Category: housing
Landlord claimed to be “lost at sea” ordered to pay £44k over housing offence – Local Government Lawyer
‘A South Gloucestershire landlord has been ordered to pay more than £44,000 after a court found him guilty of a serious housing offence and for contravening a Local Government Act.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th July 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Appeals against Housing Act 2004 decisions as a “rehearing” – Local Government Lawyer
‘In a recent case the Court of Appeal has held that when a First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) (“the FTT”) hears an appeal against a decision under the Housing Act 2004 as a “rehearing”, the FTT must consider whether the authority’s decision was wrong by reference to facts that existed at the time of its decision, and must also give sufficient deference to the authority’s original decision. Simon Kiely and Francesca Gallagher analyse the ruling.’
Local Government Lawyer, 30th June 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Selective licensing offences and the level of civil penalties – Local Government Lawyer
‘Simon Kiely and Francesca Gallagher examine useful Upper Tribunal guidance on the approach the First-Tier Tribunal should adopt when considering the level of civil penalties on appeal.’
Local Government Lawyer, 30th June 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Grenfell Tower and Awaab Ishak tributes as social housing bill passes – BBC News
‘A move to strengthen social housing rules in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire and the death of a toddler from exposure to mould is set to become law.’
BBC News, 27th June 2023
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
What happens after a banning order? The further adventures of Mr Rasool – Nearly Legal
‘Mohammed Rasool has featured here quite often, for getting an ASBi against him for illegal eviction, for his role in quite the bizarrest set of cases, in which he sought re-entry after alleged illegal eviction to properties he had no interest in and didn’t occupy, and for receiving a five year banning order, amongst other things. But the fall out of his track record of truly terrible landlording, and assorted criminal offences continues. Here is a new press release from Camden Council, on the outcome of their latest prosecution of Mohammed Ali Abbas Rasool and associated entities.’
Nearly Legal, 23rd June 2023
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
Wales: The Good, the Bad and the Converted – part 1 – Nearly Legal
‘Followers of the updates under Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (“the Act”) will be well aware of many of the changes implemented in the Welsh housing law “big bang” on the 1st December 2022 (“the appointed day”), most recently written about on Nearly Legal here. My primary focus in this post focuses particularly on those developments affecting “converted contracts” – those contracts which had moved over from one of the previous tenancy regimes on the appointed day.’
Nearly Legal, 23rd June 2023
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
Supreme Court to hear appeal of ruling that council must pay Japanese knotweed damages – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Supreme Court has granted permission to appeal the decision in Davies v Bridgend County Borough Council [2023] EWCA Civ 80, which overturned lower court rulings that found diminution in value in Japanese knotweed cases was irrecoverable economic loss and ordered the council to pay damages to a property owner.’
Local Government Lawyer, 23rd June 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Getting it all wrong… LB Redbridge ‘dismal’ homelessness decisions – Nearly Legal
‘Ms UO and her 3 children, aged 11, 5 and 3, were homeless and had applied to LB Redbridge. The family had NASS accommodation in the Tottenham area since 2021, after NASS accommodation in Croydon and West Ham from 2019. Ms UO’s elder children were enrolled in school in Tottenham and the youngest in the nursery attached to the school. MS UO had connections in Redbridge herself. Following Ms UO’s grant of asylum in 2022, the NASS accommodation ceased. She applied to Redbridge. The application stressed how important the children’s school was to them. She then did not hear anything from Redbridge until the day before her eviction from the NASS accommodation.’
Nearly Legal, 18th June 2023
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
Planning enforcement and equalities duties – Local Government Lawyer
‘A recent High Court ruling shows that equalities duties must be treated differently, writes Roderick Morton.’
Local Government Lawyer, 16th June 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Homeless single mother wins High Court battle against London borough – Local Government Lawyer
‘A High Court judge has allowed a homeless single mother’s claim for judicial review against the London Borough of Redbridge on all four grounds.’
Local Government Lawyer, 14th June 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Court issues mandatory order directing council to secure accommodation for family with severely disabled child within two months – Local Government Lawyer
‘The London Borough of Harrow left a family in unsuitable temporary accommodation, which “did not meet the needs of the claimant’s severely disabled daughter”, for almost a year, a court has found.’
Local Government Lawyer, 14th June 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
The Renters’ Reform Bill: changes to grounds for possession – Local Government Lawyer
‘Helen Tucker examines the changes to the grounds for possession as set out in the Renters Reform Bill published on 17 May 2023.’
Local Government Lawyer, 9th June 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Think of other ways to meet the duty – Nearly Legal
‘Our grateful thanks to Eleri Griffiths and Martin Hodgson of One Pump Court for the following note of a judicial review of LB Harrow’s failure to provide suitable accommodation under section 193 Housing Act 1996, following on from Elkundi (our note) and while we await the Supreme Court decision in Imam v LB Croydon on mandatory orders in such cases.’
Nearly Legal, 4th June 2023
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
Fresh judicial review challenge on horizon over Home Office asylum accommodation site – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Home Office could be subject to a fresh judicial review over its plans to house asylum seekers on former military sites across the country after an East Sussex resident reached a crowdfunding goal to challenge plans to move people into a disused prison.’
Local Government Lawyer, 2nd June 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Ombudsman criticises council for “significant failings” under Equality Act that exacerbated poor mental health of resident – Local Government Lawyer
‘The Housing Ombudsman has found severe maladministration for Tandridge District Council after the local authority “did not abide by its duties under the Equality Act or its own safeguarding policy”, leading to the exacerbation of a resident’s poor mental health.’
Local Government Lawyer, 1st June 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Renters Reform Bill: Warning changes could ‘decimate’ student market – BBC News
‘Plans to abolish fixed-term tenancies in England would “decimate” the student housing market, landlords have warned.’
BBC News, 25th May 2023
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Renters (Reform) Bill – overview Part 2 – Nearly Legal
‘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, but as Tessa Shepperson has sagely observed, it doesn’t really make much of a change to existing law. The Bill adds an implied term that the tenant has a right to request to keep a pet and that the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse such a request. Where the landlord’s own lease forbids pets, or requires the superior landlord’s consent, the landlord is to request this. It is not unreasonable for a landlord to refuse permission if their superior landlord had refused consent, or if the landlord’s own lease forbids pets.’
Nearly Legal , 18th May 2023
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
Housing case law update – April 2023 – Local Government Lawyer
‘Emily Howe, Kelly Lloyd and Laura Waby round up the latest housing law judgments of interest to housing associations and local authorities.’
Local Government Lawyer, 17th May 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Tighter damp and mould regulations set to impact registered providers – Local Government Lawyer
‘Six months after the conclusion of the inquest into the tragic death of Awaab Ishak, Matthew Bown and Amy Cowap outline the various measures set to be implemented to ensure tighter regulation of registered providers of social housing, with a specific focus on damp and mould issues.’
Local Government Lawyer, 17th May 2023
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
