The tenant appealed against a finding that her tenancy was a statutory shorthold tenancy following termination of an assured shorthold tenancy, or an assured tenancy. She moved in as a carer for the tenant of the trustee defendants. That arrangement developed. The trustees said that she was not then treated as a tenant. The tenant … Continue reading Vesely v Levy and others: CA 27 Apr 2007
The claimant was a cyclist. He passed along inside a line of traffic, and collided with a lorry turning left into a petrol station ahead of him, suffering serious injuries. He appealed against a finding that the lorry driver had signalled and that he had not been watching where he was going. Held: The claimant … Continue reading Clenshaw v Tanner and others: CA 27 Nov 2002
Citations: [2018] EWHC 2454 (QB) Links: Bailii Statutes: Housing Act 1988 21(1B) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Housing, Landlord and Tenant Updated: 29 May 2022; Ref: scu.625533
LT LANDLORD AND TENANT- Service Charges – Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 as amended ss 18 and 19 – Housing Act 1988 ss 13 and 14 – Assured non-shorthold periodic tenancy -whether the landlord’s ability (subject to any reference to a Rent Assessment Committee) to serve a yearly notice of increase of rent (which included … Continue reading Chand v Calmore Area Housing Association Ltd: LT 25 Jul 2008
The defendant resisted accelerated possession proceedings brought for rent arrears under his assured shorthold tenancy, by a private housing association who was a successor to a public authority. Held: Once the human rights issue was raised, the judge had an obligation to deal with it. He did not have an obligation to examine housing policy … Continue reading Poplar Housing and Regeneration Community Association Ltd v Donoghue: CA 27 Apr 2001
The tenant appealed against a refusal of what he said was his right to buy the flat he occupied. The Housing Association respondent and arbitrator had said that the tenancy had been assured, not secure and that therefore no right to buy had existed. After the grant of the tenancy, the Association had changed in … Continue reading Ali Bhai and Another v Black Roof Community Housing Association Ltd: CA 2 Nov 2000
In Antoniades, the two tenants occupied an attic, living together. Each had at the same time signed identical agreements purporting to create licences. The landlord had reserved to himself the right to occupy the property and to allow others to occupy it so as to create no more than a licence. Held: Behaviour by the … Continue reading A G Securities v Vaughan; Antoniades v Villiers and Bridger: HL 10 Nov 1988
The court considered the determination of a new rent on the conversion of a long tenancy protected under Part I of the 1954 Act to an assured periodic tenancy under the 1988 Act. The tenant had carried out improvements which she now wanted to be discounted in calculating the rent. If it was not so … Continue reading Hughes v Borodex Ltd: CA 27 Apr 2010
The House considered situations where a secure or assured tenancy had been made subject to a suspended possession order and where despite the tenant failing to comply with the conditions, he had been allowed to continue in occupation. Held: Mrs White remained an assured tenant despite the continued suspended possession order. Mr Porter was entitled … Continue reading Knowsley Housing Trust v White; Honeygan-Green v London Borough of Islington; Porter v Shepherds Bush Housing Association: HL 10 Dec 2008
Various leases of properties had been granted. Legal and General occupied the property under an arrangement under which they paid no rent. The landlord sought possession, saying that the agreements were licences not tenancies because of the absence . .
