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Sibylla*
2020 then. The years keep coming, with uncaring relentlessness. Still, putting a brave face on it, I shall combine the roles of soothsayer and almanac for what is likely to be a busy year for housing...
View ArticleNew Pre-Action Protocols coming! Social Possession and Housing Conditions.
Be still my beating heart, there will be two new/revised pre-action protocols on 13 January 2020. There will be a revised Pre-Action Protocol for Possession Claims by Social Landlords, and a new...
View ArticleConceptualising damages for housing conditions – they don’t add up.
We don’t often run ‘think-pieces’ (this may be too generous a description), at least not when unattached to new case law, but the ongoing transformation of ‘disrepair’ into ‘housing conditions’ claims...
View ArticleWorking on homes
As of today, 20 March 2020, section 9B(4) of Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 means that the section 9A ‘fit for human habitation’ obligation applies to all periodic and secure tenancies in England that...
View ArticleNot signed, not sealed, not delivered
Ratcliffe & Ratcliffe v Patterson & Porter. County Court at Luton, 17 March 2020 (Unreported elsewhere, we’ve seen an unofficial note of judgment. Grateful thanks to Clare Cullen of Field Court...
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Housing law webinars
A couple of interesting housing law webinars in the next few days (well, hopefully both interesting, as I’m doing one of them) for all your ‘working from home but still interested in housing law’...
View ArticleSound insulation and fitness for habitation – Scotland
We don’t usually run Scottish case law. It is, after all, a whole separate legal system, and one in which none of us are qualified. It is also, going by the language of the judgments, utterly splendid...
View ArticleNotes for noting
Several quick things. The Court of Appeal is to hand down judgment in Arkin v Marshall at 1.30 pm on Monday (11 May). This is the appeal of the decision that the Practice Direction 51Z general 90 day...
View ArticleRepairs, renewals and ‘like for like’
The London Borough of Lambeth v Gniewosz (LANDLORD AND TENANT : SERVICE CHARGES) (2020) UKUT 274 (LC) A rather odd Upper Tribunal appeal of an FTT decision as to whether the costs of a new roof to...
View ArticleTrying to shoot the messenger.
Moorjani v Kilcoyne (Rev 1) (2020) EWHC 3463 (QB) The name of Moorjani may be familiar. We first encountered Mr Moorjani in a judgment transforming the case law on loss of amenity damages in disrepair...
View ArticleBetween repairs and structural defects
City of London v Various Leaseholders of Great Arthur House (2021) EWCA Civ 431 This was the Court of Appeal judgment on an appeal from the Upper Tribunal (our report here) where the issue was whether...
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A bundle of case notes
Brief notes on assorted cases of some interest that we haven’t otherwise covered. (Well, of interest to me. Other people may be interested in some or all of them. Covering possession, service charges,...
View ArticleSmorgasbord: Updated s.21 flowchart, EPA prosecution costs and an...
Having realised a day late that the Section 21 validity flow chart needed updating to take into account the new 4 month notice period (and 8 month ‘use it or lose it’ period) for section 21 notices...
View ArticleThe Building Safety Bill
The Building Safety Bill is here. There is a lot in it and I can’t claim to have mastered it in the few hours since it was published, but I wanted to get something down on paper as soon as possible....
View ArticleCosts and costs of repairs
Jalili v Bury Council. Manchester County Court 17 June 2021 (copy of judgment can be found on Civil Litigation Brief here) An interesting, though non-binding, county court decision on the issue of...
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Damp and Mould –“It’s not lifestyle”.
The Housing Ombudsman has released a special spotlight report addressing the issue of damp and mould, called “Spotlight on: Damp and mould. It’s not lifestyle” It is the result of both the media...
View ArticleVarious notes – anniversaries, punishments, evictions and RROs.
A few notes on events and a couple of RRO cases. Landlord Law, run by Tessa Shepperson, has achieved the remarkable feat of passing its 20th anniversary. That is really quite something for an online...
View ArticleNews things
There were a few announcements today and a Supreme Court decision. By far the biggest one, if you live in or are a landlord, or indeed a housing lawyer, in Wales is that the Renting Homes (Wales) Act...
View ArticleEPA prosecution costs
Parker, R (On the Application Of) v Bashir & Anor (2022) EWHC 358 (Admin) A judicial review of a Magistrates Court decision on costs in a section 82 Environmental Protection Act 1990 prosecution....
View ArticlePlus ca change
One day, at some stage before I retire from blogging, I would like to write a good news story about the regulation of the private rented sector in England. But today is not that day. For I have spent...
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