It is not often realised by those outside the profession, that the Law Society produce some excellent handbooks on all sorts of legal topics. This book is a good example. This book is really intended for housing law practitioners, essentially those looking after landlords and tenants in the social housing sector – mostly local authority…
An interesting report in the Oxford Mail shows that it is never a waste of time to complain about rogue agents to Trading Standards. Oxford Trading Standards, in a joint operation with the Police, have raided two estate agents offices and two homes in a probe into complaints about missing rent and deposit payments. This…
At the CLT Housing Conference last Wednesday which I attended, some interesting points were made by David Smith (of Pain Smith Solicitors) in his talk. Consultation for additional licensing Local Authorities can apply for additional licensing powers but the regulations include requirements that proper consultation be carried out first with relevant parties, which should include,…
A recent article on the BBC news site, complains that landlords are avoiding the HMO licensing regulations by developing HMOs in buildings which do not come within the categories which require licensing, which in most cases requires a building to have three or more stories. Hence, the article implies, landlords are able to get away…
More and more landlords and agents are being prosecuted under the HMO licensing regulations. For example, a report in the Sikh Daily Times mentions two cases under the HMO legislation in Manchester. In cases heard 20 July 2009 at Leeds Magistrates Court, a landlord, Mrs Ghamar Gill, was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay costs…
The government published a consultation paper yesterday in response to the recent Rugg Report and the other various reports that have been published over the past few years. Supporters of the Law Commissions long project and reports, will be pleased to see that this is acknowledged and referred to in the response which confirms that…
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HMO licensing in Cathays ward Cardiff
One of the stories which stood out for me when I looked through my various feeds and Google news headlines this morning was this one about an application for additional licensing in Cathay ward in Cardiff, Wales. As regular readers of this blog will remember, mandatory licensing for the larger HMO properties was introduced by…