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A landlord could be liable for for orders for damages both for a common law breach of quiet enjoyment under the lease and for the loss of occupation under the 1988 Act. The case of Mason was distinguished because on the basis that the common law damages were awarded here not for the loss of … Continue reading Kaur v Gill: CA 15 Jun 1995
Appeal against award of damages for breach by landlord of covenant for quiet enjoyment and under the 1988 Act. Held: The landlord’s appeal failed. ‘There is no fixed point at which it can be said that breaches of the covenant of quiet enjoyment become so serious as to constitute qualifying conduct for the purposes of … Continue reading Abbott v Bayley: CA 20 Jan 1999
The plaintiff sought leave to appeal against the level of damages awarded to her in her claim for wrongful eviction, and against the costs award made after the award had failed to meet the amount paid into court. She said that by omitting a painting from the damages, the amount payable was reduced below the … Continue reading Hougie v Kranat: CA 26 Nov 1998
Where one joint tenant had given notice and the landlord mistakenly excluded the other tenant, the husband, from possession, the landlord could not rely on the defence of ‘reasonable cause’. The tenant has the choice of possession or statutory damages. Statutory damages had been agreed between the parties’ representatives at 30,000 pounds. The Council now … Continue reading Wandsworth London Borough Council v Osei-Bonsu: CA 22 Oct 1998
The defendant appealed an award of pounds 11,000 damages for unlawful eviction of his tenant. The tenant had found herself unable to pay the rent and had given notice to quit. She was then told to leave immediately. The judge awarded statutory damages under section 27 representing the difference between the vacant possession value of … Continue reading King v Jackson (T/a Jackson Flower Company): CA 16 Jul 1997
General and aggravated damages at common law are to be set off, against damages awarded under Housing Act 1988 s2. The general damages were attributable to the loss of the right to occupy the premises, and therefore the common law damages award should be set off against the statutory award for the same loss. Judges: … Continue reading Mason v Nwokorie: CA 19 Oct 1993
Claim for damages for unlawful eviction of tenant. Judges: Jacob, Lloyd, Stanley Burton LJJ Citations: [2010] EWCA Civ 108, [2010] HLR 25 Links: Bailii Statutes: Housing Act 1988 27 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Housing Updated: 25 August 2022; Ref: scu.425547
In a case of unlawful eviction, the only valuation evidence was that produced by the tenant and such evidence was not challenged by the landlord. The grounds of appeal included the contentions that the award of damages was excessive and bore no relation to the loss suffered by the tenant. Held: ‘I accept that the … Continue reading Tagro v Cafanec: CA 1991
The court considered the dangers of a double award of damages for a landlord’s breach of his covenant for quiet enjoyment. Citations: [1994] 26 HLR 486 Statutes: Housing Act 1988 27(5) Cited by: Cited – Abbott v Bayley CA 20-Jan-1999 Appeal against award of damages for breach by landlord of covenant for quiet enjoyment and … Continue reading Sampson v Wilson: 1994
A landlord’s estate management agent was not jointly liable with the Landlord for damages for acts of harassment of the tenant committed by the landlord. Citations: Times 19-Apr-1995 Statutes: Housing Act 1988 27 28 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Cited by: Cited – Abbott v Bayley CA 20-Jan-1999 Appeal against award of damages for breach by … Continue reading Sampson and Others v Wilson and Others: CA 19 Apr 1995
The Council had been found to have unlawfully evicted the respondent, and now appealed against the calculation of statutory damages awarded. It said that the court should in its valuation have allowed for the propensity for a move from a secure tenancy with the authority to an assured tenancy with a housing association on the … Continue reading London Borough of Lambeth v Loveridge: CA 10 May 2013
The landlord should be deemed to have been in possession of the land when calculating damages for unlawful eviction. The measure of damages ‘represents the financial advantage which the landlord has gained . . . and of which it is the purpose of . .
The rent assessment committee had rejected market rent comparables as an indicator of market rent for the subject premises, because, inter alia, they were not satisfied of the actual absence of scarcity, and thus found that the landlord had not demonstrated the unsoundness of registered fair rent comparables. Held: The decision was upheld. A fair … Continue reading Spath Holme Ltd v Greater Manchester and Lancashire Rent Assessment Committee: CA 9 Aug 1995
The parties, an unmarried cohabiting couple, disputed their respective shares in a property held in the man’s sole name. Both had made direct contributions both to the purchase of a barn and to its expensive conversion into a home. The plaintiff appealed against a finding that she had only a 14.9% interest on a resulting … Continue reading Drake v Whipp: CA 30 Nov 1995
Application had been made to register as a town or village green an area of land which was largely a boggy marsh. The local authority resisted the application wanting to use the land instead for housing. It then rejected advice it received from a non-statutory enquiry, and sought a declaration from the court as to … Continue reading Oxfordshire County Council v Oxford City Council and others: HL 24 May 2006
The tenant sought relief from forfeiture under section 138 against a landlord seeking possession of his assured tenancy. There were arrears of rent which he believed he could pay. Held: The grounds for possession were statutory, and had been demonstrated. The action was not an action for forfeiture. ‘section 5(1) makes it abundantly clear that … Continue reading Artesian Residential Investments Limited v Beck: CA 19 Mar 1999
The appellants challenged the refusal to grant them injunctions to prevent Roma parking caravans on land they had purchased. Held: Parliament had given to local authorities exclusive jurisdiction on matters of planning policy, but when an authority sought assistance in enforcement by requesting an injunction, the role of the court was not merely supervisory, but … Continue reading Wrexham County Borough Council v Berry; South Buckinghamshire District Council v Porter and another; Chichester District Council v Searle and others: HL 22 May 2003
A tenancy of a flat was granted to Miss Vyas. She occupied it with Mr Sharma. They later married. She moved out and was given the tenancy of a council house elsewhere. She then wrote to Brent, the landlords, to say she was no longer sharing with Mr Sharma, that she had moved out and … Continue reading London Borough of Brent v Sharma and Vyas: CA 1992
The landlord appealed a finding that in raising the rent of the tenant’s property, he should have followed the section 13 procedure. He said that the agreement contained its own provisions agreed with the tenant. Held: The appeal succeeded. The section excludes a tenancy where provision is made for an increase in rent, and this … Continue reading Contour Homes Ltd v Rowen: CA 26 Jun 2007
Objecting neighbours appealed against a decision allowing a variation of a restrictive covenant to allow the owner to convert a dwellinghouse into two self-contained apartments. Held: The appeal failed. The power in the 1985 Act to vary a covenant must be used judicially, and ‘the statute does not create any presumption in favour of the … Continue reading Lawntown Ltd v Camenzuli and Another: CA 10 Oct 2007
LT RATING – alteration of rating list – Local Government Act 1988 section 66(1) – whether district heating systems (DHSs) serving local authority housing constituted domestic property – whether such DHS constituted an appurtenance belonging to or enjoyed with such housing. Citations: [2008] EWLands RA – 60 – 69 – 2005 Links: Bailii Statutes: Local … Continue reading Allen v Mansfield District Council and Another: LT 11 Jul 2008
B occupied a room in a hotel. He sought an injunction to prevent his eviction, arguing first that he was a tenant protected by the Housing Act 1988 and second that he was protected under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. His application was refused. Held: His appeal was also dismissed. To claim under the … Continue reading Brillouet v Landless: CA 1996
Statutory damages awarded for a wrongful eviction must allow for other the fact that parts of the property were in occupation by others. The comparison required by the Act ‘necessarily involved valuing the unincumbered interest on a factual as opposed to a notional basis, otherwise that which the landlord was ordered to pay to the … Continue reading Melville v Bruton: CA 29 Mar 1996
A landlord’s notice to the effect that ‘3 month’s rent due’ was a sufficiently precise demand to allow the tenant to know the nature of his default, and the notice was valid. the relevant notice said: ‘Signed: RM If signed by agent, name and address of agent: Acting Agent RM’ with the address. This notice … Continue reading Marath and Another v MacGillivray: CA 5 Feb 1996
A shorthold tenancy notice was issued before the tenancy began, but it gave the wrong date for termination. Held: The prescribed form required the correct termination date. A notice with a wrong date is not substantially the same as one with a correct date. The tenancy was therefore not an assured shorthold tenancy, and the … Continue reading Panayi and Pyrkos v Roberts: CA 1993
The tenant disputed the effect of a notice to quit. Paragraph 3 of the form read: ‘The landlord intends to seek possession on grounds . . in Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988, which reads: Give the full text of each ground which is being relied on. (Continue on a separate sheet if necessary).’ … Continue reading Mountain v Hastings: CA 16 Apr 1993
L’s appeal after rejection of section 8 notice requiring possession, but making mistake in year required. Judges: Underhill, Floyd, Arnold LJJ Citations: [2020] EWCA Civ 175, [2020] WLR(D) 93 Links: Bailii, WLRD Statutes: Housing Act 1988 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Landlord and Tenant Updated: 19 October 2022; Ref: scu.648246
