Possession
1) Our client, Ms A, was defending court proceedings for
possession in which the landlord claimed rent arrears of £1,500.
The housing benefit authority had failed to determine Ms A’s
housing benefit claim, which created the arrears in rent.
We took urgent steps to get a decision from the housing benefit
authority and the Court proceedings were adjourned on terms to
enable a decision to be obtained from them whilst the decision was
being made.
2) Ms P’s landlord issued proceedings for possession due to rent
arrears of £4,150. We successfully helped Ms P get the possession
proceedings struck out because the claim form for possession had
failed to identify the landlord as the Claimant.
3) Our client, a pensioner, had been living in rented
accommodation on an upmarket London High Street since the
seventies. The property formed part of a valuable block which
passed through various owners, the latest being an insurance
company, who wanted the property back for redevelopment
purposes. They offered our client £100,000 to leave on the
basis that they would re-house him in alternative rented
accommodation, just a few minutes away. Our client was very fond of
the property and rejected the insurance company’s offer. In
response, they upped their offer to £300,000 but our client was not
prepared to leave for that sum either.
As our client was protected by the relevant provisions in the
Rent Act 1977, unless the parties could reach an agreement, the
insurance company would have to go to court to recover
possession. They proceeded to issue a claim.
We made it clear that it would be strongly contested and
prepared to defend our client’s claim. As a result, the insurance
company subsequently agreed to drop their claim and made our client
a payment of £550,000 to leave the property.