We don’t need no tariffs
Khan v Mehmood (2022) EWCA Civ 791 (Housing Law Practitioners Association intervening) This was, it has to be said, in part a rather odd appeal to the Court of Appeal. The background was a rent arrears...
View ArticleAssorted notes: joint tenancies, RROs – rent arrears and late evidence, and...
Pile v Pile (2022) EWHC 2036 (Ch) The High Court confirms that Procter v Procter (2022) EWHC 1202 (Ch) is authority for the proposition that it is not a breach of trust for one joint tenant to give...
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An Avoidable Death
“Every death was avoidable” said Richard Millett KC at the closing submission to the Grenfell Inquiry. Now we know from the inquest verdict into the death of two year old Awaab Ishak’s that this death...
View ArticleAwaab Ishak – Coroner’s ruling and Reg 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths
We now have the Coroner’s Findings and Conclusion for the inquest into the death of Awaab Ishak, and also the Regulation 28 Report for the purpose of preventing future deaths. (My previous post on the...
View ArticleOmbudsman’s decisions and housing conditions claims
I’m going to break one of our rules (well, more of a guideline really) and comment on a case in which I had a role. I supervised the case, in which one of my colleagues acted for the claimant. It is...
View ArticleThe whirligig of time
A happy new year to all. I was going to do a new year video, as per the last two years, but as rain lashes the windows and the daylight disappeared about 2 pm, the level of faff involved was beyond me....
View ArticleA lift too far. The extent of the section 11 obligation
Anchor Hanover Group v Cox (2023) UKUT 14 (LC) (Copy of judgment here. Not on Bailli or national archive yet) A somewhat unusual Upper Tribunal appeal concerning the application of section 11 Landlord...
View ArticleRenters (Reform) Bill – overview Part 2
Following on from yesterday (17 May) publication of the Renters (Reform) Bill and Part 1 of my overview of what the Bill does, onwards to the rest of it… Pets! There has been a lot of fuss about this,...
View ArticleDamp, mould and the HHSRS
Cases yet to be written up are in a growing pile, but frankly it has been too darn hot to have the laptop on my lap for more than half an hour, so they are going to have to wait. Instead, here is a...
View ArticleTales from the County Courts – housing conditions quantum, proof of notice of...
Three county court cases – all first instance judgments and non-binding, but each of interest, including the first two fitness for human habitation decisions that have come our way and a complicating...
View ArticleStaying to make the parties try dispute resolution. A bit of a Tydfil
Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (2023) EWCA Civ 1416 For transparency purposes, I acted for the Housing Law Practitioners Association on its intervention in this appeal. There was a...
View ArticleAn end to ‘a reasonable period’? Awaab’s Law
As you will doubtless recall, the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 introduced a new section 10A Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, implying a term into all social tenancies that the landlord will comply...
View ArticleUnfitness for human habitation quantum – 100% again
Mason v 1) Olivera and 2) Santana, Claim no: K2PP0132 (15th December 2023, County Court at Clerkenwell and Shoreditch) Our grateful thanks to Garden Court Chambers for details of this judgment on a...
View ArticleHousing conditions quantum – another County Court decision
Well, well. You wait four years then three come along at once. Our thanks to Doughty Street Chambers for their note of a County Court judgment on damages for disrepair and unfitness for human...
View ArticleThe meaning of maintenance
London Borough of Tower Hamlets v Lessees of Brewster House and Malting House (2024) UKUT 193 (LC) (11 July 2024) This was an appeal to the Upper Tribunal on whether a service charge for major works to...
View ArticleThe future beckons…
So, the King’s Speech today (17 July) and the legislative programme of the new government. What does it hold for housing? There were few surprises, I suppose, given the Labour manifesto commitments,...
View ArticleWho knew? Or ought to have known?
Mann v Martin (2024) EW Misc 23 (CC) Standalone section 4 Defective Premises Act 1972 cases are quite unusual. It is more common as an additional/secondary head in a disrepair claim, but this county...
View ArticleThe MP for Ilford South and a teachable moment
In what can only be described as a deeply embarrassing, indeed humiliating turn of events, the new Labour MP for Ilford South, Jas Athwal, has provided a clear lesson in poor practice in the private...
View ArticleGrenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report
The Phase 2 (and final) report of the Grenfell Inquiry was published today, Wednesday. You will doubtless have seen the headlines. The Inquiry does not hold back in finding responsibility for what...
View ArticleRenters’ Rights Bill – the headlines Part 2
Part 2 of a quick initial look at the Renters’ Rights Bill draft, concentrating on what has changed from the late Renters (Reform) Bill that forms its basis. Part 1 of the headlines look is here, and...
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