The claimant had obtained orders against two companies who banked with the respondent. Asset freezing orders were served on the bank, but within a short time the customer used the bank’s Faxpay national service to transfer substantial sums outside the bank’s branch controls, and defeat the freezing order. The claimant sought recovery from the bank. … Continue reading Commissioners of Customs and Excise v Barclays Bank Plc: ComC 3 Feb 2004
The Court considered the interpretation of the sections which applied corporation tax to post-cessation receipts. Companies had received from the Inland Revenue substantial repayments of VAT together with interest. There had been reorganisations of the group, the company which had made the overpayment did not exist, and the payee of the repayment had only later … Continue reading Shop Direct Group v Revenue and Customs: SC 17 Feb 2016
The landlord had wanted possession. The tenant said that the landlord had been harassing him. The landlord said that the tenancy was a mixed residential and business tenancy and that the 1977 Act did not apply. Held: The 1977 Act applied. A tenancy for mixed purposes falls under the protection of the Act of 1954, … Continue reading Pirabakaran v Patel and Another: CA 26 May 2006
The landowner sought to recover possession of land occupied under an agreement by a mobile home owner. Held: It was necessary for the land owner to show that he had complied with the requirements under the Act. It was insufficient for the matters to be admitted in the pleadings. Pleadings are not superfluous and are … Continue reading Loveridge and Loveridge v Healey: CA 20 Feb 2004
The landlord served a notice to terminate a shorthold tenancy saying that he required possession on a certain day. The tenancy had been a periodic tenancy, and the date was not the last day of a period of the tenancy. Held: The Act was specific. What was being served was not a notice to quit … Continue reading McDonald and Another v Fernandez and Another: CA 19 Jul 2003
The University wanted to sell land for development free of restrictive covenants. It had previously been in the ownership of both the servient and dominant land in respect of a restrictive covenant. The Borough contended that the restrictive covenants remained in effect. The University sought their discharge. Held: The Borough had owned the dominant and … Continue reading University of East London Higher Education Corporation v London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and others: ChD 9 Dec 2004
This was a second appeal, this time by a former tenant and was as to whether a tenancy was a shorthold tenancy or otherwise. The judge had found that the tenancy commenced in 1995, and no notice of shorthold tenancy having been given, it was an assured tenancy. The case was appealed to the High … Continue reading Naidu v Yenula Properties Ltd: CA 23 May 2002
The Court was asked whether an employee’s remuneration is taxable as his or her emoluments or earnings when it is paid to a third party in circumstances in which the employee had no prior entitlement to receive it himself or herself. Held: The company’s appeal failed. The purposive approach to the interpretation of the general … Continue reading RFC 2012 Plc (Formerly The Rangers Football Club Plc) v Advocate General for Scotland: SC 5 Jul 2017
Uber drivers are workers The claimant Uber drivers sought the status of workers, allowing them to claim the associated statutory employment benefits. The company now appealed from a finding that they were workers. Held: The appeal failed (Underhill LJ dissenting) The drivers accepted the control of tee Uber app: ‘Even if drivers are not obliged … Continue reading Uber Bv and Others v Aslam and Others: CA 19 Dec 2018
Twins were conjoined (Siamese). Medically, both could not survive, and one was dependent upon the vital organs of the other. Doctors applied for permission to separate the twins which would be followed by the inevitable death of one of them. The parents, devout Roman Catholics, resisted. Held: The parents’ views were subject to the overriding … Continue reading In Re A (Minors) (Conjoined Twins: Medical Treatment); aka In re A (Children) (Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation): CA 22 Sep 2000
The private landlord held premises under a lease from a local authority which prohibited sub-letting and assignment. He sub-let to the plaintiff and then unlawfully evicted her. He appealed against an award to her of statutory damages, submitting that the prohibition of sub-letting and assignment in the lease meant that the market value of the … Continue reading Tagro v Cafane and Another: CA 23 Jan 1991
The Court considered the procedures when a prisoner is kept in solitary confinement, otherwise described as ‘segregation’ or ‘removal from association’, and principally whether decisions to keep the appellants in segregation for substantial periods were taken lawfully. Held: The segregation was not authorised by the applicable legislation: ‘rule 45 . . (1) enables the governor … Continue reading Bourgass and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: SC 29 Jul 2015
