Category: housing

Supreme Court quashes council decision over offer of housing 50 miles away – Local government Lawyer

Posted March 20th, 2015 in appeals, benefits, homelessness, housing, local government, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘The Supreme Court has unanimously upheld an appeal by a homeless mother of five over a London borough’s offer of accommodation 50 miles away near Milton Keynes.
The Court heard oral submissions in Nzolameso v City of Westminster earlier this month (17 March). It has now quashed Westminster City Council’s decision that it had properly discharged its duty to secure accommodation available for occupation by the appellant.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 19th March 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

All proportionality defences are equal, but some are more equal than others – Zenith Chambers

Posted March 19th, 2015 in appeals, defences, disability discrimination, housing, human rights, news, proportionality, Supreme Court by sally

‘The Supreme Court, in the case of Akerman-Livingstone v Aster Communities Ltd [2015] UKSC 15, have provided some much needed and helpful clarification of the practicalities of raising and potentially defeating a defence based on discrimination on a summary basis. In the event, events overtook the appeal, and Mr Akerman-Livingstone’s appeal was dismissed, but had it not been for a suitable offer of accommodation and the superior landlord serving notice to quit on the Housing Association and requiring vacant possession from them, the result would have been different.’

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Zenith Chambers, 12th March 2015

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Top 10 Planning and Environmental Cases of 2014-2015 – Thirty Nine Essex Street

Posted March 19th, 2015 in appeals, enforcement, environmental protection, housing, news, planning by sally

‘This paper is intended to provide a focused update in relation to the most significant cases within the last twelve months of interest to those practicing in the area of environmental and planning law. In relation to each of the cases, the paper sets out asummary of the pertinent facts, the key issues decided by the case, together with some reflections on the legal and practical implications of the decisions.’

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Thirty Nine Essex Street, February 2015

Source: www.39essex.com

Supreme court to decide whether UK benefits cap is unlawful – The Guardian

Posted March 18th, 2015 in appeals, benefits, domestic violence, EC law, families, homelessness, housing, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘The Supreme court will decide on Wednesday if a cornerstone of the coalition government’s benefits policy is unlawful.’

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The Guardian, 18th March 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Trying to make sense of a mansion tax – Falcon Chambers

Posted March 17th, 2015 in housing, news, taxation by sally

‘The 2015 election campaign will not be the first in which all parties will be promising to outstrip their rivals in their support for the NHS. At the Labour Party Conference last year Ed Miliband announced that a next Labour Government would introduce a tax– a so-called mansion tax – on high value homes worth more than £2million. In an article in the Hampstead and Highgate Express (October 23 2014), designed to calm jittery voters where Labour’s majority is the smallest in the country, Ed Balls stated that the tax will be charged at £250 a month on properties worth between £2 and £3 million, but above £3 million it is apparently to be charged at 1% of capital value. The revenue from the tax, it is said, will contribute to a Time to Care Fund to help the NHS. He estimates that the mansion tax alone will put £1.2 billion into the Fund.’

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Falcon Chambers, February 2015

Source: www.falcon-chambers.co.uk

Supreme Court considers tests for justification under s15 Equality Act 2010 and Article 8 ECHR in a housing eviction case against a disabled tenant – Cloisters

Posted March 17th, 2015 in appeals, disability discrimination, disabled persons, equality, housing, mental health, news, repossession by sally

‘The Supreme Court handed down its decision yesterday in Akerman-Livingstone v. Aster Communities Ltd (formerly Flourish Homes Ltd) [2015] UKSC 15 in which it considered the test of justification for discrimination under section 15 of the Equality Act 2010 (the EqA) as compared with justification for Article 8 of the Convention.’

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Cloisters, 12th March 2015

Source: www.cloisters.com

Expectations are not existing facts – Nearly Legal

Posted March 9th, 2015 in appeals, consent, homelessness, housing, landlord & tenant, local government, news, rent, repossession by sally

‘Enfield LBC v Najim (2015) CA (Civ Div) 04/03/2015. This was Enfield’s appeal from a s.204 appeal quashing Enfield’s decision and review decision that Ms N was intentionally homeless.’

