Bailiffs called in by councils for 1.8m debts, charity warns – BBC News

Posted August 22nd, 2013 in bailiffs, debts, local government, news, repossession by sally

“Local councils have called in bailiffs an ‘excessive’ 1.8m times in the last year to collect debts on their behalf, according to the Money Advice Trust.”

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BBC News, 22nd August 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

When is Judicial Review Available as a Remedy in Relation to Housing Benefit Issues Where There are Possession Proceedings for Rent Arrears? – Garden Court Chambers Blog

Posted August 13th, 2013 in benefits, housing, judicial review, legal aid, news, repossession, social security by sally

“Desmond Rutledge considers the scenarios in which judicial review is available as a solution to certain housing benefit issues and provides specific examples of housing benefit decisions that are susceptible to judicial review.”

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Garden Court Chambers Blog, 13th August 2013

Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com

Urgent appeals in warrant suspension cases – NearlyLegal

Posted August 2nd, 2013 in appeals, civil procedure rules, housing, news, repossession, warrants by sally

“We’ve all been there. Perhaps more frequently, litigants in person have been there (although hopefully not the same LiP over and over again). A warrant for possession is due to be executed the next day. It may even be the same day. The occupier has applied to a District Judge to suspend the warrant. The District Judge has, rightly or wrongly, dismissed that application. The occupier, understandably (even more so if the DJ fell into the ‘wrongly’ category), wants to appeal that decision.”

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NearlyLegal, 1st August 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.org.uk

Tough new laws on aggressive bailiffs – Ministry of Justice

Posted July 30th, 2013 in bailiffs, bills, consultations, news, repossession by sally

“Tough new laws designed to protect the public from aggressive bailiffs are being implemented by Government.”

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Ministry of Justice, 30th July 2013

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

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.”

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Daily Telegraph, 29th July 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Community champion in court over claims she racially abused travellers – Daily Telegraph

Posted July 18th, 2013 in harassment, news, planning, racism, repossession, travellers by tracey

“A pensioner renowned for her work in the community has been summonsed to court over claims she racially abused a group of travellers on green belt land in a situation she describes as a ‘humiliating’ ordeal.”

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Daily Telegraph, 17th July 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Guerilla gardening in unlawfully occupied property did not give rise to Article 8 rights – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted July 9th, 2013 in appeals, human rights, news, repossession, squatting, trespass by sally

“A common law rule that the court had no jurisdiction to extend time to a trespasser could no longer stand against the Article 8 requirement that a trespasser be given some time before being required to vacate.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 8th July 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

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

Human Rights legislation is not a “licence to squat”, expert says – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 5th, 2013 in appeals, human rights, news, repossession, squatting by tracey

“A landowner’s right to recover possession of his property does not infringe the human rights of squatters, the Court of Appeal has ruled.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 4th July 2013

Source: www.out-law.com

Englishman’s home no longer his castle, says senior judge – Daily Telegraph

Posted July 4th, 2013 in housing, human rights, news, repossession, squatting by sally

“Not all squatters are bad, a senior judge has said, as he suggested an Englishman’s home is no longer his castle.”

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Daily Telegraph, 3rd July 2013

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

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The time to act on the bedroom tax is now – Garden Court Chambers Blog

Posted July 2nd, 2013 in benefits, housing, local government, news, repossession, social security by sally

“At a time when the bedroom tax is coming to dominate debates about housing and fairness in our society, Liz Davies considers the options available to local councils in resisting this policy of central government.”

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Garden Court Chambers Blog, 1st July 2013

Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com

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.”

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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.”

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NearlyLegal, 23rd June 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Yes, it’s Article 8… again! – Hardwicke Chambers

Posted June 18th, 2013 in declarations of incompatibility, human rights, news, repossession by sally

“Counsel for the defendant in this recent case, heard at Clerkenwell & Shoreditch County Court, provided a skeleton argument on the morning of the hearing, ignoring the set aside (it being conceded there was no merit in this) but rather arguing that the Court’s lack of discretion to delay execution of a possession order by over six weeks was incompatible with Article 8. It followed that he was seeking a transfer to the High Court for declaration purposes (CPR 30.3(2)(g)).”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 3rd June 2013

Source: www.hardwicke.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

Shared ownership, Art 8 and A1P1 – NearlyLegal

Posted May 28th, 2013 in appeals, housing, landlord & tenant, leases, news, repossession by sally

“The entrepreneurialisation of social housing over the last twenty years has led to a diversity in the types of shared ownership. Of course, the standard leasehold type (what in the old days was called DIYSO) predominates, but there are a multitude of other types. In Ker v Optima Community Association [2013] EWCA Civ 579, the Court of Appeal had to deal with one of these other types in Optima’s claim for possession; but in quite odd circumstances for, by the time of the hearing of the appeal, Ms Ker had accepted that the property was unaffordable for her so that she had to give up possession. What was in issue seems to have been whether she was entitled to return of some of the amounts she had paid. Patten LJ, who gave the only substantive judgment, held that she did not have such a claim and ordered possession.”

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NearlyLegal, 25th May 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Loveridge v Lambeth London Borough Council – WLR Daily

Loveridge v Lambeth London Borough Council [2013] EWCA Civ 494; [2013] WLR (D) 173

“The valuation required by section 28(1) of the Housing Act 1988, in respect of damages for unlawful eviction under section 27, required that the propensity for the rights of a tenant of a local authority to change from those of a secure tenant to those of an assured tenant on a sale of the reversion to a private landlord was to be factored into the hypothetical valuation of the landlord’s interest subject to the tenant’s rights.”

WLR Daily, 10th May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (JL) v Secretary of State for Defence – WLR Daily

Posted May 7th, 2013 in appeals, enforcement, housing, human rights, law reports, repossession by sally

Regina (JL) v Secretary of State for Defence [2013] EWCA Civ 449; [2013] WLR (D) 161

The occupant of a house was entitled to rely upon article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, entitling the occupant to a proportionality review, by way of opposition to the enforcement of a possession order already obtained by the owner in the exceptional circumstances where there had been a substantial change of circumstances which gave rise for the first time to an article 8 issue which neither was nor could have been pursued prior to the making of the possession order.

WLR Daily, 30th April 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

When is Article 8 available at the enforcement stage of the eviction process? – NearlyLegal

Posted May 2nd, 2013 in appeals, armed forces, enforcement, human rights, news, repossession by sally

“In R (JL) v SSD [2013] EWCA Civ 449, the Court of Appeal ‘broke new ground’ by considering how Article 8 applied to the stage at which possession orders are enforced.”

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NearlyLegal, 1st May 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

University of Sussex protesters to be evicted – BBC News

Posted April 2nd, 2013 in demonstrations, news, repossession, universities by sally

“The High Court has ruled that protesters should be evicted from part of the University of Sussex.”

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BBC News, 29th March 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk