Category: Housing

Kilby v Basildon District Council: Admn 26 Jul 2006

Tenants complained that the authority landlord had purported to vary a clause in his secure tenancy agreement which gave certain management rights to tenants.
Held: The powers to let on secure tenancies were governed by statute. The clause which was removed was an unlawful fetter on the authorty’s powers and duties. As such the court would not hear a complaint as to its being removed.

Judges:

McCombe J

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 1892 (Admin), Times 21-Aug-2006

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Housing Act 1985 105

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Gardner v London Chatham and Dover Railway Co (No 1) 1867
When Parliament expressly confers powers and imposes duties and responsibilities of an important kind upon a particular body, it is, as he put it, improper for the court by the appointment of a manager . . . itself to assume those powers and duties. . .
Cited – Ayr Harbour Trustees v Oswald 1883
The appellant trustees could not competently preclude themselves from exercising their powers under the Ayr Harbour Act in respect of certain land acquired by them for the purposes of that statute bearing in mind that their discretionary powers were . .
Cited – Birkdale District Electric Supply Co. Ltd v The Corporation of Southport 1926
The appellants, having bound themselves not to exercise their discretion in the raising of electricity prices, were held not to have incompetently fettered their discretion, bearing in mind the commercial purposes for which the discretion was . .
Cited – Credit Suisse v Allerdale Borough Council CA 20-May-1996
Builder’s Guarantee Ultra Vires LA
The council set out to provide a swimming pool using powers under s.19 of the 1976 Act. Purporting to use powers under s.111 of the 1972 Act, it set up a company to develop a site by building a leisure pool and time-share units, with a view to . .
Cited – Parker v Camden Borough Council 1986
. .
Cited – Akumah v London Borough of Hackney CA 27-Nov-2001
Application for leave to appeal. The council had introduced a parking scheme for its housing estates. The resident challenged its validity saying it had been introduced by council resolution not by byelaw. Leave granted . .
Cited – Regina v Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council, ex parte Beddowes CA 1987
The authority agreed to sell part of a housing estate. It proposed to enter into restrictive covenants for the retained parts of the estate to prevent the letting of any vacant flat except by way of a long lease at a premium. The decision was . .
Cited – Credit Suisse and Another v Waltham Forest London Borough Council CA 20-May-1996
Parliament had made detailed provision in a number of Acts for the discharge of the housing duties by local authorities. These detailed provisions did not contain a power to give a guarantee in connection with a bank loan to a company which the . .
Cited – Regina v London Borough of Brent, ex parte Blatt QBD 1991
The applicant was the respondent’s secure tenant. The respondent decided to change its tenancy agreement, by including a list of items of repair for which it would be responsible and a procedure by which it could vary the terms of the agreement. In . .
Cited – Stourcliffe Estates Co Ltd v Bournemouth Corporation 1910
. .
Cited – Blake v Hendon Corporation CA 1962
Devlin LJ said: ‘For example, a man selling a part of his land might object to a refreshment pavilion on his boundary. Provided that the erection of a refreshment pavilion on that spot was not essential to the use of the land as a pleasure ground, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Local Government

Updated: 12 November 2022; Ref: scu.244004

Ahmed v Leicester City Council: CA 27 Jun 2007

Judges:

Arden LJ

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Civ 843, [2008] HLR 6

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Housing Act 1996 204

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Ravichandran and Another v London Borough of Lewisham CA 2-Jul-2010
The claimant appealed against an order confirming a review of the decision that the local authority owed no futher duty to her under section 193. She had rejected the house offered as unsuitable for medical reasons.
Held: The tenant’s appeal . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 12 November 2022; Ref: scu.259136

KMI, Regina (on The Application of) v The Secretary of State for The Home Department: Admn 23 Mar 2021

The claimant claims judicial review of the decision of the Secretary of State for the Home Department to refuse the claimant’s application for accommodation and support

Judges:

Calver J

Citations:

[2021] EWHC 879 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Immigration and Asylum Act 1990 4

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing

Updated: 12 November 2022; Ref: scu.661928

Sutton and Another v Norwich City Council (Housing – Civil Penalties): UTLC 20 Mar 2020

HOUSING – CIVIL PENALTIES – whether converted office building a section 257 HMO or an ‘apart-hotel’ – non-compliance with improvement notices – breaches of HMO Licensing and Management Regulations – service of notices by email – reasonable excuse defence – maximum penalties imposed on corporate building owner and on director for multiple breaches – section 257, Housing Act 2004 – Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Additional Provisions) (England) Regulations 2007 – appeals allowed in part

Citations:

[2020] UKUT 90 (LC)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing

Updated: 11 November 2022; Ref: scu.649224

Northampton Borough Council v Lovatt and Another: CA 11 Nov 1997

The local authority had obtained a possession order against the defendant tenants because of the behaviour of the tenants’ children as ‘conduct which is a nuisance or annoyance to neighbours’ The question on appeal was whether behaviour which related to properties more than 100 metres away from the house fell within the scope of the section.
Held: Under Simmonds the parents were responsible for the acts of their children. The acts had not however occurred on the premises subject to the order. By a majority, the acts need not occur on the premises.

Judges:

Lord Justice Henry, Lord Justice Pill, Lord Justice Chadwick

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 2693

Statutes:

Housing Act 1985 84(1) Schedule 2

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Kensington and Chelsea Royal London Borough Council v Simmonds CA 15-Jul-1996
A possession order was properly made against a tenant for the misbehaviour of a family member. . .
Cited – Cobstone Investments Limited v Maxim CA 1985
The court considered the meaning of ‘adjoining occupiers’ The tenant suggested that the word ‘ adjoining’ should be read literally so that the premises must be contiguous in the sense of physically joining, or being co-terminous with the holding of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Local Government, Landlord and Tenant, Housing

Updated: 10 November 2022; Ref: scu.143092

Samin v City of Westminster: CA 21 Nov 2012

The court was asked whether an EU migrant worker was entitled to the protection of the homelessness provisions of the 1996 Act: ‘he is if he is a migrant worker from another EU country, exercising his EU rights as an Austrian citizen to work in another country. Otherwise he is not.’
Held: His appeal from the County Court failed. Even though he was a migrant worked, he was not entitled to the benefit of the 1996 Act if he did not establish that he was unable to work from either illness or acident.

Judges:

Hughes, Etherton, Tomlinson LJJ

Citations:

[2012] EWCA Civ 1468, [2012] WLR(D) 336

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

Housing Act 1996, Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, Council Directive 2004/38/EC 7(3)(a)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – Mirga v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Samin v Westminster City Council SC 27-Jan-2016
The claimants, a Polish national and an Austrian national, appealed against decisions of the Court of Appeal upholding decisions that they were not entitled to certain benefits, namely income support and housing assistance respectively, pursuant to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, European

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.466386

Ali v The United Kingdom: ECHR 7 Nov 2012

The applicant had sought and been accepted for emergency housing assistance, but having refused the accomodation offered, and the Authority said that it had fulfilled its duty to her.

Citations:

40378/10 – HECOM, [2012] ECHR 1969

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights

Citing:

Cited – Tsfayo v The United Kingdom ECHR 14-Nov-2006
The applicant challenged the prodecures for deciding her appeal against the council’s refusal to pay backdated housing benefits. She complained that the availability of judicial review of the decision was not adequate.
Held: The system did not . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Housing

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.466347

Birmingham City Council v Ashton: CA 29 Nov 2012

The council challenged a decision as to their claim for possession of a ground floor flat where the court granted a possession order but suspended possession on terms that the Respondent (1) complied with his tenancy agreement and (2) obeyed the Injunction Order made on that date. The appeal is as to the correctness of the decision to suspend the possession order.
Treacy LJ said: ‘The onus should be on the party who seeks to have the benefit of suspension of a possession order . . to provide cogent evidence to show that what can generally be characterised as anti-social behaviour will not recur, or will be unlikely to do so.’

Judges:

Mummery, Patten, Treacy LJJ

Citations:

[2012] EWCA Civ 1557, [2013] HLR 8

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Housing Act 1985

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Royal Borough of Greenwich v Tuitt CA 25-Nov-2014
The Defendant appealed against the order for possession made against her in respect of her secure tenancy of a flat, made on the grounds that her son, now 18 years old and living with her and her partner, had committed repeated acts of nuisance and . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.466406

Regina v Kensington and Chelsea (Royal) London Borough Rent Officer, Ex parte Noel: 1978

A rent officer can investigate whether a tenancy is protected by the Rent Act 1977 in order to decide whether he has jurisdiction to fix the rent.

Citations:

[1978] QB 1

Statutes:

Rent Act 1977

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Sugar v British Broadcasting Corporation and Another HL 11-Feb-2009
The Corporation had commissioned a report as to its coverage of Middle East issues. The claimant requested a copy, and the BBC refused saying that the report having been obtained for its own journalistic purposes, and that it was not covered by the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.316590

Mansfield District Council v Langridge: CA 31 Jan 2007

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Civ 303

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See Also – Mansfield District Council v Langridge QBD 21-Sep-2007
T had been a secure tenant, but whilst in hospital his tenancy was surrendered by his mother. After returning to the house and possession proceedings, the authority gave him use of a property pending the result. Those were determined against him, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Discrimination

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.251382

Lin, Hassan v Barnet London Borough Council: Admn 11 May 2006

The Authority had established a scheme under section 167 for the allocation of its housing accomodation.

Judges:

Hughes J

Citations:

[2006] EWHC 1041 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Housing Act 1996 167

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – Lin, (Regina on the Application of) v London Borough of Barnet CA 22-Feb-2007
The claimant challenged the authority’s housing policy which sought to implement national guidelines awarding points to housing applicants and allocating housing accordingly. He said it did not give adequate protection to the homeless.
Held: . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.241747

Ujima Housing Association v Ansah and Another: CA 17 Oct 1997

The tenant had created a sub tenancy, the result of which was that he no longer had any right to enter upon the property unless the sub-tenant surrendered his lease.
Held: The tenant could not be said properly to be in occupation of the tenanted property. When a tenant has sublet, the question of whether he is still in occupation is for him to show as matter of substance.

Citations:

Times 20-Nov-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 2525, (1998) 30 HLR 831

Statutes:

Housing Act 1988 1(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Lesley and Company v Cumming KBD 1926
The County Court had held that the landlords were not entitled to recover possession of a flat of which the defendant was tenant because the premises had not been taken out of the protection of the Rent Restrictions Act by the tenant twice . .
Cited – Jackson v Pekic and O’Brien CA 1990
The court looked to the meaning of ‘a resident landlord’ in the section. The question was whether the landlord in that case was on the 14th August 1974 occupying as her residence another dwelling house which formed part of the same premises in which . .
Cited – Poland and Another v Cadogan CA 1980
The court was called upon to construe the Act. when the question was whether a tenant could bring himself within the Act had to be more strict than the construction of the Rent Acts because the Leasehold Reform Act enabled a tenant to acquire . .
Cited – Brown v Nash and Ambrose CA 1948
The statutory tenant was sent to prison but left his mistress and children in the premises and subsequently the mistress and children left the premises.
Held: ‘We are of the opinion that a non-occupying tenant prima facie forfeits his status . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.142923

Curtis v Chairman of London Rent Assessment Committee; Huntingford and Packford: CA 9 Oct 1997

The claimant sought to appeal the quashing of determinations of a fair rent for two properties.

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 2453, [1999] QB 92

Statutes:

Rent Act 1977

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Spath Home Ltd v Greater Manchester and Lancashire Rent Assessment Committee QBD 13-Jul-1994
The rent assessment committee had rejected proposed market rent comparables as an indicator of market rent for the premises, because they were not satisfied of the actual absence of scarcity. The landlord had not demonstrated the unsoundness of . .
Cited – Spath Holme Ltd v Greater Manchester and Lancashire Rent Assessment Committee CA 9-Aug-1995
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 . .

Cited by:

Cited – Sheppard-Capurro, Regina (on the Application of) v London Rent Assessment Panel Admn 27-Jul-2005
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 09 November 2022; Ref: scu.142851

Charles Terence Estates Ltd v Cornwall Council: CA 13 Nov 2012

The council had stopped paying rents on properties let by the claimants to the homeless, claiming first breaches of the leases. When later they were sued, they defendant by saying that since the properties had been let without the required statutory assessment of fair rents, the leases were void and no rents were due. The company now appealed against a finding which upheld that argument.

Judges:

Maurice Kay LP VP CA, Moore-Bicj, Etherton LJJ

Citations:

[2012] EWCA Civ 1439, [2013] PTSR 175, [2013] HLR 12, [2012] WLR(D) 326, [2013] 1 WLR 466, [2013] BLGR 97

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

Housing Act 1985 17

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing, Local Government

Updated: 06 November 2022; Ref: scu.465705

Thurrock Borough Council v West: CA 8 Nov 2012

The tenant had resisted the application for possession on the basis that it would amount to a disproportionate interference in his human rights. The council appealed.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The judge had erred in considering that the tenant’s arguments did not, on the facts, reach the threshold of a seriously arguable Article 8 defence.

Judges:

Hallett, Therton LJJ, Dame Janet Smith

Citations:

[2012] EWCA Civ 1435, [2013] HLR 69 I

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convetion on Human Rights 8

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Akerman-Livingstone v Aster Communities Ltd SC 11-Mar-2015
Appeal about the proper approach of the courts where the defendant to a claim for possession of his home raises a defence of unlawful discrimination, contrary to the Equality Act 2010, by the claimant landlord. In particular, the issue is whether . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Human Rights

Updated: 06 November 2022; Ref: scu.465654

Stokes v The United Kingdom: ECHR 18 Oct 2012

The applicant complained of the failure to protect her article 8 rights. As a traveller and heavily pregnant she had been obliged to vacate her temporary pitch.

Citations:

65819/10 – HECOM, [2012] ECHR 1862

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights

Jurisdiction:

Human Rights

Human Rights, Housing, Land

Updated: 06 November 2022; Ref: scu.465579

Regina v London Borough of Camden ex parte Aranda: CA 21 Mar 1997

The applicant and her husband surrendered their tenancy of a house in Camden and moved to Colombia, where they obtained accommodation. On arrival in Colombia, the applicant was deserted by her husband. With no prospect of employment in Colombia, and no entitlement to social security benefits, she returned to Camden and applied for housing. Camden now appealed against decision that the applicant was not intentionally homeless.
Held: The causal connection between her deliberately giving up the accommodation in Camden, and her homelessness after leaving the accommodation in Colombia, had been broken by her husband’s desertion.

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 1309, (1997) 30 HLR 76

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Haile v London Borough of Waltham Forest SC 20-May-2015
‘The question in this case is whether the appellant falls within the scope of section 193 of the Housing Act 1996 as amended, which applies, by virtue of subsection (1), where the local housing authority are satisfied that ‘an applicant is homeless, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 06 November 2022; Ref: scu.141705

Regina v London Borough of Harrow ex parte Fahia: CA 7 Mar 1997

The applicant had been found to have deliberately procured her own eviction from her tenanted accommodation in Harrow. She was given temporary accommodation in a guest house, where she stayed for over a year. Her housing benefit was then reduced by half, on the basis that her rent was too high. The landlord then told her that she would be evicted. The authority now appealed against a judgment that she was not voluntarily homess.
Held: The decision was affirmed. Roch LJ, with whose judgment Aldous and Leggatt LJJ agreed, stated at pp 980-981 his agreement with the judge that the causal connection could be broken by events other than the acquisition of a ‘settled residence’, and that Bassett’s case was an example of such a situation.

Judges:

Roch, Aldous, Leggatt LJJ

Citations:

(1997) 29 HLR 974, [1997] EWCA Civ 1191

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Regina v London Borough of Harrow ex parte Fahia 1996
After deliberately losing her tenancy, the authority had provided the appliant with temporary accomodation in a guest house, but after her housing benefits were halved she lost that accomodation also.
Held: The authority had a duty to house . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina v Harrow London Borough Council Ex Parte Fahia HL 16-Sep-1998
The local authority submitted first that a person making a second application for emergency housing had to demonstrate a change of circumstance which might lead to a second application being successful and second that it was for the local authority . .
Cited – Haile v London Borough of Waltham Forest SC 20-May-2015
‘The question in this case is whether the appellant falls within the scope of section 193 of the Housing Act 1996 as amended, which applies, by virtue of subsection (1), where the local housing authority are satisfied that ‘an applicant is homeless, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Judicial Review, Housing

Updated: 06 November 2022; Ref: scu.141587

M, Regina (on The Application of) v London Borough of Newham: Admn 19 Feb 2020

Application for judicial review in which the claimant alleged that the defendant housing authority is in breach of its duty, under section 193(2) Housing Act 1996 (‘the 1996 Act’), to secure that suitable accommodation is available for him to occupy.

Citations:

[2020] EWHC 327 (Admin), [2020] WLR(D) 101

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.648266

Vaddaram v East Lindsey District Council: UTLC 13 Aug 2012

UTLC HOUSING – enforcement action – category 1 hazard – fire – prohibition order – whether windows in an inner room are an acceptable means of escape – change of circumstances since RPT hearing – LACORS guidance – appeal allowed – prohibition order quashed

Judges:

A J Trott FRICS

Citations:

[2012] UKUT 194 (LC)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.464776

Buckland v The United Kingdom: ECHR 18 Sep 2012

The applicant alleged that the Court of Appeal’s decision to dismiss her appeal and uphold the judgment making a possession order constituted an unjustified breach of her right to respect for her home and her family life and discriminated against her, in violation of Article 8 taken alone and in conjunction with Article 14.
Held: Where the court is considering making an order for possession against a public sector residential tenant, she must have the opportunity of raising the argument that, in the light of article 8, no order for possession should be made.

Judges:

LechGarlicki, P

Citations:

40060/08 – HEJUD, [2012] ECHR 1710, [2013] HLR 2, (2013) 56 EHRR 16

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights 8 14

Jurisdiction:

Human Rights

Cited by:

Cited – Sims v Dacorum Borough Council SC 12-Nov-2014
Surrender at Common Law Survives Human Rights Law
The tenants held a secure weekly tenancy of the respondent under a joint tenancy. After a relationship breakdown, Mrs Sims had given notice to quit. Mr Sims, left in possession now argued that the common law rules should not be allowed to deprive . .
Cited – McDonald v McDonald and Others SC 15-Jun-2016
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. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Housing

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.464480

Steward v Royal Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames: CA 22 May 2007

The claimant challenged the defendant’s finding that she had become homeless by giving up accommodation in 2000 which it would have been reasonable for her to continue to occupy, and remained so homeless ever since. Permission was given for a second, appeal to raise important and undecided issues about the correct test for determining whether a previous act of becoming homeless intentionally has ceased to have causal effect in relation to the present state of homelessness, so as to render the present state also one of intentional homelessness.

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Civ 565

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Housing Act 1996 191

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.254361

Andrews and Another v Brewer and Another: CA 17 Feb 1997

Tenants challenged an order for possession, saying the form of notice was defective. The date specified in the notice was clearly a clerical error. It provided that the tenancy would commence on 29 May 1993 and end on 28 May 1993, on the face of it, a day before its commencement. The premises had previously been operate as a guest house, and the landlord’s contended that the intended use was for business purposes. The tenants claimed that the judge should have allowed a set off of the costs of repairs undertaken by the tenants against the arrears of rent.
Held: The contract itself made the letting a residential one, and the form of contract was determinative. The letting was an assured tenancy. The notice was defective, but the clerical error was obvious and did not detract in any way from the effect of the notice. It did not mean that it was not substantially to the same effect as that in the prescribed form. The repairs were of items for which no notice of want of repair had been put to the landlords. There was no proper claim against him.

Judges:

Lord Justice Auld, Mr Justice Morland

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 1029, [1997] 30 HLR

Statutes:

Housing Act 1988, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Wolfe v Hogan CA 1949
An issue arose as to the purpose of the original letting. The defendant was the sub-tenant of a large divided room on the ground floor of a house in Chelsea which she used for business purposes. She eventually decided to live there as well.
Cited – Russell v Booker CA 1982
The leased premises consisted of a dwelling house and agricultural land which had constituted an agricultural holding. The tenant alleged that the original agreement had been superceded by a subsequent contract which had the effect of moving the . .
Cited – Panayi and Pyrkos v Roberts CA 1993
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 . .
Cited – Morrow v Nadeem 1981
In a notice served pursuant to s25 of the 1954 Act the landlord was described as the individual who was effectively the sole shareholder and director of landlord company, rather than the landlord company itself.
Held: The landlord’s notice was . .
Cited – Morris v Liverpool City Council CA 1988
The court was concerned with the implied statutory obligations of repair on the landlord: ‘It is common ground that the door and frame of the flat were part of the structure and exterior of the flat within the meaning of the implied statutory . .
Cited – Lee-Parker v Izzett (1) ChD 1971
Money expended by a tenant on discharging his landlord’s covenants will in appropriate circumstances operate as a partial or a complete discharge so as to furnish a defence of set-off at law to a claim for unpaid rent. Justice Goff discussed the . .

Cited by:

Cited – Ravenseft Properties Ltd v Hall; White v Chubb; similar CA 19-Dec-2001
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 . .
Cited – Clickex Ltd v McCann CA 26-May-1999
A failure by a landlord under the pre-1996 assured shorthold tenancy regime, to insert the correct tenancy dates in a shorthold notice, meant that the tenancy became an assured tenancy, since the arrangement failed to meet the requirements to create . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.141425

City Council of Bristol v Mousah: CA 25 Feb 1997

The tenant had been found guilty of allowing the premises to be used for the consumption and supply of crack cocaine. The assistant recorder held that it was not reasonable to make an order for possession. The council appealed.
Held: The appeal succeeded.
Beldam LJ said: ‘When there is such a serious breach of a condition of the tenancy, it is only in exceptional cases that it could be said that it was not reasonable to make the order.’

Judges:

Beldam LJ

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 1081, (1997) 30 HLR 32

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Stonebridge Housing Action Trust v Gabbidon and Another ChD 21-Nov-2002
The landlord sought possession of a flat on the grounds that there were arrears of rent, and that one of the tenants had used it for the sale of drugs. It now appealed a suspension of the order, saying that the unlawful user meant that suspension . .
Dicta Doubted – Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council v Hensley CA 1-Nov-2007
The secure tenant was convicted of cultivating cannabis in the house. The council sought possession, and now appealed an order granting only possession suspended whilst the tenant complied with the terms of the tenancy agreement, seeking outright . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.141477

Albany Home Loans Limited v Massey; Massey and Massey v Albany Life Assurance Company Limited; Metropolitan Unit Trust Managers Limited and Albany International Assurance Limited: CA 12 Feb 1997

A mortgage possession order should not be made against one of two mortgagees only.

Citations:

Gazette 27-Feb-1997, Times 14-Feb-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 991

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing, Land

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.141387

Dover District Council v Sherred and Another: CA 5 Feb 1997

In the context of an application to condemn a property as unfit for human habitation, the court was asked to consider ‘whether the County Court judge should adopt what he called ‘a commonsense, lay, factual approach’ in cases of this sort, or whether such cases depend upon technical issues which the judge decides in accordance with the expert evidence and is not free, on those technical matters, to substitute his own opinion.’
Held: The court should rely on expert evidence: ‘Where expert evidence is admissible in order to enable a judge to reach a properly informed decision on a technical matter, then he cannot set his own ‘lay’ opinion against the expert evidence which he has heard. But he is not bound to accept the evidence even of an expert witness, if there is a proper basis for rejecting it in the other evidence which he has heard, or the expert evidence is such that he does not believe it or for whatever reason is not convinced by it.’

Citations:

Times 11-Feb-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 926, (1997) 29 HLR 864

Statutes:

Housing Act 1985 189

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Zabihi v Janzemini and Others CA 30-Jul-2009
The claimant said that he had left valuable jewelry with the defendant for sale. The defendant said at first they had been stolen, but then returned jewelry which the claimant denied was what had been left. The defendant appealed a finding that he . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.141322

Mayor and Burgesses of London Borough of Camden v Akanni: CA 31 Jan 1997

The context in which the court is willing in a rare, but appropriate, case to intervene to nullify the execution of a warrant for possession goes back to the principles set out in McHenry v Lewis.

Judges:

Brooke LJ

Citations:

[1997] 29 HLR 845, [1997] EWCA Civ 901

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – McHenry v Lewis 1888
Bowen LJ said: ‘I would much rather rest on the general principle that the Court can and will interfere whenever there is a vexation and oppression to prevent the administration of justice being perverted for an unjust end. I would rather do that . .

Cited by:

Cited – Jephson Homes Housing Association v Moisejevs and Another CA 1-Nov-2000
A possession warrant, properly issued and executed in ignorance of a payment into court by the tenant was not an abuse of process. The tenant had paid funds into court in the mistaken belief that this would be effective to set aside the warrant. She . .
Approved – Mayor and Burgesses of London Borough of Barking and Dagenham v Saint CA 21-Aug-1998
The council requested a warrant for possession be issued on the basis of certified arrears of pounds 333 when they were in breach of their statutory duty to assist the tenant in his claim for housing benefit and save for pounds 28, were relying on . .
Cited – Ellis v Circle 33 Housing Trust Ltd CA 23-Sep-2005
The housing association obtained a possession order for rent arrears. The tenant had not attended, and had taken no steps in the matter. The association had corresponded with the housing benefit department of the local authority which had said that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.141297

Paddington Churches Housing Association Ltd v Sharif: CA 27 Jan 1997

The landlord had obtained a possession order against its secure tenant. The tenant had left to go to Egypt, and had been in arrears of rent. The tenancy obliged the tenant to occupy the prperty as his main residence. The landlord re-let the property, but the tenant then had the possession order set aside saying he had not had opportunity to take part in the proceedings. The Association had offered alternative accomodation.
Held: The judge in setting aside the possession order had failed to allow for the fact that the main reason for the tenant’s non-involvement was his own absence from the premises, and had failed to take proper consideration of the tenant’s obligation to occupy the property. The judge had made an error of law and the Association’s appeal succeeded.

Judges:

Peter Gibson LJ, Buckley J

Citations:

[1997] EWCA Civ 853

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Dellenty v Pellow 1951
The payment off of arrears of rent will not necessarily prevent an order for possession being made where there is a history of arrears and poor payment. . .
Cited – Cooper v Scott Farnell CA 1969
The defendant argued that since he had had no notice of the proceedings, the judgment against him should be set aside: ‘It appears to me that [the rule] contemplates that although there may be service, it may take place even without knowledge on the . .
Cited – Haringey London Borough Council v Stewart and Stewart 1991
A tenant with a bad payment record may still be subject to an order for possession though he clears the arrears by the time of the hearing. When considering reasonableness, it is the duty of the judge to take into account all relevant circumstances . .
Cited – Lee-Steere v Jennings 1986
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 05 November 2022; Ref: scu.141249

Liverpool City Counci v Kassim: UTLC 11 Jul 2012

UTLC HOUSING – enforcement action – category 1 hazard – prohibition order – excess cold – RPT quashing order – whether RPT right to hold that cost of heating irrelevant to assessment of hazard and enforcement action – held that it was not right – appeal allowed

Citations:

[2012] UKUT 169 (LC)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Land, Housing

Updated: 04 November 2022; Ref: scu.463431

Mitu v London Borough of Camden: CA 1 Nov 2011

The claimant had applied for housing under homelessness provisions saying that he was in priority need and was not homeless intentionally. The first decision had been that he was intentionally homeless and not in priority need. After review, it was agreed that he was not intentionally homeless. The applicant said that this should now entitle him to assistance by way of advice and also that the Council now had a discretion to assist, and should have given a ‘minded to find’ notice. The Council said that its duties had not changed.

Judges:

Rix, Sullivan, Lewison LJJ

Citations:

[2011] EWCA civ 1249

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Housing Act 1996 203, Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Review Procedures) Regulations 1999

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Hall v London Borough of Wandsworth CA 17-Dec-2004
The applicants appealed refusal of their applications for housing having priority housing need being vulnerable because of their mental illness. They said that the original decisions had been reviewed, and that on review deficiencies had been . .
Cited – Banks v Royal Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames CA 17-Dec-2008
The claimant sought emergency housing saying that he had a priority need for housing. He had liver cirrhosis and alcoholism, depression and asthma. The authority denied his claim.
Held: When an officer considered an appeal against a refusal of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 04 November 2022; Ref: scu.448071

Copping v Surrey County Council: CA 21 Dec 2005

The tenants appealed rejection of their application that they should pay the price for their council property set on the first of two notices to buy it.
Held: As to whether the tenants had impliedly withdrawn their first notice: ‘[B]ecause of the way in which I consider that this appeal should be determined, it would not be helpful to examine the extent to which this decision affects the arguments on abandonment, waiver and estoppel which occupied much of the time before Nelson J. [Counsel for the tenants’] further point that since a notice has by section 122 to be withdrawn in writing, and provision is made expressly for withdrawal elsewhere, the Act must clearly have envisaged that if a claim under section 122 is denied, but not withdrawn in writing, it should remain effective is unattractive. It seems to me to ignore reality. Section 122 (3) is really directed to ensuring that the tenant can bring the procedure to an end at any stage that he wishes, in particular before the landlord has served his notice under section 122(3)
Had I come to a different conclusion as to the effect of the claim determined [in the first set of proceedings in the county court], I would have doubted, therefore, how a notice could have been resurrected more than 12 years after it had been served. The whole emphasis of the Statutory Scheme is that the parties should act promptly.’

Judges:

Latham LJ

Citations:

[2005] EWCA Civ 1604

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Housing Act 1985 122(3)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Copping v Surrey County Council QBD 2005
The tenants served notice under s122 in 1991 to purchase their council house. The authority denied their right to buy. Nothing happened until June 2001 when the tenants served a second notice and received the same response. By reference to, and upon . .

Cited by:

Cited – Martin v Medina Housing Association Ltd CA 31-Mar-2006
The former tenant had set out to buy the council house, but had written to say that she did not intend to go ahead. Her son who had taken over the tenancy after her death now sought, twelve years later, to require the authority to proceed at that . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Local Government

Updated: 04 November 2022; Ref: scu.236609

Newlon Housing Trust v Alsulaimen: CA 16 Jan 1997

The tenant had been joint tenant with his wife of a house. On the breakdown of the marriage, she left and gave notice to quit to the council. The council sought and obtained an order for possession, against which the husband now sought leave to appeal against a refusal of an adjournment so that he could pursue an application for a transfer of the tenancy into his name under the 1973 Act.
Held: The judge had made too much of the husband’s delay, and failure to make the proposed application: ‘ the summons had only been served on the husband on 9th April, it was the first hearing and the plaintiff’s position in regard to rent was assured. As to the second, the mere fact that a section 37 application had not been issued was of minimal significance. The husband had already been granted legal aid for that application. The correct way of dealing with the point would have been to make it a condition of the adjournment that the application should be issued within a short period.’
‘The notice to quit was a disposition. Section 37(6) provides that, with the exception of any provision contained in a will or codicil, that expression ‘includes any conveyance, assurance or gift of property of any description, whether made by an instrument or otherwise’. Since the notice to quit operated to assign to the plaintiff the interest not only of the wife but also of the husband under the tenancy, it was clearly an assurance of property within that provision. Its effect was no different from that of a surrender of the tenancy by both husband and wife.’

Judges:

Nourse LJ, Cazalet J

Citations:

Times 24-Jan-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 793

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 37, Matrimonial Homes Act 1983 1 2

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Kemmis v Kemmis (Welland and Others Intervening) CA 1988
H had mortgaged the matrimonial home to release funds to support his lifestyle. The bank knew about the family circumstances and the mortgage was set aside at first instance. W applied to have the charge set aside.
Held: The application . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Newlon Housing Trust v Alsulaimen and Another HL 29-Jul-1998
A tenancy which had been terminated by a notice given by one of the joint tenants had expired. It did not come to an end by any deed, and so was not capable of being set aside by a family court in the course of divorce proceedings. The possession . .
Cited – London Borough of Harrow v Johnstone HL 13-Mar-1997
A possession action was lawful against a remaining joint tenant after a notice to terminate the tenancy had been given by the other tenant. An order against interference with possession of property did not extend to matters of the duration of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Family

Updated: 04 November 2022; Ref: scu.141189

Northampton Borough Council v Lovatt and Lovatt: CA 3 Jan 1997

Misbehaviour of a tenant in the immediate neighbourhood of tenanted property could be a nuisance in respect to that tenancy.

Citations:

Times 03-Jan-1997, Gazette 11-Mar-1998, [1997] EWCA Civ 821

Statutes:

Housing Act 1985 Sch 2 Ground 2

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 04 November 2022; Ref: scu.84352

IR Management Services Ltd v Salford City Council (Housing – Financial Penalties – Breach of HMO Management Regulations): UTLC 19 Mar 2020

HOUSING – FINANCIAL PENALTIES – breach of HMO Management Regulations – defence of reasonable excuse – whether local housing authority required to prove beyond reasonable doubt that appellant had no such excuse – whether burden on appellant to establish reasonable excuse – ss.234A, 249A, Housing Act 2004 – Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 – appeal dismissed

Citations:

[2020] UKUT 81 (LC)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing

Updated: 04 November 2022; Ref: scu.649221

Cavendish Square Investments Ltd, Regina (on The Application of) v Moule: Admn 31 Jan 2012

Appeal against a decision of the Rent Assessment Committee of the London Rent Assessment Panel whereby the Rent Assessment Committee decided that the fair rent which Mr Moule, the respondent to this appeal decided that the fair rent is andpound;5654.50 per annum.

Judges:

Timothy Dutton QC

Citations:

[2012] EWHC 1839 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing

Updated: 03 November 2022; Ref: scu.463078

Konodyba v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: CA 20 Jul 2012

The claimant appealed against rejection of her claim for housing assistance, the decision being based on her being subject to immigration control.

Judges:

Lord Neuberger MR, Longmore, Gross LJJ

Citations:

[2012] EWCA Civ 982, [2013] PTSR 13

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Housing Act 1996

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing, Immigration

Updated: 03 November 2022; Ref: scu.463075

Berryman v Hounslow London Borough Council: CA 20 Nov 1996

No damages were to be awarded for a tenant’s injury suffered whilst climbing the stairs when the lift had not been repaired.

Citations:

Times 18-Dec-1996, [1996] EWCA Civ 1001

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Landlord and Tenant, Land, Housing, Personal Injury

Updated: 03 November 2022; Ref: scu.78369

London Borough of Sutton v Morgan Grenfell and Co Ltd Morgan Grenfell and Co Ltd v Mayor and Burgesses of London Borough of Sutton London Borough of Sutton v Morgan Grenfell and Co Ltd Wellesley Housing Association Ltd: CA 24 Oct 1996

The Housing Associations Act 1985 empowered a local authority to give guarantees in relation to registered housing associations. A local authority guaranteed a bank loan for an unregistered housing association.
Held: A Local Authority had no power to guarantee a loan to an unregistered housing association. Section 111(1) of the 1972 Act could not be relied on to support the guarantee, which was consequently ultra vires.
Peter Gibson LJ adopted the proposition of counsel that: ‘Where Parliament has expressly enacted provisions which define the means by which local authorities are to carry out their functions, section 111(1) of the Act of 1972 cannot be relied upon in support of performance of those functions by other means not expressly empowered by the relevant provisions’

Judges:

Peter Gibson LJ

Citations:

Times 07-Nov-1996, [1996] EWCA Civ 797, (1996) 95 LGR 574

Statutes:

Local Government Act 1972 111, Housing Associations Act 1985

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Morgan Grenfell and Co Ltd v Sutton London Borough Council QBD 23-Mar-1995
A guarantee of loan to a non-registered housing association was ultra vires. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Local Government, Housing

Updated: 01 November 2022; Ref: scu.140664

Regina (Mani) v Lambeth London Borough Council, Regina (Tasci) v Enfield London Borough Council, Regina (J) v Same: Admn 18 Apr 2002

The applicants were asylum seekers, but also had disabilities, and sought housing assistance from the local authorities. The authorities replied that they had no duty to provide housing because of the Immigration Act.
Held: The 1948 Act provided care where no other was available. The need for rehousing here arose in part from the applicant’s disabilities, and that was enough. The duty was not displaced because the need arose in large part from simple destitution for which the state provided other resources. Assistance in this context included the provision of housing, and in making the assessment the authority had under the 2000 regulations to ignore the other support given to asylum seekers.

Judges:

Mr Justice Wilson

Citations:

Times 08-May-2002, Gazette 23-May-2002, [2002] EWHC 735 (Admin), (2002) 5 CCLR 486, [2002] ACD 78

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

National Assistance Act 1948 21, Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 115, Asylum Support Regulations 2000 (SI 2000 No 704) 6(3) 23(1) 23(3)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina v Wandsworth London Borough Council, Ex Parte O; Leicester City Council, Ex Parte Bhikha CA 7-Sep-2000
The applicants were immigrants awaiting determination of their applications for exceptional leave to remain, and who came to suffer from serious illness. Each applied for and was refused assistance from their local authority.
Held: The . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina (on the Application of Mani) v London Borough of Lambeth CA 9-Jul-2003
Where a destitute and disabled asylum seeker had a clear need for care and attention, the local authority had a duty to provide it. The claimant was an asylum seeker, with impaired mobility and a history of mental halth difficulties. At first he was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Benefits, Immigration

Updated: 31 October 2022; Ref: scu.170266

Regina v Wandsworth London Borough Council Ex Parte Wingrove; Regina v Same Ex Parte Mansoor: CA 7 Jun 1996

Accommodation provided by a local authority need not be permanent in order to satisfy the statutory requirement to assist somebody in need of assistance for homelessness. The full duty might be discharged by securing the offer of an assured shorthold tenancy of suitable premises

Judges:

Sir Thomas Bingham MR

Citations:

Times 07-Jun-1996, [1997] QB 953

Statutes:

Housing Act 1985 65(2)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Applied – Regina v Brent London Borough Council Ex Parte Awua HL 6-Jul-1995
The term ‘Accommodation’ in the Act was to be read to include short term lettings, and was not to be restricted to secure accommodation, and the loss of such accommodation can be counted as intentional homelessness. If a person who had been provided . .

Cited by:

Cited – Griffiths v St Helens Council CA 7-Mar-2006
The applicant had been agreed to be homeless with priority need, and had been provided with an assured shorthold tenancy.
Held: The Legislation now allowed broadly three classes of accomodation as suitable: (1) accommodation owned by the local . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 31 October 2022; Ref: scu.88254

Rent Service v Heffernan, Regina (on the Application of): CA 13 Jun 2007

Appeal against housing benefit rederminations.

Judges:

Pill LJ, Rix LJ, Longmore LJ

Citations:

[2007] EWCA Civ 544, [2008] HLR 2, [2007] NPC 72

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Heffernan, Regina (on the Application of) v the Rent Service Admn 10-Oct-2006
The claimant sought judicial review of the redetermination of housing benefits payable in respect of two flats rented out by him. The rent office said that the regulations were merely intended to put in statute form the previous practice used when . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Heffernan, Regina (on the Application of) v The Rent Service HL 30-Jul-2008
The appellant challenged the decision of the respondent to redetermine the rents for two properties, saying that the officer had wrongly interpreted the meaning of locality when looking for comparable properties.
Held: The determinations were . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 31 October 2022; Ref: scu.253437

B Osborn and Co Ltd v Dior and others: CA 22 Jan 2003

Notices were given which were incorrect.
Held: The notices were upheld despite the errors.

Judges:

Arden LJ Simon Brown LJ

Citations:

[2003] EWCA Civ 281, [2003] HLR 45

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Housing Act 1988 20, Assured Tenancies and Agricultural Occupancies (Forms) Regulations 1988

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Mannai Investment Co Ltd v Eagle Star Assurance HL 21-May-1997
Minor Irregularity in Break Notice Not Fatal
Leases contained clauses allowing the tenant to break the lease by serving not less than six months notice to expire on the third anniversary of the commencement date of the term of the lease. The tenant gave notice to determine the leases on 12th . .
Applied – Ravenseft Properties Ltd v Hall; White v Chubb; similar CA 19-Dec-2001
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 . .

