A woman has been awarded compensation after her landlord was taken to court. Andrew Watson, from Chapeltown, was fined £6,500 and ordered to pay victim compensation of £1,000 after he repeatedly ignored legal notices served by Leeds City Council regarding the condition of a house he was renting out in Chapeltown. A council officer likened
A landlady has been fined £24,000 after lying to her tenants and the local authorities. Diana Thompson was prosecuted by Brent Council and prosecuted for failure to licence a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and failure to comply with fire safety regulations. Thompson convinced tenants living in her unlicensed, detached two-storey HMO property that she
A government watchdog has launched an investigation into the Home Office’s decision to accuse about 34,000 international students of cheating in English language tests. Over 1,000 students have been removed from the UK as a result of the accusation and hundreds have spent time in detention. A large numbers of students say they were wrongly accused. Over 300
A tenant caused over £7,000 worth of damage to a property before leaving the premises whilst still owing 11 months of rent. Landlord Michael Walker claimed his three-bedroom property was left in devastating condition with every room vandalised. Mould was found all over the ceiling, dirty dishes were piled on the kitchen counter and the living
A judge has ruled that an eight-year-old boy should leave his mother and live with his father. Judge Lloyd North was told the boy was being influenced by his mother’s “hateful feelings” towards his father and said the boy would be exposed to “significant emotional harm” if he remained with his mother. A psychologist said
Latest statistics from the UK House Price Index show properties in February had an average cost of £145,762 – a drop of 0.2% on the same month in 2018. This is the first annual decrease in Scotland since March 2016. House prices also fell by 3.1% between January and February this year. Janet Egdell, Registers of
An Italian fashion tycoon and his wife are in the midst of a legal battle in an attempt to settle their multi-million pound divorce in Britain. Ilaria Giusti, 53, is asking the UK courts to rule on her divorce from shoe designer Ferruccio Ferragamo, despite moving here five years after splitting from her husband. However,
No-fault evictions are now to be banned in England. This ruling means private landlords will no longer be able to evict tenants at short notice without good reason. The government says the new plans are in place to protect renters from “unethical” landlords and give them more long-term security. First Minister Mark Drakeford has
New research reveals the number of last-time buyers in the housing market has increased. The research found that one in three home moves are now made by last-time buyers aged 55 and over. The study from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) shows that the numbers have almost doubled in the last decade and many
The estranged wife of a German businessman has told a divorce court judge how she cannot find a “very good hairdresser” in England even though she moved to London nearly two years ago. Clarissa Pierburg said she feels compelled to visit a hairdresser in Dusseldorf, Germany. The problem was revealed to Mr Justice Moor after