14/12/17
Forbes Solicitors' is celebrating after its Housing & Regeneration Team were highly ranked in the prestigious Chambers 2017 Guide and Legal 500. Forbes are ranked as Band 1 in Chambers & Partners for Social Housing, with Lucy Worral…
23/11/17
Changes to the way CHAPS operates means that to the latest editions of Standard Commercial Property Conditions (SCPCs) and the Standard Conditions of Sale (SCSs) require amendments which are the standard terms frequently incorporated into property transactions. CHAPS (the Clearing House Automated…
25/09/17
Summary of the facts The Appellant in this case was a newly appointed teacher at the school. It was alleged that within the first few weeks of her employment there were three incidents which occurred whilst dealing with particularly challenging children who had special educational needs, for which…
25/09/17
On Tuesday 05 September 2017 the European Court of Human Rights ('ECHR') established a significant legal precedent restricting the extent to which employers can monitor employees office emails. Summary of the case Bogdan Bărbulescu, a Romanian software engineer, was…
25/08/17
As you may be aware, in 2010 Lord Justice Jackson published his final report of his review of the rules and principles governing the costs of civil litigation. This report, amongst other things, introduced fixed costs for certain low value claims, in the area of personal injury and took many disrepair…
01/08/17
Through the Queen's Speech, the government confirmed that which the ICO has already indicated: that there will be data protection law in the UK post-Brexit. Alongside the Great Repeal Bill and various others, will sit a Data Protection Bill, as outlined on pages 46 & 47 of the Queen's Speech…
01/08/17
Today (26 July 2017), the Supreme Court has ruled that the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunals Fees Order 2013 is unlawful, unconstitutional and will be quashed with immediate effect. This serves as a prominent example of the Courts being willing to limit Governmental…
23/05/17
In his first few days in office, the newly elected major of Manchester Andy Burnham has launched a fund in a bid to tackle the growing issue of homelessness in the city. Homelessness has been a growing issue in Manchester over the last few years with the number of people living on the streets…
23/05/17
Q. We have a Consultant whom works 4 days a week on a variety of projects. In light of the recent cases about self-employed status, is the Consultant self-employed? A. Whether or not the Consultant will be self-employed will depend on a number of factors. Principally, a key factor is whether…
23/05/17
Social housing is dependent on rental income to remain financially viable. Much of this income is currently dependent on Housing Benefit. The imminent changes are expected to have significant implications for housing providers and their tenants. In principle, the public, those providing support to…
12/04/17
Herry v Dudley Metropolitan BC The workplace has the potential to be a highly pressurised environment for everyone, particularly with the current austere climate within the Public Sector showing no signs of letting up and the uncertainty of Brexit looming in the wake of the triggering of Article…
11/04/17
Together Housing Association have taken legal action to secure an Injunction, Exclusion, Power of Arrest as well as a Possession Order to prevent ongoing drug related anti-social behaviour. The complaints included, amongst other things, the Defendants and their associates displaying drunk and drug…
07/04/17
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 (HPA) introduced a number of de-regulatory changes relating to the constitutional consents regime, disposal consent regime, the Disposals Proceeds Fund and introduction of various notification requirements all of which are due to come into force on 6 April 2017. The…
04/04/17
On 06 April 2017, a number of changes to the regulation of social housing will be introduced under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 ('the Act'). One of the de-regulation measures to be introduced is the removal of the HCA consents regime. These measures are set out in Schedule 4 to the Act…
14/03/17
On 28 February 2017 the Homes and Communities Agency published the latest quarterly survey covering the period 1 October to 31 December 2016. The report is based on regulatory returns from 236 private registered providers (PRPs) who own or manage more than 1000 homes. The surveys acts as a source…
07/03/17
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has issued a Housing White Paper entitled 'Fixing our broken housing market' setting out the challenges and opportunities in relation to housing. The paper contains a number of proposals with the Government intending to boost…
14/02/17
Last month, a court in Edinburgh decided a case where damages were sought for breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) in relation to the use of CCTV and surveillance equipment by neighbours. Whilst the decision was made in Scotland, it is not binding on courts in England and Wales, the case…
14/02/17
Forbes Solicitors acts for over 90 registered providers of social housing and local authorities. Supported housing is an umbrella term and brings together a range of different schemes and beneficiaries. The schemes that our clients operate include sheltered accommodation, extra care schemes, supported…
13/02/17
Legal Assistant within our Contracts and Projects team - Housing & Regeneration Group What I do I work in the Contracts & Projects team within Forbes' Housing & Regeneration Group. This involves dealing with a range of matters focusing on governance, contracts and procurement.…
24/01/17
The CJEU in the case of Finn Frogne A/S v Rigspolitiet ved Center for Beredskabskommunikationhas has ruled that a settlement agreement can amount to a regulated modification of a contract. Facts of the case The state of Denmark initiated a procedure to award a public contract through…
16/01/17
On 9 th January, Inside Housing published the results of a recent survey. The survey asked local authorities if they had processes in place to ensuring developers provide the social housing they are required to under s. 106 Agreements. Of the 41 councils asked, most confirmed that they had proper…