Challenge to rules requiring certain minimum levels of income (Minimum Income Requirement – MIR) for allowing entry for non-EEA spouse. Held: The challenges udder the Human Rights Act to the Rules themselves failed. Nor did any separate issue of discrimination arise under article 14. However, the appendix with instructions for entry clearance officers considering the … Continue reading MM (Lebanon) and Others, Regina (on The Applications of) v Secretary of State and Another: SC 22 Feb 2017
Approved Warehouse; failure to comply with conditions imposed by HMRC; Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 sections 92 and 93; The Excise Warehousing (Etc.) Regulations 1988, regulation 7; Notice 197; Notice 50. Citations: [2007] UKVAT-Excise E01049 Links: Bailii Jurisdiction: England and Wales Customs and Excise Updated: 18 July 2022; Ref: scu.272128
The registered social landlord appealed refusal to grant possession of property held under an assured tenancy. Possession was sought for rent arears and for nuisance. Citations: [2008] EWCA Civ 840 Links: Bailii Statutes: Housing Act 1988 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Housing Updated: 17 July 2022; Ref: scu.270928
The court considered the relationship between the two Acts. The assured tenant had fallen into arrears, and was subject to an order for possession. He claimed that his disability required the court not to make an order for possession against her, and that arrears of payable housing benefits would clear the debt. Held: The appeal … Continue reading S v Floyd, Equality and Human Rights Commission: CA 18 Mar 2008
Judges: Falk J Citations: [2019] EWHC 1418 (Ch) Links: Bailii Statutes: Housing Act 1988 21 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Housing, Estoppel Updated: 14 July 2022; Ref: scu.639278
Her parents had bought a house and granted tenancies to their adult daughter (the appellant), who suffered a personality disorder. They became unable to repay the mortgage. Receivers were appointed but the appellant fell into arrears with the rent. The receivers began possession proceedings, and a possession order was made and confirmed. She appealed saying … Continue reading McDonald v McDonald and Others: SC 15 Jun 2016
The claimants were husband and wife. They had six children. The wife was severely disabled and confined to a wheelchair. The defendant Council provided the family with a small house but in breach, as they ultimately accepted, of section 21(1) (a) of the National Assistance Act, failed to provide the family with accommodation suited to … Continue reading Regina (Bernard and Another) v Enfield Borough Council: Admn 25 Oct 2002
The claimants had been detained under the 1971 Act, after completing sentences of imprisonment pending their return to their home countries under deportations recommended by the judges at trial, or chosen by the respondent. They challenged as unlawful the respondent’s, at first unpublished, policy introduced in 2006, that by default, those awaiting deportation should be … Continue reading Lumba (WL) v Secretary of State for The Home Department: SC 23 Mar 2011
Citations: [2007] 1 WLR 554, [2006] EWCA Civ 1017 Links: Bailii Statutes: Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 58, Access to Justice Act 1999 27(1) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Citing: Cited – Mountain v Hastings CA 16-Apr-1993 The tenant disputed the effect of a notice to quit. Paragraph 3 of the form read: ‘The landlord … Continue reading Garrett v Halton Borough Council: CA 18 Jul 2006
Civil servants had been transferred to a private company. At first they worked under secondment from the civil service. They asserted that they had protection under TUPE and the Acquired Rights Directive. The respondent said that there had only been a transfer over time, so as to diminish their periods of continuous employment. The matter … Continue reading North Wales Training and Enterprise Council Ltd v Astley and others: HL 21 Jun 2006
The occupier had been granted a temporary licence by the authority under the homelessness provisions whilst it made its assessment. The assessment concluded that she had become homeless intentionally, and therefore terminated the licence and set out to evict her. She claimed that the authority had to get a court authority before so evicting her. … Continue reading Desnousse v London Borough of Newham and others: CA 17 May 2006
The claimants were dependants of Iraqi nationals killed in Iraq. Held: The Military Police were operating when Britain was an occupying power. The question in each case was whether the Human Rights Act applied to the acts of the defendant. The question amounted to whether the officers acted under State Agent Authority within the convention … Continue reading Regina (on the Application of Mazin Mumaa Galteh Al-Skeini and Others) v The Secretary of State for Defence: CA 21 Dec 2005
