‘The system by which one local authority handling local government responsibilities could, under section 27 of the Children Act 1989 and with mandatory effect, request another authority to assist in relation to housing did not apply as between departments within the same local authority.’
WLR Daily, 7th November 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘Legal help for thousands of families facing eviction from their home is being slashed by the Government despite soaring numbers of repossessions, an investigation for The Independent has found.’
The Independent, 26th November 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The Tenancies Reform Bill has now been formally published following its second reading. The Bill has changed substantially from the original version that was put forward by Sarah Teather MP and drafted by Shelter. We commented on the Bill before as we had seen the version produced at first reading. The Bill has now benefitted from the gentle caress of the Parliamentary Draftsman’s office so it looks entirely different.’
NearlyLegal, 27th November 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘It is not unknown for losing parties in a case to not be happy, indeed very upset. There are two basic options. To shut up and put up with it, or appeal. Rather unusually, faced with one of the most coruscating High Court judgments I can recall, in AA V LB Southwark [our report here], the senior officers of Southwark Council have chosen to do neither. Instead, Southwark’s Housing and Communities Strategic Director has chosen to publicly announce that the judgment was ‘unjust’ and ‘clearly wrong’, but that Southwark aren’t going to appeal it.’
NearlyLegal, 25th November 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A woman whose council home has been fitted with a secure panic room to protect her from a violent ex-partner is going to court on Wednesday to challenge the government’s so-called bedroom tax.’
The Guardian, 18th November 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Sims (Appellant) v Dacorum Borough Council (Respondent) [2014] UKSC 63 (YouTube)
Supreme Court, 12th November 2014
Supreme Court, 12th November 2014
‘The circumstances of the claim are as follows. The Claimant had been visiting her parents who had lived for some years in sheltered housing owned by the Defendant. The Claimant’s parents’ accommodation had a back entrance, which was approached by way of a tarmac path, beside which were an area of patchy grass. There was a difference in level between the path and the earth of approximately two and a half inches. At trial the Judge found that the edge of the path was clear and did not need to be marked. He accepted that the Claimant had stepped half on and half off the path which has caused her ankle to cockle and for her to fall.’
Zenith PI Blog, 17th November 2014
Source: www.zenithpi.wordpress.com
‘Something that can take some housing practitioners by surprise is a Notice to Quit served, not by a landlord on a tenant, but by a tenant on a landlord (sometimes referred to by housing officers as a “notice to terminate”).’
Zenith Chambers, 13th November 2014
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
‘With the Supreme Court set to look at priority need this December, Ajilore v Hackney [2014] EWCA Civ 1273 may prove to be a brief footnote in the evolution of the bloated Pereira test. But, at least for the next four weeks, it tells us something about the construction of the “ordinary homeless person” against which, post Johnson v Solihull [2013] EWCA Civ 752, applicants for homeless assistance are assessed.’
NearlyLegal, 16th November 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The North East Property Buyers litigation test cases finally reached the Supreme Court and judgment was handed down on 22nd October 2014. Any practitioner in property and housing litigation in the North East, and indeed further afield, will have had some knowledge of, or dealings with, schemes such as were in these cases examined. They concerned sale and lease back agreements, a simple enough notion, involving the purchase of a vendor’s home by a nominee, often at an undervalue, in return granting the vendor a lease of the property, thereby releasing equity to the vendor and allowing them to remain in the property at a reduced rent.’
Full story (PDF)
Zenith Chambers, 24th October 2014
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
‘Chris Young & James Corbet Burcher recently gave a talk titled ‘Love Thy Neighbour: An update on Neighbourhood plans’ at the No5 Chambers Annual Planning Review in London.’
No. 5 Chambers, 16th October 2014
Source: www.no5.com
‘Flying cricket balls and noisy motorbikes have a long history of testing the legal balance between the public interest in sport and the private interest in the peaceful enjoyment of land or the avoidance of injury.’
Sports Law Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 13th November 2014
Source: www.sportslawbulletin.org
‘The power of a local housing authority under section 160ZA(7) of the Housing Act 1996 to set the qualification criteria for registration on a housing allocation scheme under that Act was subject to the authority’s duty under section 166A(3) of the 1996 Act to secure that reasonable preference was given to specified classes of people, including those who were owed a housing duty under section 193(2) of that Act.’
WLR Daily, 6th November 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘Jakimaviciute, R (On the Application Of) v Hammersmith And Fulham London Borough Council [2014] EWCA Civ 1438. Eligibility for allocation list, reasonable preference and homelessness. After a run of Court of Appeal housing decisions that might be mildly described as disappointing, it is good to see one that is definitely right, albeit apparently reluctantly given.’
NearlyLegal, 6th November 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/
‘Whether you call it the “spare room subsidy” or the “bedroom tax”, the removal of this type of housing benefit has been nothing short of controversial. There have been several previous legal challenges to the Regulations, as well as to the benefit cap introduced as part of the same package of welfare changes. The outcome of these cases was not promising for these claimants, in particular the decision of the Court of Appeal in R (MA) v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2014] EWCA Civ 13. Another important case is R (SG (previously JS)) v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2014] EWCA Civ 156.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 29th October 2014
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘A single mother-of-five who was made homeless after resisting Westminster Council’s attempt to move the family 50 miles from the capital is applying to the Supreme Court to review her case.’
The Independent, 29th October 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The facts in Nzolameso v Westminster CC are pretty unremarkable, but the effects of the Court of Appeal’s judgement are likely to reverberate through every new homelessness application, especially in the London area.’
NearlyLegal, 26th October 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Shelter, the housing charity, is calling for a ban on “revenge evictions”, which it says are being carried out by bad landlords on tenants who dare to complain about inadequate conditions or ask for repairs to be made.’
Full story
The Guardian, 25th October 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘This was the Liberty backed judicial review of the bedroom tax regulations on the basis that the regulations amounted to an article 8 breach, or an article 14 breach read with article 8, or that the regulations were irrational. At issue was the status of separated families where there was shared care.’
NearlyLegal, 23rd October 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
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