Housing

  • Who Holds The Keys?

    Giles Peaker, Solicitor
    Solicitors Journal - 16 February 2010
    The uncertainties over which social housing organisations fall within the scope of human rights law as ‘public bodies’ is both a prompt to tidy up their operations and an opportunity for tenants to call them to account...

  • Vedalease v Cascabel Investments Ltd

    Partner Andrew Brookes successfully acted for the respondent in the recent mortgage recovery case of Vedalease Ltd v Cascabel Investments Ltd...

  • House of Surprises

    Giles Peaker, Solicitor
    Solicitors Journal - 1 December 2009
    The House of Lords delivered ground-breaking judgments in 2009, the question now is how housing lawyers will live with them, and whether the new Supreme Court will take a different approach to human rights defences...

  • Holmes-Moorhouse - The Housing Act and Children Act collide

    Patricia Carr, Solicitor
    This article analyses the decision in the Holmes-Moorhouse case and discusses what advisors for applicants and local authorities should do in the light of the decision...

  • A Response to the DCA Consultation: Case Track Limits and the Claims Process for Personal Injury Claims

    The Housing Law Practitioners Association (HLPA) is an organisation of solicitors, barristers, advice workers, independent environmental health officers and others who work in the field of housing law. Membership is open to all those who use housing law for...

  • Civil Rights and Child Support

    Debra Mo, Partner
    Kehoe represented a valiant attempt to influence the workings of the Child Support Agency, says Debra Mo, but was this worthy case doomed to failure and what means of redress remain?

  • Civil Partnership Act 2004: Housing Related Rights for Gay and Lesbian Couples

    Andrew Brookes, Partner Introduction On 05 December 2006, it will be one year since the introduction of the Civil Partnership Act (‘CPA’) 2004. The CPA is a landmark piece of legislation that removes discrimination on grounds of sexual...

  • Disrepair or Damp

    Debra Mo, Partner How can practitioners ensure a successful outcome for claims of disrepair caused by damp? Debra Mo explains The Court of Appeal case of Quick v Taff Ely BC [1968] QB 809 established that for the purposes of s 11 of the Landlord and...

  • Legal Boost for Leaseholders

    Andrew Brookes, Partner A recent court decision has given a boost to Leaseholders who complain that their service charges are high because the council has neglected maintenance of their properties in the past. Leaseholders often ask why they should have...

  • Disrepair Disputes

    Debra Mo, Partner Debra Mo looks at some common misconceptions surrounding the Pre-Action Protocol for Disrepair, and explains how the system can be made to work properly The Pre-action Protocol for Disrepair came into force on 8 December 2003. It was...

  • Home Share Breakdown

    Debra Mo, Partner   Cohabitees (couples who live together who are not married) are a reflection of the diverse family trends that have evolved over the last few decades. Divorce rates have increased, with a corresponding decrease in the number of...

  • Lease Extension and Buying the Freehold: Flat Owners How to Preserve Your Investment

    Mike Hansom, Solicitor Do you own a flat? Is your lease starting to look short? Do you have a difficult relationship with your landlord? If so, you are one of thousands of flat owners in London in a similar position. However recent changes in the law...

  • Conville - Duties to the Intentionally Homeless

    Andrew Brookes, Partner   Introduction 1. When can a local authority take their own resources into account when carrying out their duties under the homelessness legislation? Can a local authority refuse to provide or terminate assistance under...

  • Ending Freeholder Feudalism

    Debra Mo, Partner In 1995, a successful press campaign drew attention to the position of leaseholders, particularly flat owners in London and the south-east, who claimed that they were not receiving quality service from their freeholders and that service...

  • Housing Law Update 2006

    Andrew Brookes, Partner Possession a. Tolerated Trespassers 2006 started with Harlow DC v Hal l [2006] EWCA Civ 156 The form of N28 possession order used since 15 October 2001 had the effect of making all occupiers subject to a suspended...

  • Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO)

    Debra Mo, Partner HMO Licencing will benefit both landlords and tenants. Commenting on the start of Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004, the Daily Telegraph’s property page (11 March 2006) described Part 2 as “the little-noticed provisions of...

  • Practice Trends: Housing Law

    Giles Peaker, Solicitor
    Solicitors Journal, 25 November 2008
    During 2008 there were some major housing law cases, shaping practice into 2009, while proposed new legal aid contracts from 2010 will involve big decisions in the coming year for most practices...

  • Left Out in the Cold

    Debra Wilson, Partner
    Solicitors Journal -  7 October 2008
    The government-approved tenancy deposit schemes should provide a successful dispute resolution mechanism, but solicitors should be involved in the on-going consultation over its actual...

  • Damages in Disrepair Claims - Time for a Rethink?

    Timothy Waitt, Solicitor 
    Journal of Housing Law - July 2008
    Introduction In July 1998 the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the important disrepair case of Wallace v Manchester.¹ The judgment was seen as a watershed, laying to rest...

  • Legal Aid, Human Rights and Housing: Who Cares?

    Andrew Brookes, Partner Journal of Housing Law, July 2007
    This edition of the Journal contains a series of articles about the impact of the Human Rights Act on housing. A number of complex cases where arguments about the application of the Act in...

  • Rethinking Social Housing: An Exchange of Views on the Smith Institute Report

    Andrew Brookes, Partner, Anthony Gold and Nick Billingham, Partner, Devonshires
    Introduction The Smith Institute Report, Rethinking Social Housing¹, has created a debate in the housing press about the possibility of ending security of...

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Housing Law