The Court was asked whether a tenancy of a bungalow was a shorthold tenancy. It provided for an initial one year, and therefater from month to month. The tenant argued that it was not a tenancy for a fixed term. Held: The tenant’s appeal failed. ‘ it is clear that this tenancy is not a … Continue reading Goodman v Evely and Another: CA 23 Jan 2001
The claimant had sought relief for the injury to her health suffered by condition of her flat. The legal advisers had settled the matter, thinking that the claim had not been timeously served. The defendant appealed an order that the compromise was voidable, being based upon a common mistake of law. Held: ‘Courts should be … Continue reading Margaret Brennan v Bolt Burdon, London Borough of Islington, Leigh Day and Co: QBD 30 Oct 2003
Mummery LJ said: ‘In my judgment, the principal submissions are based on a misreading of the statutory provisions. There is nothing in the provisions establishing or supporting a statutory principle of ‘once an assured tenancy, always an assured tenancy’. The provisions of Schedule 10 relied upon do not set a ceiling of andpound;25,000 on the … Continue reading Regina (on the Application of Morris) v The London Rent Assessment Committee and Another: CA 7 Mar 2002
Parties appealed decisions as whether assured shorthold tenancy notices were valid despite errors. Held: If, notwithstanding errors or omissions, the substance of the notice was sufficiently clear to the reasonable person reading it, then the notice was likely to serve the purpose, and it could be valid. There was not a two stage test of … Continue reading Ravenseft Properties Ltd v Hall; White v Chubb; similar: CA 19 Dec 2001
A County Court may stay a right to buy application by the tenant, even though terms had been agreed, in order to await the result of court proceedings for possession against the secure misbehaving tenant. A court’s case management powers can be invoked to determine substantive rights. Judges: Lord Goff of Chieveley, Lord Lloyd of … Continue reading City Council of Bristol v Lovell: HL 26 Feb 1998
The plaintiff acquired land on which 27 chalets were erected. They served notice to quit so that the site could be developed. The defendants argued that they had residential tenancies with protection under the Rent Act 1977. Held: The tenants’ appeals succeeded. A built structure becomes part of the land and itself real property, according … Continue reading Elitestone Ltd v Morris and Another: HL 1 May 1997
The company challenged the grant of planning permission for a competitor to open a new supermarket within 800 metres of its own, saying that the Council had failed to apply its own planning policies, which required preference of suitable sites not out of town. The parties disputed whether ‘suitable’ meant suitable to the needs for … Continue reading Tesco Stores Ltd v Dundee City Council: SC 21 Mar 2012
The tenant sought to assert that he occupied a houseboat, the Dinty Moore, under a tenancy of a dwellinghouse under the 1988 Act. The claimant appealed a decision that it was. Held: A house-boat, even though used as a dwelling, did not have the character of a house sufficiently to allow an assured tenancy of … Continue reading Chelsea Yacht and Boat Club Ltd v Pope: CA 6 Apr 2000
The applicant lost her flat and had been refused emergency housing for herself and her child. She had a very troubled history with severe emotional trauma, and was disorganised. He application was refused on the ground of her having become intentionally homeless. The authority refused to extend her time to request a review. She now … Continue reading C v London Borough of Lewisham: CA 4 Jul 2003
One of two joint tenants under a tenancy protected under the Act, had left the property to get married and did not intend to return. The remaining tenant stayed until the end of the tenancy. The landlord claimed possession, arguing that the remaining tenant was not a statutory tenant protected by the statute because she … Continue reading Lloyd v Sadler: CA 1978
Protection was sought under the 1954 Act for premises where the relevant occupation was partly residential and partly for the purposes of a business. Held: The Act will apply so long as the business activity is a significant purpose of occupation. It must be more than incidental. The business occupation must exist both at the … Continue reading Cheryl Investments v Saldanha: CA 1978
The freeholder purported to let the house to the tenant ‘for the duration of the war’ Held: The term was uncertain, and therefore no lease was created. Lord Green MR said: ‘The intention was to create a tenancy and nothing else. The law says that it is bad as a tenancy. The court is not … Continue reading Lace v Chantler: CA 1944
Administrative Discretion to be Used Reasonably The applicant challenged the manner of decision making as to the conditions which had been attached to its licence to open the cinema on Sundays. It had not been allowed to admit children under 15 years of age. The statute provided no appeal procedure, and the applicant sought a … Continue reading Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation: CA 10 Nov 1947
