‘The High Court has described how Birmingham City Council provided an “object lesson in how a public body should not respond to public law proceedings” in its mishandling of a housing judicial review.’
Litigation Futures, 12th January 2021
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
‘Fire safety issues in blocks of flats and other multi-occupancy buildings are one of, if not *the* biggest issue in housing law and policy today. The background is pretty well-known and, for present purposes, can be quite easily summarised. Since the Grenfell Tower disaster, it has become clear that there are hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dwellings across England and Wales which have fire safety problems, either as a result of how they were originally constructed or because of conversion/adaptation works. Those problems are not limited to ACM cladding (which was the kind of cladding on Grenfell Tower) but also includes lots of other types cladding (including something called HPL cladding, in essence, wood-effect), and the absence of fire breaks (designed to stop fire spreading from one flat to another), defective or absent fire doors.’
Nearly Legal, 10th January 2021
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Some of us are unfortunate enough to encounter nightmare neighbours who negatively impact our day-to-day life to varying degrees. This article seeks to explore the options available to clients who need to take further steps to resolve their neighbour disputes.’
Becket Chambers, 5th January 2021
Source: becket-chambers.co.uk
‘A High Court judge has dismissed an appeal over a ruling in a housing case that there had been no breach by Slough Borough Council of the public sector equality duty.’
Local Government Lawyer, 5th January 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘An appeal on the issue of whether a Council landlord’s initial failure to have regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty on commencing possession proceedings could be remedied by later performance of that duty.’
Nearly Legal, 2nd January 2021
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A housing association was earlier this month fined £80,00 after four employees developed a debilitating nerve condition over a period of several years.’
Local Government Lawyer, 21st December 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Flores, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Southwark (2020) EWCA Civ 1697. The was an appeal to the Court of Appeal from a first instance judicial review (our sceptical report here) of Southwark’s decision that the Flores family being in a statutorily overcrowded flat was a “deliberate act” for the purposes of Southwark’s allocation policy such that the family was not entitled to band 1 (highest) priority on the choice based letting scheme.’
Nearly Legal, 15th December 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A breach of lease case in the Upper Tribunal which, despite the names, appears to be between two unrelated people. So I shall call them L – the leaseholder – and F – the freeholder – to avoid multiple Gibbins related confusion.’
Nearly Legal, 13th December 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Home Office is leaving destitute asylum-seekers homeless in breach of the law due to its failure to monitor the operations of private firms contracted to manage asylum accommodation, the High Court has ruled. In a ruling handed down on Monday morning, Justice Robin Knowles found that the five claimants in the case – all asylum-seekers considered by the Home Office itself to be “highly vulnerable” and eligible for housing support – had been left homeless for prolonged periods.’
The Independent, 15th December 2020
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Kort Egan discusses Prempeh v Lakhany [2020] EWCA Civ 1422, in which the Court of Appeal considered whether a section 8 notice that is signed by the landlord’s agent and contains the agent’s details, must also include the landlord’s name and address.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 13th November 2020
Source: hardwicke.co.uk
‘Bullale v City of Westminster Council [2020] EWCA Civ 1587. An important Court of Appeal judgment on when intervening accommodation is settled so as to end the effect of a previous finding of intentional homelessness, including a careful revision of Doka v Southwark London Borough Council [2017] H.L.R. 786 (our report here) in view of the Supreme Court’s statement when refusing permission to appeal.’
Nearly Legal, 1st December 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘When assessing the suitability of a (refused) offer of accommodation made under s.193 Housing Act 1996 duty, what is the relevant date, or dates? That was the issue for the Court of Appeal in this second appeal by Bromley from a s.204 appeal which had quashed Bromley’s decision that the accommodation offered was suitable.’
Nearly Legal, 23rd November 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The appeal in Alexander Devine Children’s Cancer Trust v Housing Solutions Ltd [2020] UKSC 45 was the first time that either the Supreme Court or the House of Lords had considered the Upper Tribunal’s power to discharge or modify restrictive covenants affecting land under section 84 of the Law of Property Act 1925. The case confirms important principles affecting the interplay between private law property rights, planning and land use. Lord Burrows, giving the only substantive judgment of the Supreme Court, agreed with the Court of Appeal that the Upper Tribunal’s decision was wrong, but disagreed in a number of important respects with the speech of Sales LJ (as he then was) in the Court of Appeal ([2018] EWCA Civ 2679). For a number of reasons, it is likely that we shall be reading and re-reading this Supreme Court decision for many years to come.’
39 Essex Chambers, 9th November 2020
Source: www.39essex.com
‘The Government has issued a statutory instrument under emergency procedures to prevent, except in specified circumstances, bailiffs and High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEOs) attending at a dwelling house to execute a writ or warrant of possession, execute a writ or warrant of restitution or deliver a notice of eviction.’
Local Government Lawyer, 17th November 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A consortium of construction companies has failed in an appeal over a High Court judge’s dismissal of its claim for a declaration that the decision of an independent expert in relation to a revised section 106 agreement was not conclusive and binding on the parties.’
Local Government Lawyer, 16th November 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘In R (on the application of Z and another) (AP) (Appellants) v Hackney London Borough Council and another (Respondents) UKSC 2019/0162, the Supreme Court held that it was lawful for a housing association to provide social housing only to Orthodox Jews, in its first ever ruling on positive action. In this blog, Charlotte Goodman, an equality law barrister at Cloisters, considers the importance of the judgment.’
Cloisters, 6th November 2020
Source: www.cloisters.com
‘A second appeal on the vexed issue of s.204 appeals of late or “out of time” s.202 reviews. We’ve seen this issue come up earlier this year (and indeed before) but now the Court of Appeal has had a go at it.’
Nearly Legal, 15th November 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Millions of tenants could be offered greater protection from wrongdoing by landlords in long-awaited social housing reforms to be announced this week, more than three years after the Grenfell Tower disaster.’
The Guardian, 16th November 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Home Office did not discuss the decision to restart asylum evictions with local authorities, it has been revealed, despite concerns about the immediate impact on homelessness and heightened risks of coronavirus transmission.’
The Guardian, 14th November 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘HHJ Saunders at Central London County Court found the decision of LB Waltham Forest unlawful on a number of grounds.’
Garden Court Chambers, 5th November 2020
Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk
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