‘A judge has strongly criticised a London borough over its handling of the assessment of a family’s accommodation needs.’
Local Government Lawyer, 24th September 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Master of the Rolls, Sir Terence Etherton, has published a statement on the resumption of possession cases from 20 September.’
Local Government Lawyer, 21st September 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Eviction hearings will now resume in courts in England and Wales – but the most serious cases will be given priority.’
BBC News, 21st September 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Clare Cullen considers a recent High Court decision to adjourn a case considering the suitability of interim accommodation where further information was required.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th September 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has handed down a judgment on the meaning of “out-of-date” in paragraph 11(d) in the National Planning Policy Framework. Matthew Fraser sets out the key points.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th September 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A homeless father of four with disabilities who was refused the chance to rent a private flat because he fell foul of the estate agents’ “no DSS” rules was unlawfully discriminated against, a court has ruled.’
The Guardian, 9th September 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The competition watchdog has launched enforcement action against four of the UK’s leading housing developers – Barratt, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Countryside Properties – after an investigation uncovered evidence that leasehold homeowners and prospective buyers were being misled and charged excessive fees.’
The Guardian, 4th September 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘This case involved an appeal against a fine and a confiscation order following criminal proceedings for breach of an enforcement notice served under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). The appellant, Mr Roth, had converted a property into 12 self-contained flats without prior planning permission. His appeal against sentence was successful; insufficient credit had been given for his guilty plea in the Crown Court, where the case had been committed for the purposes of confiscation. The appeal against the confiscation order was advanced on three grounds: firstly, that the wording of the summons restricted the criminality to one day; secondly, that the rent received was not linked to the breach of the planning legislation; and thirdly, that it was disproportionate for the benefit figure to comprise the gross rental received. All three grounds were dismissed.’
5SAH, 24th August 2020
Source: www.5sah.co.uk
‘The stay imposed on possession proceedings was due to expire on Sunday 23 August 2020. However, in an 11th hour u-turn, Robert Jenrick announced on Friday afternoon that the ban on evictions would be extended for a further 4 weeks (taking the total ban to 6 months) in England and Wales. In a further, unforeseen twist, it was announced that a new 6 month notice period would be in place until at least 31 March 2021 (this applies to England only) in all matters save for “serious cases”, examples of which are anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse.’
St Ives Chambers, 21st August 2020
Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk
‘Merton Council has agreed to pay more than £1,700 in compensation to a man who had to give up one of his jobs because the authority gave him accommodation in Birmingham – leaving him with a three-hour commute.’
Local Government Lawyer, 27th August 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The London Borough of Islington has lost “a most unusual” Court of Appeal action in which it argued that a confiscation order in a housing overcrowding case was too lenient.’
Local Government Lawyer, 27th August 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Thousands of landlords are trying to avoid renting their properties to benefit claimants, despite a judge ruling a blanket ban was unlawful.’
BBC News, 28th August 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Whilst much could be (and most of it has already been) written about the Government’s recent white paper on planning, two things struck me in particular.
First, how generous of Whitehall to offer such fertile ground to article-writing lawyers and other commentators searching for occupation during Covid-enforced idleness. There is only so much nourishment available via Zoom, and anyway, in terms of professional development, thanks to my planning bar colleagues and their prodigious supply of webinars (manifestly exceeding the need, whether assessed on a 5 year supply, standardised, or any other basis of your choice) all of us now know literally everything about the current policy and legislative regime that there is to know. Or at least, most of us do. Others have employed the unexpected gift of time more imaginatively: my two young sons and I, for example, are on the verge of perfecting the Frontside 180, which I reckon isn’t at all bad for three pre-lockdown non-skateboarders.’
Guildhall Chambers, 25th August 2020
Source: www.guildhallchambers.co.uk
‘The “flexible tenancy” was the latest, and mercifully the last, in a long line of new “tenancies” created by Parliament to address perceived deficiencies within social housing. The flexible tenancy is a fixed term secure tenancy that is capable of determination at the end of its term by not becoming a secure periodic tenancy. Its purpose was to enable a greater churn of social housing and to ensure that such housing went to those tenants in greatest housing need. The flexible tenancy did not prove popular—there are said to be only 30,000 flexible tenancies in existence—and Parliament’s proposal to make such tenancies mandatory (under the Housing and Planning Act 2016) has never been brought into force.’
Tanfield Chambers, 11th August 2020
Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk
‘Developer Wainhomes (North-West) has won a High Court case against the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government over housebuilding in the area of South Ribble Borough Council.’
Local Government Lawyer, 26th August 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A interim judicial review decision from May, but judgment just out. The issue was the suitability of temporary accommodation under section 188 Housing Act 1996 (judicial review necessary, as no s.202 review option on s.188 accommodation).’
Nearly Legal, 23rd August 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The ban on tenant evictions, which was set to expire on Monday 23rd August, has been extended for a further four weeks until 20th September.’
Local Government Lawyer, 21st August 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Councils have warned that hundreds of thousands of people could be at risk of eviction when the stay on possession proceedings introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end on 23 August.’
Local Government Lawyer, 21st August 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Andrew Skelly considers the current restrictions on a landlord’s ability to recover possession, and the emergency measures set out in the Coronavirus Act 2020 that will continue to apply after the automatic stay on possession proceedings comes to an end on 23 August 2020.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 12th August 2020
Source: hardwicke.co.uk
‘A man whose partner died of coronavirus after they moved into their dream flat is among 230,000 people who face having to leave their homes when the government lifts its ban on evictions in England and Wales this weekend.’
The Guardian, 19th August 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
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