A Mr Ludovici in 1977 took an assignment of the residue of a lease granted in 1953 which had some 5 months to run. He agreed to do works in return for which he would be granted a fresh lease. This was later assigned to Mr Hemmings. Held: He was neither the tenant under the … Continue reading Trustees of Henry Smiths Charity v Hemmings: 1982
A claim was made for the price of goods sold and delivered. The defendant’s solicitor gave an oral undertaking to his counterpart to procure the execution by directors of his client company of charges over their homes in return for an adjournment sine die. The charges were not executed, and the defendant company went into … Continue reading Udall v Capri Lighting Ltd (in liquidation): CA 1987
The council granted what it called a licence to the applicant. He was one of their employee teachers, and they wanted to supply accomodation. They appealed refusal of possession on the basis that he had become a secure tenant under the Act. It had been intended that the accomodation should be shared. Held: It was … Continue reading Parkins v City of Westminster: CA 20 Nov 1997
The appellant had lived for a number of years with his grandmother; had then married; had thereupon moved with his bride for three months into a house owned by friends who were abroad; had, throughout that time, left the bulk of his belongings at the grandmother’s property; at the expiry of the three months had … Continue reading Camden London Borough Council v Goldenberg and Another: CA 1 Apr 1996
Limitation of Loss from Negligent Mis-statement The plaintiffs sought damages from accountants for negligence. They had acquired shares in a target company and, relying upon the published and audited accounts which overstated the company’s earnings, they purchased further shares. Held: The duties of an auditor are founded in contract and the extent of the duties … Continue reading Caparo Industries Plc v Dickman and others: HL 8 Feb 1990
The prisoner challenged the decision to place him in segregation under Prison Rule 43. Under rule 43(1) the initial power to segregate was given to ‘the governor’. The case arose from the fact that the governor of one prison had purported to authorise the segregation of a prisoner on his arrival at another prison to … Continue reading Regina v Deputy Governor of Parkhurst Prison, Ex parte Hague, Weldon v Home Office: HL 24 Jul 1991
Because of fungus, mould growth and dampness, the tenant’s council house was virtually unfit for human habitation in the winter when the condensation was at its worst. Section 32(1) of the 1961 Act implied in the tenancy a covenant by the council to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house. Section 32(3) … Continue reading Quick v Taff Ely Borough Council: CA 1986
(Belize) A company had been formed to manage telecommunications in Belize. The parties disputed the interpretation of its articles. Shares had been sold, but the company was structured so as to leave a degree of control with the government. It was argued that a term was to be implied requiring resignation of a director when … Continue reading Attorney General of Belize and others v Belize Telecom Ltd and Another: PC 18 Mar 2009
The appellant appealed against a finding of contempt of court at common law as regards a report in Punch published when he had been its editor. Held: The appeal succeeded. The A-G had failed to establish the mens rea of contempt in the appellant.The issue boiled down to whether an injunction could bind a third … Continue reading Steen v Her Majesty’s Attorney General; Attorney-General v Punch Ltd and Another: CA 23 Mar 2001
Banker’s Liability for Negligent Reference The appellants were advertising agents. They were liable themselves for advertising space taken for a client, and had sought a financial reference from the defendant bankers to the client. The reference was negligent, but the bankers denied any assumption of a duty of care to a third party when purely … Continue reading Hedley Byrne and Co Ltd v Heller and Partners Ltd: HL 28 May 1963
The claimant had served an asset freezing order on the bank in respect of one of its customers. The bank paid out on a cheque inadvertently as to the order. The Commissioners claimed against the bank in negligence. The bank denied any duty of care. Held: The bank’s appeal succeeded. The bank owed a duty … Continue reading HM Customs and Excise v Barclays Bank Plc: HL 21 Jun 2006
Liability in Damages on Statute Breach to be Clear Damages were to be awarded against a Local Authority for breach of statutory duty in a care case only if the statute was clear that damages were capable of being awarded. in the ordinary case a breach of statutory duty does not, by itself, give rise … Continue reading X (Minors) v Bedfordshire County Council; M (A Minor) and Another v Newham London Borough Council; Etc: HL 29 Jun 1995
In each case the defendant sought to resist European Extradition Warrants saying that an order would be a disporportionate interference in their human right to family life. The Court asked whether its approach as set out in Norris, had to be amended in the light of the case of ZH. Held: HH and PH’s appeals … Continue reading HH v Deputy Prosecutor of The Italian Republic, Genoa: SC 20 Jun 2012
