption is then taken to justify the effect of its actions on individuals in all but the most extreme of cases.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 9th December 2015
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘This was an appeal arising from a claim for possession against three properties by the trustee in bankruptcy of a bankrupt landlord. The Lawtel note rather confusingly refers to it as “accelerated possession proceedings for an order for sale”, which it can’t possibly have been.’
Nearly Legal, 22nd November 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A couple of recent cases have highlighted the issues involved in transferring County Court possession orders to the High Court for enforcement by High Court Enforcement Officers.’
Nearly Legal, 13th November 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Courtesy of Jim Shepherd of Doughty Street Chambers comes this account of a county court appeal of a Ground 7A possession claim, following a closure order. The appeal of the possession order was partly on the basis that the Defendant could not get legal aid in time.’
Nearly Legal, 31st October 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A ten-week-old baby boy died on the night his family were evicted from their Warwickshire home, after being failed by the agencies who should have been supporting them, according to a serious case review. The circumstances around the death of the child, named ‘John’, emerged on 14 October. The baby boy was born six weeks prematurely. He and his sister Amber, who was under two, had been regarded as ‘children in in need’ by social services because of concerns over neglect.’
The Independent, 14th October 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Government proposals to legally require landlords to check the immigration status of their tenants risk a serious breach of human rights, an official watchdog has warned.’
The Guardian, 12th October 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Wandsworth London Borough Council v Tompkins and another [2015] EWCA Civ 846; [2015] WLR (D) 357
‘Where a local housing authority provided accommodation under a tenancy pursuant to its duty under Part VII (Homelessness) of the Housing Act 1996, the requirement in paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the Housing Act 1985 which had to be satisfied in order for the tenancy to qualify as a secure tenancy (that the housing authority had to give notification that the tenancy “is to be regarded” as a secure tenancy), meant that the notification had to state that the tenancy was regarded as a secure tenancy at the date of grant and not at some unspecified date in the future.’
WLR Daily, 31st August 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘This sets out the government response to the consultation on enhanced fees for possession claims and general applications in civil proceedings, and we are also seeking responses to further proposals for consultation.’
Ministry of Justice, 22nd July 2015
Source: www.consult.justice.gov.uk
‘About 40 homeless people squatting in an empty building in one of London’s most upmarket areas have won the first round of a legal fight with a landlord.’
The Guardian, 26th May 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘The approach to be taken to a defence to a claim for possession of residential premises which alleged unlawful discrimination against a disabled person, contrary to the Equality Act 2010, was different from that which applied to a defence which alleged a breach of an individual’s rights under article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In particular, summary judgment would not normally be an appropriate procedure for dealing with a possession claim where a disability discrimination defence was raised.’
WLR Daily, 11th March 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court handed down its decision yesterday in Akerman-Livingstone v. Aster Communities Ltd (formerly Flourish Homes Ltd) [2015] UKSC 15 in which it considered the test of justification for discrimination under section 15 of the Equality Act 2010 (the EqA) as compared with justification for Article 8 of the Convention.’
Cloisters, 12th March 2015
Source: www.cloisters.com
‘A judge hearing an eviction case misdirected himself in adopting the same approach to the defence of disability discrimination as to an alleged breach of Article 8 of the European Court of Human Rights, the Supreme Court has ruled.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th March 2015
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘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).’
NearlyLegal, 8th February 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘After the Teather ‘revenge eviction’ member’s bill was talked out by a couple of Tory MPs, (Chope and Davis), the question was would the proposals survive in another form before the election.’
NearlyLegal, 5th February 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘In Part 1 of the Government response to the consultation ‘Court fees: proposals for reform’, we set out our decision to consider alternatives to the proposed fee increase for divorce.’
Ministry of Justice, 16th January 2015
Source: https://consult.justice.gov.uk
‘Currently landlords obligated to repair fundamental fault in property – but can evict tenants if they pursue rights to repair.’
The Guardian, 13th January 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘This is a housing case, but the procedural issue in this decision is only tangentially related to that. Nonetheless, it is a matter worth noting.’
NearlyLegal, 10th January 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
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