The tenant had been misled both by the respondent Council and by the court.
Held: (Waller LJ) ‘Mr Hughes has made out a case that he received misleading advice from the court. He has also made out a case that he was misled as to the procedures that were available to him i.e. a procedure available under s.85(2). In those circumstances, he has made out a case of oppression …’ (Arden J) ‘It is clear from the authorities that oppression includes oppressive conduct which effectively deprives a tenant of his opportunity to apply for a stay (see the Hill case). The position in this case is due to a combination of factors . . There was first the local authority’s letter and the conversation with the housing officer . . both of which indicated that payment in full of all arrears was required to avoid eviction . . [Mr Hughes] went to the court office where he was given inaccurate information. He was told that eviction papers had not been issued . . The ingredients of oppression in a case such as this have not been defined by the court. The court has stressed that what amounts to oppression depends on the circumstances, but it seems clear to me that the lack of opportunity would not have occurred if Mr Hughes had not been wrongly advised by the court or if the local authority had not given the impression that he had to pay the arrears in full. I agree with Waller LJ that the result is unfair to Mr Hughes.’
Whether execution of a warrant should be set aside by reason of ‘oppression’ in its execution, the alleged acts giving rise to the alleged oppression being those of the Council and certain acts of the Court Office.
Waller LJ, Arden J
Unreported, 8 May 2000, [2000] EWCA Civ B2
Bailii
England and Wales
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 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Housing
Updated: 01 January 2022; Ref: scu.632180