The claimants challenged the 2004 Order which prevented their return to their homes on the Chagos Islands. The islanders had been taken off the island to leave it for use as a US airbase. In 2004, the island was no longer needed, and payment had been made (ineffectively) to assist the dispossessed islanders, but an … Continue reading Bancoult, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 2): HL 22 Oct 2008
ECHR Article 1 Jurisdiction of states Jurisdiction of Azerbaijan as regards a disputed area near Nagorno-Karabakh on the territory of Azerbaijan Article 8 Article 8-1 Respect for family life Respect for home Respect for private life Impossibility for an Armenian citizen displaced in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to gain access to his home … Continue reading Sargsyan v Azerbaijan: ECHR 16 Jun 2015
A grant of an assured tenancy included a clause under which the rent would be increased from pounds 4,680, to pounds 25,000 per year. It was expected that the tenant would be reliant upon Housing Benefit to pay the rent, and that Housing Benefit would be insufficient. Held: The agreement to increase the rent was … Continue reading Bankway Properties Ltd v Penfold-Dunsford and Another: CA 24 Apr 2001
What makes a road a Road? The Court was asked whether a Road was a ‘road’ for the purposes of the 1984 Act’ Held: It has often been said that the public access mentioned in the definition of ‘road’ must be both actual access and legal or lawful access. However, simple reference to a requirement … Continue reading Bowen and Others v Isle of Wight Council: ChD 3 Dec 2021
Former HL decision in Siebe Gorman overruled The company had become insolvent. The bank had a debenture and claimed that its charge over the book debts had become a fixed charge. The preferential creditors said that the charge was a floating charge and that they took priority. Held: The appeal was allowed. The debenture, although … Continue reading National Westminster Bank plc v Spectrum Plus Limited and others: HL 30 Jun 2005
A mother sought to challenge guidelines issued by the respondent which would allow doctors to protect the confidentiality of women under 16 who came to them for assistance even though the sexual activities they might engage in would be unlawful. Held: A person under 16 who was otherwise competent was entitled to seek medical assistance, … Continue reading Axon, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Health and Another: Admn 23 Jan 2006
Tenants of council flats with ineffective sound insulation argued that the landlord council was in breach of the covenant for quiet enjoyment in their tenancy agreements. Held: A landlord’s duty to allow quiet enjoyment does not extend to a positive duty to require an improvement in the sound-proofing of a building, well beyond standards which … Continue reading Southwark London Borough Council v Mills/Tanner; Baxter v Camden London Borough Council: HL 21 Oct 1999
British Coal had the power to close coal mines once the unions had been consulted. The court gave guidance on the extent of consultation necessary. Held: Fair consultation will involve consultation while consultations are at a formative stage; adequate information on which to respond; adequate time in which to respond and conscientious consideration by an … Continue reading Regina v British Coal Corporation, Ex Parte Price and Others: QBD 28 May 1993
The claimant challenged the Order as regards the prescription of the morning-after pill, asserting that the pill would cause miscarriages, and that therefore the use would be an offence under the 1861 Act. Held: ‘SPUC’s case is that any interference with a fertilised egg, if it leads to the loss of the egg, involves the … Continue reading Regina (Smeaton) v Secretary of State for Health and Others: Admn 18 Apr 2002
The defendants appealed against their convictions for murder, saying that their defences of duress had been wrongly disallowed. Held: Duress is not a defence available on a charge of murder. When a defence of duress is raised, the test is whether the threat was so serious as would cause a reasonable man in the same … Continue reading Regina v Howe etc: HL 19 Feb 1986
The court explained the nature of an estoppel by convention. Lord Denning MR said: ‘The doctrine of estoppel is one of the most flexible and useful in the armoury of the law. But it has become overloaded with cases. That is why I have not gone through them all in this judgment. It has evolved … Continue reading Amalgamated Investment and Property Co Ltd (in Liq) v Texas Commerce International Bank Ltd: CA 1982
Same Sex Partner Entitled to tenancy Succession The protected tenant had died. His same-sex partner sought a statutory inheritance of the tenancy. Held: His appeal succeeded. The Fitzpatrick case referred to the position before the 1998 Act: ‘Discriminatory law undermines the rule of law because it is the antithesis of fairness. It brings the law … Continue reading Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza: HL 21 Jun 2004