Local Government & Social Housing
Andrew regularly acts for local authorities and registered social landlords within his chancery and commercial practice and is well aware of the unique position of those entities as litigants. He is frequently instructed in relation to:
- Residential and Business landlord and tenant issues including possession, lease construction, service charge, dilapidation and anti-social behaviour issues
- Contractual disputes including construction matters
- Property disputes
- Insolvency matters
- Professional negligence issues
He regularly applies for injunctions on behalf of local authorities and registered social landlords and strives in every case to respond promptly to the needs of his client and provide the best practical and commercial solution to legal problems.
Local Government & Social Housing Cases
Andrew’s reported cases involving local authorities and registered social landlords include:
Helena Housing v Pinder and Others [2006] HLR 2 – creation of tenancies
Doran v Liverpool City Council and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (2009) NPC 35 – determination of licences, possession proceedings and Human Rights
Other recent notable cases in this area include:
- Advising a local authority with regard to the enforceability of covenants contained within its standard transfer form and also as to the means by which it could seek to secure repayment of grant moneys advanced by it
- Successfully defending a concerted challenge to the rent review provisions of a registered social landlord’s standard tenancy agreement
- Successfully defending a claim against a local authority for registration of a large area of land on the basis of adverse possession
- Advising a local authority in relation to its obligations where it entered land to carry out statutory works advising a local authority in relation to its powers of foreclosure
- Advising local authorities in relation to professional negligence claims against its advisors, including planning consultants