05/12/18
We frequently receive cases where disabled tenants/occupiers are causing anti-social behaviour and the behaviour is linked in some way to their diagnosed, or suspected, medical condition. In these circumstances, the concern of the client is always what action can be taken to address the problems that…
27/11/18
The Competition Markets Authority (CMA) has for the first time used its enforcement powers in respect of land agreement and has found that restrictions in it were anticompetitive and in breach of UK Competition law. Background UK Competition law prohibits: · agreements which…
27/11/18
The 29th of October 2018 marked a momentous occasion for social housing. It was on this date the wishes of many local authorities, housing associations and developers were granted as Theresa May fulfilled her pledge and officially abolished the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing cap. Prior to…
23/11/18
Is the succession rule for secure tenants, under s87 and 88 of the Housing Act 1985 incompatible with the ECHR? On the 19th October 2011, the recent case of Haringey London Borough Council v Mulkhis Simawi [2018] EWHC 2733 (QB) challenged the court to reconsider the "single succession"…
22/11/18
Q. If the governing board receives an anonymous complaint about a head-teacher alleging inappropriate behaviour, what steps should the board take? A. If the anonymous complaint was made by a member of staff, then any whistleblowing policy that is in place may apply. Such a policy is likely…
22/11/18
Job Description Jennifer Hankinson is an associate who specialises in housing and regeneration property law and she heads up the Housing & Regeneration (Property) Development team here at Forbes. Jennifer is experienced in a wide variety of areas of property work in the housing and regeneration…
14/11/18
The Forbes' Housing and Regeneration (Litigation) Team have recently been asked about what action our clients can take where there is an existing Suspended Possession Order ('SPO') in place for rent arrears but the tenant is now committing anti-social behaviour and/or further breaches of…
14/11/18
The tragic events which took place on the 14th June 2017 have placed registered providers of social housing in the media spotlight and the public's hunger for information on social housing, as shown by the recent BBC documentary 'The Fires that Foretold Grenfell', shows no sign of slowing…
03/10/18
Landlords will be aware of the provisions of the Deregulation Act 2015 which changed the operation of section 21 notices in Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs). Currently, the provisions only apply to ASTs granted or renewed from 1 October 2015, when the Act came into force. However, section 41(3)…
03/10/18
On 1 October 2018, The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2018 came into effect. These amendments include a one-line addition to Part 83 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 confirming that there is no longer any need to make an application for permission for a warrant for breach of a suspended…
03/10/18
A survey carried by YouGov (survey conducted with 2,111 adults between 3 and 4 May) on behalf of home landlord Aster, revealed that only 60% of people are familiar with the homeownership product. This is despite the fact that 95% of the people who took part in the survey would qualify for the product…
02/10/18
Organisations who handle personal data in the course of their business have been handed a wake-up call by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) this month, with a number of fines being handed out for failures to pay the data protection fee. On 26 September 2018, the ICO reported that it…
24/08/18
The August 2018 Social Housing Green Paper, has been published in response to the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, which highlighted how the law on housing conditions falls short of ensuring tenant safety. The Paper promises to offer a ' new deal for social housing ', by rebalancing the…
19/07/18
Developers installing foundations, carrying out groundwork and any earthmoving works may involve going through or removing a mineral layer. If that mineral layer is owned by someone else, piercing it will be a trespass against the minerals owner. This could lead to a liability for damages or, more…
02/07/18
In July 2015 the Civil Justice Council set up The Working Group on Property Disputes in the Courts and Tribunals. Their purpose? To consider proposals for "flexible deployment" of judges between the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) and the County Court in landlord and tenant, property…
15/05/18
Forbes Solicitors successfully defends series of vexatious claims and allegations brought by a tenant over a 3 year period to enable enforcement of Possession Order made in 2015. Forbes Solicitors has successfully assisted a Social Landlord to defend the most recent in a long series of serious and…
29/03/18
Unexpected service charges and unjustified hikes in ground rent have meant that leasehold ownership has hit the headlines in the last year for all the wrong reasons. The fact that a growing number of houses have been sold on a leasehold basis - if for no other reason than the delays and costs often…
16/03/18
The Government has launched an innovative new 'Share the Joy' campaign to encourage more parents to take up the offer of Shared Parental Leave in their baby's first year. The campaign launch follows discouraging research from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ('…
16/03/18
In January 2018, the Homes and Communities Agency split into two separate entities: Homes England and the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The reasoning behind the move is to eliminate the perceived potential conflict of interests between the part of the body that regulates registered providers, and…
16/02/18
Under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, a civil injunction may be granted against any individual aged 10 or over. However, for those Respondents between the ages of 10 and 18, there are key procedural differences in bringing an application for a 'Youth Injunction', as well…
16/02/18
April 2018 is the date when the new requirements will first hit…are you ready? The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (MEES Regulations) were introduced to improve energy efficiency in both domestic and non-domestic private rented properties as…
