‘Where a local authority has an initial s.188 Housing Act 1996 duty to provide interim accommodation, but then makes a s.184 decision that the applicant is not in priority need, is that sufficient to bring the s.188 duty to an end? In this judicial review, the answer turns out to be no, at least not if the s.189B duty is continuing and notice of no further duty has not been served.’
Nearly Legal, 16th June 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘In a successful challenge to the adoption of a development plan, Mrs Justice Lieven has ruled that the large number of Green Belt allocations in the adopted Leeds Site Allocations Plan (SAP) are legally flawed due to inadequate reasons causing prejudice to the Claimant and an error of fact amounting to an error of law. The Council was also found to have breached the Strategic Environment Assessment Regulations by failing to consider and consult upon a ‘reasonable alternative’ to the strategy of continuing with the SAP in materially changed circumstances. However, in relation to that latter point, relief was not granted due to the Court finding that it was an error that would not have made any difference to the outcome.’
Landmark Chambers, 8th June 2020
Source: www.landmarkchambers.co.uk
‘More than 1,000 prisoners were released into homelessness at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in England and Wales, figures show, prompting the government to increase funding for accommodation for prison leavers.’
The Guardian, 15th June 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A neighbourhood forum has successfully challenged Leeds City Council’s site allocation plan in the High Court in a dispute over calculating Green Belt release for housebuilding.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘This case determines, definitively, that a thorough vulnerability assessment with an acknowledgement of a consideration of the Public Sector Equality Duty (‘PSED’) can satisfy the statutory duty pursuant to section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. No further assessment is automatically required.’
St Ives Chambers, June 2020
Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk
‘A flexible tenancy is a species of secure tenancy which is granted for a fixed term of at least two years (s.107A-D, Housing Act 1985). At the end of the fixed term, the landlord has a mandatory ground for possession (s.107D). During the fixed term, commentators have differed on how the landlord can terminate the tenancy. In Flexible Tenancies and Forfeiture, [2014] Journal of Housing Law 17 (Andrew Dymond), it was suggested that the tenancy needed to include a forfeiture clause and the fixed term needed to be terminated by way of forfeiture (see s.82(3), 1985 Act). By contrast, in In a Fix New Law Journal, 29 June 2012 (Jon Holbrook), it was suggested that a flexible tenancy could be determined in the same manner as a periodic secure tenancy, i.e. by the landlord obtaining and executing an order for possession.’
Landmark Chambers, 2nd June 2020
Source: www.landmarkchambers.co.uk
‘Lloyds Banking Group has been fined £64m by the City watchdog for failing to treat mortgage customers fairly after they fell into financial difficulty.’
The Guardian, 11th June 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The London Borough of Waltham Forest has won two appeals over reductions made by the First-Tier Tribunal to penalty notices for unlicensed flat rentals.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th June 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 makes detailed provision for the regulation of residential service charges payable by long leaseholders. In particular, s.20B(1), 1985 Act provides that a tenant is not liable to pay service charges which were incurred more than 18 months before a demand for payment was served on the tenant. That provision does not apply if, within the same 18 month period, the tenant is notified in writing that the costs have been incurred and that he will subsequently be required under the terms of his lease to contribute to them by payment of a service charge (s.20B(2)). In Brent LBC v Shulem B Association Ltd [2011] 1 WLR 3014, the High Court held that the “demand” for the purposes of s.20B(1) had to be a contractually valid demand. That decision was approved – without argument to the contrary – in Skelton v DBS Homes (Kings Hill) Ltd [2017] EWCA Civ 1139.’
Landmark Chambers, 2nd June 2020
Source: www.landmarkchambers.co.uk
‘Speeding up the process of property buying and selling has taken on new urgency following the conveyancing market meltdown due to Covid-19.’
Legal Futures, 9th June 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Despite the government’s general stance on relaxation of lockdown and the recommendations of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, the ban on taking active steps in possession claims or seeking to enforce possession orders has been extended until 23 August. This was following advice from the Lord Chancellor and the Civil Procedure Rules Committee.’
St Ives Chambers, June 2020
Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk
‘The Master of the Rolls, Sir Terence Etherton, has established a cross-sector working group to address concerns about the consequences of the current stay on housing possession claims ending.’
Local Government Lawyer, 5th June 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Another Upper Tribunal decision to add to the now large pile of cases on airbnb/short let use and breach of lease. In this case, the FTT had found the short let use not to be in breach of lease (for cunning reasons I’ll come back to) and the head lessor had appealed to the Upper Tribunal. The decision upholds the Nemcova line on “private residence” use, but also has a finding of interest on “business use”.’
Nearly Legal, 6th June 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The government has extended its ban on evictions in England and Wales by a further two months, prolonging the breathing space for thousands of tenants who have struggled to pay the rent during lockdown.’
The Guardian, 6th June 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Administrative Court dismissed a challenge to the local authority’s decision as to the level of priority to be awarded under their housing allocation scheme to a family living in accommodation which had become statutorily overcrowded as a result of children growing older. The Court interpreted the meaning of the applicant’s “deliberate act” under the scheme.’
4-5 Gray's Inn Square, 29th May 2020
Source: www.4-5.co.uk
‘Is an appeal from a possession order (or other order) made in a possession claim commenced under Part 55 of the CPR caught by the stay on “all proceedings brought under CPR Part 55” imposed by paragraph 2 of Practice Direction 51Z (as amended on 20 April 2020)?’
Falcon Chambers, 28th May 2020
Source: www.falcon-chambers.com
‘The HS2 tunnels can go ahead, the high court has ruled, after a resident complained the tunnels could cause homes to collapse.’
Daily Telegraph, 5th June 2020
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘Over half the UK’s wealth is in property. That is more than £7 trillion in just England and Wales, of which around £1-1.5 trillion is secured by lending. The provision of sufficient housing of the right type, in the right places and at affordable prices is a perennial problem. A crisis existed before the Corona-19 virus appeared. The Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick, described this as an “acute housing need in this country” As we continue to work through lockdown, we must contemplate life afterwards. No-one has a crystal ball. However, mature thinking and past experience might illuminate possible pathways.’
33 Bedford Row, 18th May 2020
Source: www.33bedfordrow.co.uk
A landlord cannot determine a flexible tenancy prior to the expiry of its fixed term without a forfeiture clause even in the event of default by the tenant, the High Court has ruled.
Local Government Lawyer, 4th June 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Thousands of tenants who have struggled to pay rent during the pandemic lockdown face the prospect of losing their home from the end of the month when the government’s temporary ban on evictions ends, housing campaigners have warned.’
The Guardian, 4th June 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
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