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Nearly Legal, 5th March 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/

The judicial review of regulations on funding judicial review – NearlyLegal

Posted March 4th, 2015 in barristers, homelessness, housing, judicial review, legal aid, news, regulations, solicitors by sally

‘The legal aid funding regulations for judicial reviews, in effect from April 2014, were the subject of this judicial review. To cut to the chase, the Lord Chancellor lost, but no remedy decided yet. (Disclaimer, I submitted a witness statement in support of the Claimants in this case, on the impact on homeless judicial reviews in particular. So you are warned of any possible partiality.)’

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NearlyLegal, 3rd March 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Ending flexible tenancies – a reminder – NearlyLegal

Posted February 25th, 2015 in costs, forfeiture, housing, landlord & tenant, news by sally

‘We don’t usually (indeed ever) repost previous material on NL. But I’m making an exception for this one, because I think it is timely. Flexible tenancies have been in existence for a while in some boroughs and I would expect that it is round about now that possession proceedings for a fault based grounds (rather than the end of the term and non-renewal of the flexible tenancy) would be starting to happen. I haven’t seen any yet, but my local boroughs don’t have flexible tenancies.’

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NearlyLegal, 24th February 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Southwark gatekeeping: All of the wrong – NearlyLegal

Posted February 23rd, 2015 in homelessness, housing, judicial review, local government, news, public interest by sally

‘Courtesy of Hansen Palomares Solicitors comes news of this settled Judicial Review of LB Southwark’s gatekeeping practices on homeless applications. It appears, to put it mildly, that Southwark have had a range of what should have been obviously unlawful policies on homeless applications, and even put them into leaflets and their website.’

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NearlyLegal, 22nd February 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Sanneh v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; Scott and others v Croydon London Borough Council; Merali and others v Birmingham City Council; Regina (HC) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and others – WLR Daily

Posted February 19th, 2015 in appeals, benefits, carers, EC law, housing, law reports, regulations, social security by sally

Sanneh v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; Scott and others v Croydon London Borough Council; Merali and others v Birmingham City Council; Regina (HC) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and others [2015] EWCA Civ 49; [2015] WLR (D) 61

‘European Union law gave a Zambrano carer, being a non-European Union citizen responsible for the care of an EU citizen child, the right to reside in the United Kingdom from the time when it became apparent that she qualified as a Zambrano carer. However, it did not give her an entitlement to social assistance on the same basis as an EU citizen lawfully resident in the UK. It was for national law to determine the level of benefits to which she was entitled.’

WLR Daily, 10th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Zambrano carers and social assistance – NearlyLegal

Posted February 16th, 2015 in appeals, benefits, carers, citizenship, EC law, equality, homelessness, housing, human rights, news by sally

‘There must be times when Court of Appeal judges think that they have bit parts in an ongoing drama – they have a walk on role. And that must be how the Court felt in Sanneh v SSWP and others [2015] EWCA Civ 49, which concerns the eligibility rules for Zambrano carers of a raft of social assistance benefits. Leading QCs and junior barristers appeared on all sides in a right ding dong that is bound to end up at the Supreme Court, which almost certainly will refer the issues to the CJEU. It also provides a glimpse of how the recent, potentially contradictory, judgments of the CJEU in Brey and Dano are, or might be, treated (although it looks like the UKSC will have the next bite of those rather earlier, in the Mirga and Samin appeals in March) and the question of the ambit of “social assistance”, which in itself is not uninteresting, is also raised, but parked by the CA, in these appeals ([84] – note: this is an important point for the future).’

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NearlyLegal, 12th February 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Landlords shunning foreigners because of their accents, after new rules preventing illegal migrants from renting – The Independent

Posted February 16th, 2015 in birth certificates, citizenship, equality, housing, immigration, landlord & tenant, news, passports by sally

‘Landlords are preparing to turn away tenants just because they have a foreign accent, as a consequence of new rules making it an offence to let rooms to illegal migrants.’

