Don’t ignore the Court of Appeal
Or, ‘It wasn’t me, it was the bailiff’.Choudhury v Garcia [2013] EWHC 3283 (QB) (June 2013) [Not on Bailii. We have transcript]A rather unusual unlawful eviction case, this, involving as it does...
View Article‘Gorry’ Regulations Guidance
In other bedroom tax news, the DWP has issued a Circular to Local Authorities on The Housing Benefit and Universal Credit (Size Criteria) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2013 – the new...
View ArticleThe Permissive Notice
Spencer v Taylor [2013] EWCA Civ 1600This case was flagged recently on the Arden Chambers eflash service. This flash gave some bare bones details and led to much debate on the internal NL email...
View ArticlePaying the cost.
Watson v Simpson Croydon County Court 4 October 2012 Not a stunningly important appeal to a Circuit Judge, this one, but a useful case to be able to wave around on costs. Ms Simpson was a private AST...
View ArticleShorthold tenancies and council tax liability
If a tenant on a statutory periodic tenancy stops living in the property, but the tenancy is not ended, who is liable for the Council Tax? CT v Horsham District Council (HB) [2013] UKUT 617 (AAC) This...
View ArticleIncoming – bedroom tax and more.
Busy day for bits of news. On the bedroom tax, Lord Freud announced in a House of Lords debate today that amending regulations to remove the 1996 claim exemption will be produced in March, though they...
View ArticleConfederacy of Dunces.
I’ve been watching the slow motion catastrophe that is ‘Rent 2 Rent’ [sic] for a while, as have other NL writers. Despite the high profile collapse of the poster boy and cheerleader, Unidaplace, last...
View ArticleMarch miscellany
A couple of bits and pieces. The DWP has issued a circular in the wake of the Court of Appeal judgment in MA & Ors, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2014]...
View ArticleLet’s all talk about Wales
We don’t often publicise events here, but given that this one involves at least couple of the NL team, we are damn well going to. Housing Law: The Welsh Devolution Effect 1st May 2014 Cardiff Law...
View ArticleDisrepair: La luta continua!
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...
View ArticleWhen is a storey not a storey?
The answer appears to be when it is only for access! Bristol City Council v Digs (Bristol) Ltd [2014] EWHC 869 (Admin) We first reported on this case briefly as a decision of the Bristol Magistrates...
View ArticleTweets from rented rooms
A series of tweets gathered under the hashtag #LDNlandlord today (Thursday 15 May) offered an insight (if one were needed) into the state of the London private rental market. For the housing lawyer, it...
View ArticleApproximate grounds
Masih, R (on the application of) v Yousaf [2014] EWCA Civ 234 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...
View ArticleThe UKIP-ification of law
Or, why Nigel Farrage doesn’t need to worry about that house-load of Romanians moving next door to him once the Immigration Act 2014 comes into force. The Immigration Act 2014 received Royal Assent on...
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On the naughty step: The unacceptable face of London landlords
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,...
View ArticleMake do and mend: Undoing Superstrike on deposits
The DCLG has published the text of the Government amendment to the Deregulation Bill that is proposed to deal with tenancy deposits and specifically the Superstrike position of a new tenancy (and...
View ArticleErratum
This is for anyone who got the email version of my post on the tenancy deposit amendment to the Deregulation Bill on Tuesday morning. I have a bit of a confession to make… The version you got was on...
View ArticleWhen is a storey not a storey?
The answer appears to be when it is only for access! Bristol City Council v Digs (Bristol) Ltd [2014] EWHC 869 (Admin) We first reported on this case briefly as a decision of the Bristol Magistrates...
View ArticleThe UT Repays Again
Fallon v Wilson & Ors [2014] UKUT 0300 (LC) The Upper Tribunal has again found itself considering the issue of Rent Repayment Orders and has provided some further enlightenment on its position...
View ArticleSpencer v Taylor – section 21 news
The Appellant tenant in Spencer v Taylor [2013] EWCA Civ 1600 (our note here) has had permission to appeal to the Supreme Court refused, on the grounds that it did not raise an arguable point of law....
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