Supreme Court to consider unlawful eviction

01 Jan 2018

Housing, Property

Next week Michael Paget will be appearing in the Supreme Court for Mr Loveridge. He was a secure tenant who was unlawfully evicted by his landlord, Lambeth LBC.

The appeal is about how ‘statutory damages’, under Housing Act 1988 sections 27 and 28, should be calculated. The calculation of statutory damages is by reference to a hypothetical sale of the landlord’s building. The trial judge awarded Mr Loveridge statutory damages of £90,500. The Court of Appeal allowed the Council’s appeal and held that no statutory damages were payable. Click here for Court of Appeal judgment

The issues on the appeal are i) whether the fact that the rights of a tenant of a local authority would change from those of a secure tenant to those of an assured tenant on a sale of the reversion to a private landlord is relevant to a hypothetical sale (as asserted by the Council) and ii) whether the risk of a change in the tenant’s rights of occupation (for example, following a housing stock transfer) prior to eviction is relevant to a hypothetical sale (as suggested by the Court of Appeal)