Whose windows are these? – Nearly Legal

Posted September 3rd, 2019 in housing, landlord & tenant, news, repairs by sally

‘As should be well known, when it comes to landlord’s repairing responsibilities, an awful lot depends on the wording of the tenancy agreement. See for example, Welsh v Greenwich LBC (2001) 33 HLR 40 CA line of cases where a tenancy clause committing the landlord to keep the property ‘in good condition’ or ‘fit to live in’ made the landlord liable for condensation mould.’

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Nearly Legal, 2nd September 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Possession and licensing in Wales – Nearly Legal

Posted August 27th, 2019 in housing, landlord & tenant, licensing, news, repossession, Wales by sally

‘Does failing to be licensed under The Housing (Wales) Act 2014 prevent a landlord from serving any notice seeking possession, or just a section 21 notice? That was the issue in a county court appeal in Evans & Evans v Jarvis, County Court at Swansea, 20 August 2019.’

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Nearly Legal, 26th August 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

London borough prosecutes man who tried to take over council flat by claiming to be nephew of deceased tenant – Local Government Lawyer

‘The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has successfully prosecuted a man who fraudulently tried to take over the council tenancy of a resident who had passed away by pretending to be his nephew.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 20th August 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Breach of PSED and consequences for possession – Nearly Legal

‘The Court of Appeal considers the effect of an admitted breach of the Public Sector Equality Duty under s.149 Equality Act 2010 on possession proceedings.’

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Nearly Legal, 18th August 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Court of Appeal allows possession despite landlord’s failure to carry out a PSED assessment – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 2nd, 2019 in disabled persons, equality, landlord & tenant, news, repossession by sally

‘A housing association has been granted possession of a property despite not undertaking an assessment under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) before issuing the claim for possession because the outcome would have been no different had it done so, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 1st August 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Court finds for landlord over possession of under-occupied property – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Court Of Appeal has clarified the law over when a council should serve a notice seeking possession from a resident who has succeeded to a tenancy.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 1st August 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Too late to waive – Nearly Legal

Posted July 31st, 2019 in landlord & tenant, news, repossession, time limits by sally

‘Where a tenant has succeeded to a secure tenancy on the death of the former tenant, and the landlord seeks possession on the basis that the property is under occupied, there are time limits on when and how this can be done. This was the Court of Appeal judgment on an appeal from an appeal to a circuit judge of a first instance possession order. At issue was the effect of an application to dispense with the requirement for a notice seeking possession (via s.83(1)(b) Housing Act 1985) on the statutory time limits.’

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Nearly Legal, 29th July 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Airbnb host fined £100,000 for letting council flat – BBC News

‘An Airbnb host who rented out his central London council flat to tourists has been fined £100,000 and evicted.’

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BBC News, 29th July 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Ministry consults on implementing decision to end ‘no-fault’ evictions – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has launched a consultation on implementing the government’s decision to remove section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 and improving section 8 eviction grounds.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 23rd July 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Tenants will be given access to rogue landlord database – The Guardian

‘Campaigners have welcomed government plans to open up its rogue landlord database to prospective tenants, as part of proposals to give greater protection to renters.’

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The Guardian, 21st July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Clash of rights of operators and landowner rights to redevelop clarified by Tribunal – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 15th, 2019 in landlord & tenant, leases, news, planning, telecommunications by sally

‘Land owners can prevent telecoms operators installing telecoms equipment on their property if they have a “firm, settled and unconditional intention” of redeveloping the sites the operators have earmarked, and can show that they have a reasonable prospect of being able to carry out their redevelopment plans, a tribunal has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 12th July 2019

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

FOI requests to 20 councils found more than half did not prosecute single letting agent over four-year period, landlords group claims – Local Government Lawyer

‘Local authorities are failing in their duty to prosecute rogue letting agents, the National Landlords Association has claimed after its research found that more than half of 20 councils did not prosecute a single letting agent in the four-year period from 2014/15 to 2017/18.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th July 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

High Court brings clarity over ‘contracting out’ of leases in statutory declarations – OUT-LAW.com

‘The English and Welsh High Court has clarified the wording to use in statutory declaration when “contracting out” of business lease legislation.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 24th June 2019

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Deposit penalties. How many breaches is too many?- Nearly Legal

Posted June 4th, 2019 in damages, deposits, housing, landlord & tenant, news, penalties by sally

‘A quick note, because Rea Murray has done the heavy lifting for me. We’ve seen the ‘claims for multiple deposit breaches’ issues before, although in the guise of whether a claim could be brought for a number of tenancies at once. This was a county court appeal to a circuit judge on exactly what counted as a claimable breach, and how many could be claimed per tenancy.’

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Nearly Legal, 3rd June 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Possession and the PSED (again) – Nearly Legal

‘London and Quadrant HR v Patrick [2019] EWHC 1263 (QB) follows hard on the footsteps of Powell v Dacorum BC [2019] EWCA Civ 29 and Forward v Aldwyck Housing Group Ltd [2019] EWHC 24 (QB) (our note here), with Turner J making some fairly caustic observations about the use of the public sector equality duty in possession cases. He ended his substantive judgment with the observation that, “I note that the decision in Forward is under appeal to the Court of Appeal. It is to be hoped that, whatever the outcome, such guidance as may be given will significantly reduce the risk that, in future, possession applications are subject to protracted delays and uncertainty which are highly prejudicial to all of those affected”.’

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Nearly Legal, 28th May 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Tenant Fees Act: landlords should read up on the new law before it comes into force, or risk a £5,000 fine – The Independent

Posted May 28th, 2019 in codes of practice, fees, fines, housing, landlord & tenant, news by sally

‘Strict new laws will dictate what a landlord can and can’t ask tenants to pay for. Both sides need to know the rules.’

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The Independent, 24th May 2019

Source: www.homesandproperty.co.uk

Gimme Gimme Gimme – Nearly Legal

Posted May 20th, 2019 in appeals, housing, landlord & tenant, news, service charges, tribunals by sally

‘Curo Places Ltd v Pimlett (LANDLORD AND TENANT – service charges – tenancy agreement of a bungalow in a sheltered housing scheme) (2019) UKUT 130 (LC). Another Upper Tribunal case on a landlord adding additional services and charges to assured tenancy agreements, but where Wilcock v The Guinness Partnership Ltd (2019) UKUT 146 (LC) (our report) concerned an agreement with specified services only, this appeal concerned a tenancy agreement with a clause that did allow the landlord to add additional services and charge for them.’

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Nearly Legal, 19th May 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Government announces new register for retail landlords – BBC News

Posted May 17th, 2019 in landlord & tenant, local government, news, planning by sally

‘The government says it will make it easier to find out who owns empty buildings on the High Street in a bid to revitalise the UK’s retail sector.’

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BBC News, 16th May 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Court of Appeal to hear case on public sector equality duty and possession orders over false representations – Local Government Lawyer

‘A case concerning the interrelationship between the public sector equality duty and the court’s discretion to make a possession order because of false representations is to go to the Court of Appeal, it has been reported.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 16th May 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Deposits – Better to give than to receive – Nearly Legal

Posted May 7th, 2019 in appeals, deposits, housing, landlord & tenant, news, repossession by sally

‘Sebastiampillai v Parr. Central London County Court, 11 April 2019. Does a change of landlord require provision of fresh prescribed information? How does this operate in view of section 215B Housing Act 2004 (as inserted by the Deregulation Act 2015) and the express over-riding of the requirement to re-serve prescribed information on each replacement tenancy? This was the issue in this county court appeal from a first instance possession order.’

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Nearly Legal, 6th May 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk