A Thursday stuffed with housing stuff
A busy Thursday for housing law, not yet law, housing benefits and housing misc. Item one. A Scottish Upper Tribunal is to hear a room size appeal on 18 September. This is one of the first Fife...
View ArticleRetaliatory Eviction and Law Reform
The government (through its Minister for Communities and Local Government, Stephen Williams) today announced its backing to Sarah Teather’s private members bill, whose aim is to prevent landlords from...
View ArticleIs there a maximum award for general damages arising under contract?
The case of Rendlesham Estates Plc v Barr Ltd [2014] EWHC 3968 (TCC) is a bit off the housing law beaten track and as a result I have only recently got round to reading it properly. It concerned s.1,...
View ArticleUnlawful eviction and harassment quantum update
With grateful thanks to Jan Luba QC and HHJ Madge’s housing update in the December 2014/January 2015 Legal Action, here are a few recent County Court cases on unlawful eviction and harassment. Alabbas...
View ArticleDisrepair damages update
With very grateful thanks to Beatrice Prevatt’s annual disrepair update in the December 2014/January 2015 Legal Action, here is a bumper pack of County Court cases and settled cases on damages for...
View ArticleUnnoticed
Another Court of Appeal disrepair judgment! I can barely contain myself. And on a fairly important issue too. So.. Edwards v Kumarasamy [2015] EWCA Civ 20 Mr Edwards rented a second floor flat from Mr...
View ArticleThe revenge of retaliatory eviction law
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. Well...
View ArticleLord Justice Lewison and the Return of English
I recently found myself reading and writing about the Court of Appeal judgement in Edwards v Kurasamy (our report here). Doing so made me think about the recent spate of judgements given by Lewison LJ...
View ArticleRising Damp
There is reason for Rigsby to look worried in Uddin & Anor v LB Islington (2015) CA Civ Div 10/03/2015 [Lawtel note only so far.] This was Islington’s appeal of a first instance decision awarding...
View ArticleMystery Pre Action Protocols
There are new pre-action protocols in force from today, 6 April 2015, including the following: The Pre-Action Protocol for Judicial Review The Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Disrepair Cases The...
View ArticleWell I wouldn’t start from here*
Davis Solicitors LLP v Raja & Anor [2015] EWHC 519 (QB) A cautionary tale on how, when things go badly wrong, it is, by and large, better not to take active steps to make them worse. Davis...
View ArticleAs difficult as pulling teeth
Williamson v Khan. Birmingham County Court. Claim No: 3YS66585 (12 March 2015). Disrepair claims against private landlords are often interesting. Not least because said landlords have a tendency to...
View ArticleParty like it’s 1957
1957 was an important year. Russell Endean became the first man to be out “handled the ball” in a Test Cricket match. Anthony Eden resigned and Harold Macmillan became PM. The Cat in the Hat was first...
View ArticleWherever I lay my hat… Residence tests for allocation policies
HA, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough of Ealing [2015] EWHC 2375 (Admin) This is, I think, a very significant case for all Councils who have or are considering setting residence requirements...
View ArticleJob Ads
Two housing law job ads – the South London edition. Lambeth Law Centre – Senior Solicitor ( full time) Salary £38,307 to £40,807 depending on experience Lambeth Law Centre Law Centre is seeking to...
View Article‘It did seem to be expensive’
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...
View ArticleDiscrimination between death and divorce?
Samawi v Haringey LBC, Claim no: A01EC488, 3 July 2015 Central London County Court Thanks to an Arden Chambers eflash comes news of a County Court case with interesting potential repercussions, albeit...
View ArticleJob Ad
MAYFLOWER SOLICITORS, BIRMINGHAM HOUSING/ CIVIL SOLICITOR NEEDED Send your covering letter and CV to enquiries@mayflowersolicitors.com Mayflower Solicitors, based in Birmingham City Centre, is a...
View ArticleOf bad banks behaving badly and public bodies
An intriguing mortgage possession County Court case featuring a ‘bad bank’. While the case itself turns on a failure by the bank to obtain relief from sanctions, it features an interesting line of...
View ArticleMaking sense of deposits. Nearly.
It started as such a simple idea, the tenancy deposit regulations. But bad drafting and some ‘interesting’ interpretations by the Courts put paid to that. We now have a confusing mess, for both...
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