Cited by:

Cited – Lay and others v Ackerman and Another CA 4-Mar-2004
Notices had been served by tenants under the Acts. The properties were on a large estate where the freeholds had been divided and assigned to different bodies, and there were inconsistencies in identifying the landlords. The landlords served a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 31 October 2022; Ref: scu.181104

RAW, Regina (on The Application of) v London Borough of Lambeth: Admn 12 Mar 2010

The claimant sought judicial review of decisions made as to his entitlement to housing for homelessness. It had referred him to a private lettings agency, and under its policy ceased to enquire further as to his homelessness. The claimant said that the council was in effect seeking to evade its responsibilities.

Judges:

Stadlen J

Citations:

[2010] EWHC 507 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Housing Act 1996 184 189

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.402622

Guinan v Enfield London Borough Council: CA 1996

The landlord council and tenant claiming his right to buy disputed the reasonableness of terms proposed by the council for inclusion in the lease. The tenant served a RTB6 notice and the landlord served a RTB7 Counter notice relying on the reasonableness of the terms proposed. The tenant served a RTB8 operative notice of delay contending that the RTB7 Counter notice was invalid because there was action for the landlord to take, that is to agree reasonable terms.
Held: Some of the proposed terms were reasonable, but others unreasonable. As to the validity of the Counter notice, the court held that a Counter notice is valid if the landlord in good faith believes that he has in law the right to insist on the terms he is offering, the county court being at hand to settle disputes under section 181.

Citations:

(1996) 29 HLR 456

Statutes:

Housing Act 1985181

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – London Borough of Southwark v Dennett CA 7-Nov-2007
The defendant tenant had been delayed for over five years by the claimant in buying his council house. He stopped paying rent in protest, and the council brought possession proceedings. He then paid his rent and continued in his counterclaim to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Local Government

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.260306

Robinson v Hammersmith and Fulham: CA 28 Jul 2006

The applicant had sought housing as a vulnerable person whilst under 18. The council responded by referring the matter to mediation, and postoning the review for a month which then they said allowed them to treat the applicant as not being in priority need, having then attained eighteen.
Held: The council had failed to meet its duty to the claimant. It was not permissible for the authority simply to postpone its decision in order to evade its duty.

Judges:

Waller LJ, Jonathan Parker LJ, Jacob LJ

Citations:

Times 05-Sep-2006, [2006] EWCA Civ 1122, [2006] 1 WLR 3295

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Housing Act 1996

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing, Children

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.243997

Brillouet v Landless: CA 1996

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 1988 Act he had to show that he had a tenancy. The facilities provided by the hotel prevented the appellant from demonstrating that he had exclusive possession. Further, he had taken advantage of hotel services. He was therefore a hotel guest booking accommodation at a daily rate. He was a mere licensee. As to the 1977 Act, he would be able to claim its protection as such, but in these particular circumstances, and even as a licensee his occupation was not occupation of a dwelling for the purposes of section 3 of the 1977 Act.

Judges:

Russell LJ

Citations:

[1996] 28 HLR 836

Statutes:

Housing Act 1998, Protection from Eviction Act 1977 3

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.230376

The Mortgage Corporation Ltd v Ubah: CA 21 Mar 1996

The respondent mortgagee had obtained an order for possession against the mortgagor freeholder, referred to in the judgment as ‘the Chief’, who had, prior to the mortgage, granted a tenancy to the appellant.
Held: The landlord’s retention of a right to use the kitchen made the tenancy a restricted tenancy even though no use was possible by the landlord under the contract in that situation.
CS Millett LJ: ‘The appellant’s evidence was that in 1987, that is before the mortgage was granted to the respondents, the appellant arranged for work to be carried out on the flat. The Chief later agreed with him that he would pay andpound;13,873 towards the cost of those repairs and in the words of the appellant ‘the Chief told me to set my rent against what he owed me’. That agreement was effective between the parties, but it did not confirm upon the appellant an interest in land capable of binding successors in title to the Chief whether with or without notice of the arrangements unless the right the right of deduction which was given to the appellant fell within one of the two established rights of deduction which are capable of binding successors in title’. And
‘As against the Chief in my opinion the appellant may well be entitled to deduct the amount which the Chief owes him from payments of rent which are due to the Chief. But the money judgment below is entirely in respect of rent to due the respondents after the date that they had notified the appellant that they had taken possession. The appellant has no right of set-off capable of binding successors in title such as the respondents. It is, of course, settled law that an interest which is not capable of binding successors in title cannot be an over-riding interest within section 70(1)(g) of the Land Registration Act 1925.’

Judges:

Millett LJ

Citations:

Gazette 03-Apr-1996, Times 21-Mar-1996, [1996] 73 P and CR at 500

Statutes:

Rent Act 1977 21

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – British Anzani (Felixstowe) Ltd v International Marine Management (UK) Ltd ChD 19-Dec-1978
Money expended by a tenant on discharging his landlord’s covenants will in appropriate circumstances operate as a partial or a complete discharge so as to furnish a defence at law to a claim for unpaid rent; and where the tenant has suffered damage . .
Cited – Lee-Parker v Izzett (1) ChD 1971
Money expended by a tenant on discharging his landlord’s covenants will in appropriate circumstances operate as a partial or a complete discharge so as to furnish a defence of set-off at law to a claim for unpaid rent. Justice Goff discussed the . .

Cited by:

Cited – Edlington Properties Limited v J H Fenner and Co Limited CA 22-Mar-2006
The landlord had assigned the reversion of the lease. There was an outstanding dispute with the tenant defendant who owed arrears of rent, but sought to set these off against a claim for damages for the landlord’s failure to construct the factory in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Landlord and Tenant, Housing

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.89837

Regina v Westminster City Council Ex Parte Castelli; Regina v Same Ex Parte Tristan Garcia: CA 23 Feb 1996

A Local Authority has a duty to house European Union migrants even without leave to stay as long as they are looking for work. EU nationals who were properly entering the UK were owed the Housing Act duties until they were told that they were overstaying.

Citations:

Independent 23-Feb-1996, Gazette 20-Mar-1996, Times 27-Feb-1996, (1996) 28 HLR 616

Statutes:

Housing Act 1985 63 65

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal from – Regina v Westminster City Council Ex Parte Castelli; Regina v Same Ex Parte Tristan-Garcia QBD 11-Oct-1995
An applicant’s immigration status was proper factor in assessing housing need. A Local Authority may look to whether an EC national has right of residence before assessing its own duty to house the applicant. . .

Cited by:

Appealed to – Regina v Westminster City Council Ex Parte Castelli; Regina v Same Ex Parte Tristan-Garcia QBD 11-Oct-1995
An applicant’s immigration status was proper factor in assessing housing need. A Local Authority may look to whether an EC national has right of residence before assessing its own duty to house the applicant. . .
Cited – London Borough of Barnet v Ismail and Another CA 6-Apr-2006
The court considered the entitlement to housing support of nationals of other EEA states receiving Income Support here despite their being still subject to immigration control.
Held: Such EEA nationals were eligible for housing benefit. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Immigration, European

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.88300

Regina v Northavon District Council Ex Parte Palmer: CA 1 Aug 1995

A Local Authority’s failure to operate its Housing Act duties correctly gave no right to a private law claim for damages

Citations:

Times 01-Aug-1995, Independent 09-Aug-1995

Statutes:

Housing Act 1985, Supreme Court Act 1981 31(4)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Housing, Local Government

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.87463

Regina v Poole Borough Council Ex Parte Cooper: QBD 13 Oct 1994

Statutory housing enquiries may not be held as confidential to the authority. The information is obtained by the Local Authority in order to be put to the homeless applicant, and no privilege can be attached or given.

Citations:

Times 21-Oct-1994, Independent 13-Oct-1994

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Local Government, Housing

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.87555

Melville v Bruton: CA 29 Mar 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 tenant was not the value of the profit occasioned by his wrong but a fine which might be far greater.’ Statutory damages are to be calculated by reference to a valuation based upon the actual realities affecting the premises. There is no supervening requirement that all landlords in default are to be penalised by a substantial fine in excess of the profit, if any, derived from the unlawful eviction and, in particular circumstances, the valuation may perfectly properly produce a nil outcome.

Judges:

Hutchison LJ, Stuart-Smith LJ and Buckley J

Citations:

Times 03-Apr-1996, Times 29-Mar-1996, [1996] TLR 191, (1996) 29 HLR 319

Statutes:

Housing Act 1988 28

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – King v Jackson (T/a Jackson Flower Company) CA 16-Jul-1997
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 . .
Cited – London Borough of Lambeth v Loveridge CA 10-May-2013
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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Damages

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.83620

Marath and Another v MacGillivray: CA 5 Feb 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 had been served as an exhibit to an affidavit by the agent.
Held: A notice served for the purposes of section 20 of the 1988 Act (notwithstanding that it was not a valid notice for the purposes of section 20 itself, because it was served after rather than before the ‘assured tenancy’ was entered into) provided sufficient notice for the purposes of section 48(1).
Sir Iain Glidewell said: ‘I see the strength in the argument that if it be proved that the landlord, or his solicitors acting on his behalf, had quite deliberately ensured that payment which otherwise would have come from a housing authority was delayed until after the date of the hearing, in order to enable the landlord to prove that more than three months’ rent was in fact unpaid, a court would be slow to base a judgment upon more than three months’ rent being unpaid. Precisely how it would go about reflecting that unwillingness to give judgment when it is required by statute to do so, I have not considered.’

Judges:

Sir Iain Glidewell

Citations:

Times 05-Feb-1996, [1996] 28 HLR 484

Statutes:

Housing Act 1988 8 20, Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 48(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Rogan v Woodfield Building Services Ltd CA 10-Aug-1994
The duty placed on a Landlord by the section is to give to the tenant a notice of an address for service for the landlord in writing. Stuart Smith LJ said: ‘what the section requires is that the tenant is told, so that he knows, the landlord’s name . .

Cited by:

Cited – Drew-Morgan v Hamid-Zadeh CA 13-May-1999
The claimant landlord had sought to assert that the let was an assured shorthold tenancy. On a rehearing, the tenant said no notice had been served under section 20. The landlord also now asserted non-payment of rent.
Held: A notice which was . .
Cited – Leeds v London Borough of Islington Admn 29-Jan-1998
. .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing, Landlord and Tenant

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.83393

Harrow London Borough Council v Johnstone: CA 31 Mar 1995

A local authority was denied a possession order against a Husband when the Wife who had been excluded from the property by a court order surrendered the tenancy.

Citations:

Times 31-Mar-1995

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appealed to – London Borough of Harrow v Johnstone HL 13-Mar-1997
A possession action was lawful against a remaining joint tenant after a notice to terminate the tenancy had been given by the other tenant. An order against interference with possession of property did not extend to matters of the duration of the . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – London Borough of Harrow v Johnstone HL 13-Mar-1997
A possession action was lawful against a remaining joint tenant after a notice to terminate the tenancy had been given by the other tenant. An order against interference with possession of property did not extend to matters of the duration of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Contempt of Court, Housing

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.81268

Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society Plc v Norgan: CA 5 Dec 1995

The starting point for assessing the period of time over which a court should order the repayment of arrears under a mortgage, when considering the need for a possession order, is the remaining balance of mortgage term.

Judges:

Evans, Waite LJJ, Sir John May

Citations:

Gazette 17-Jan-1996, Independent 14-Dec-1995, Times 08-Dec-1995, [1995] EWCA Civ 11, [1996] 1 WLR 343, [1996] 1 All ER 449, (1996) 28 HLR 443

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Administration of Justice Act 1970 30, Administration of Justice Act 1973 8

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Consumer, Housing, Land

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.79006

Ortiz v City of Westminster: CA 1994

The applicant was a twenty four year old woman with a history of drug addiction and alcoholism. There was in fact suitable hostel accommodation available which had been offered to the applicant at the relevant time and it was hard to see why she needed the remedy of judicial review. She sought leave to appeal against rejection of her claim for judicial review of the authority’s decision not to treat her as vulnerable in her application for housing.
Held: Summarising the application: ‘The essence of her case is that once she established that she had a particular need for suitable accommodation and would suffer more than most if she failed to acquire it, then that of itself was sufficient to establish that she was vulnerable within the meaning of the legislation so as to give her a priority need.’ Approving Di Domenico: ‘In my judgment that approach is plainly right. In order to satisfy the test of vulnerability, as explained in the decision in ex parte Bowers , an applicant must in my judgment surmount two hurdles. First, he (or she) must show that to some material extent he or she is less able to obtain suitable accommodation than the ordinary person and secondly, that if he fails to obtain it, then he will suffer more than most. It is in my judgment the first of those hurdles which the applicant so conspicuously fails to surmount in the present case. The position is strikingly different from that in ex parte Bowers itself where, as the judgment recorded: ‘since the accident nobody will give him lodging …’. Here, for the reasons already indicated, there is no factual basis upon which the authority could conclude, let alone were bound to conclude, that this applicant would suffer peculiar difficulty in obtaining suitable accommodation.’

Judges:

Simon Brown LJ

Citations:

[1994] 27 HLR 364

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – ex parte Di Dominico 1989
The applicant was an epileptic who required careful medical supervision, but the local authority did not regard her as vulnerable for housing purposes.
Held: Review was declined. The matter was one for the authority exercising its discretion. . .

Cited by:

Cited – Regina v London Borough of Camden ex parte Pereira CA 20-May-1998
When considering whether a person was vulnerable so as to be treated more favourably in applying for rehousing: ‘The Council should consider such application afresh applying the statutory criterion: The Ortiz test should not be used; the dictum of . .
Doubted – Regina v Kensington and Chelsea Royal London Borough Ex Parte Kihara; Similar CA 25-Jun-1996
Four asylum seekers had been deprived of benefits, and left destitute. They had sought housing assistance from the authority, claiming that the complete absence of resources left to them was an ‘other special reason’ leaving them vulnerable within . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Housing

Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.200293