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The Independent, 15th February 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Schedule 1 to The Children Act 1989: Not Just for Wags – Family Law Week

Posted February 11th, 2015 in appeals, benefits, child support, children, cohabitation, costs, debts, disabled persons, families, family courts, housing, married persons, news, statistics by sally

‘Anita Mehta, barrister of Crown Office Row, Brighton, argues that Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989 applications should not be regarded as the domain of footballers’ girlfriends or the uber-wealthy but as a powerful tool for meeting children’s needs in a wide variety of cases.’

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Family Law Week, 6th February 2015

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Council wins appeal in lead case on bedroom tax and shared residence of child – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 10th, 2015 in appeals, housing, local government, news, residence orders, taxation, tribunals by sally

‘The Upper Tribunal has upheld a local authority’s appeal in the lead case on the application of the “bedroom tax” to the shared residence of a child.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 10th February 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Lord Justice Lewison and the Return of English – NearlyLegal

Posted February 10th, 2015 in appeals, housing, judges, landlord & tenant, legislation, news by sally

‘I recently found myself reading and writing about the Court of Appeal judgement in Edwards v Kurasamy (our report here). Doing so made me think about the recent spate of judgements given by Lewison LJ that have touched on the private rental sector. I am thinking here of Spencer v Taylor (which we analysed here), Charalambous v Ng, and now Edwards v Kumarasamy. (our report). All of these are cases that touch primarily on the Private Rented Sector and all of them feature leading judgements by Lewison LJ. These are not of course the only big PRS cases to come from the CoA recently so I am not suggesting that Lewison LJ is the only CoA judge dealing with the PRS (see McDonald v McDonald for example) but he does seem to be getting a healthy majority right now.’

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NearlyLegal, 9th February 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Proposed changes to S.21 – NearlyLegal

Posted February 9th, 2015 in bills, housing, landlord & tenant, news, notification, rent, repossession by sally

‘As well as the clauses introducing the retaliatory eviction proposals, the Government’s proposed amendments to the Deregulation Bill would make some other changes to s.21. The effects would be:

No s.21 notice can be served within the first 4 months of the shorthold tenancy, thus ending the all too widespread practice of serving a s.21 at the time the tenancy agreement is signed (though I’d still say that was probably caught by the deposit rules). The proposals also make clear that possession proceedings cannot be begun before 6 months from the start of the tenancy (that disposes of an idea some bright spark landlords had, that it was OK to start proceedings before 6 months so long as the possession order was made after the 6 month date).’

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NearlyLegal, 8th February 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Tribunal tells council to disclose redactions from housing viability assessment – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 6th, 2015 in disclosure, housing, local government, news, planning, tribunals by sally

‘The First-tier Tribunal has ordered a London council to disclose redacted information in a viability assessment that led to the authority allowing a developer to vary the amount of affordable housing on a major site.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 6th February 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Supreme Court to hear appeal over offer of accommodation 50 miles away – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 5th, 2015 in appeals, homelessness, housing, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘The Supreme Court has given a homeless mother of five permission to appeal a ruling that upheld a London borough’s offer of accommodation near Milton Keynes.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th February 2015

Source: www.localgovernment.co.uk

Nuisance and reasonable steps – NearlyLegal

Posted February 5th, 2015 in appeals, housing, news, nuisance by sally

‘Ms Y is the leaseholder of a flat below that of Mrs & Mr Shakeshaft, who had a tenant in theirs. There had been repeated leaks, and floods, into Ms Y’s flat over a period of 4 years or so, originating in the Shakeshaft’s flat above and causing considerable damage. Ms Y had brought a claim which, by the time it reached trial at first instance, was purely a claim in nuisance against Mrs & Mr S for the water originating in their flat.’

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NearlyLegal, 4th February 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk