News in Brief

In a landmark ruling, Judges have decided that tenants can (in certain circumstances) be evicted for anti-social behaviour, even if they are recognised in law as disabled. The Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Manchester Council over the eviction of two tenants who had a history of abusing neighbours.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, a landlord cannot evict tenants because of their disability. In these two separate cases, the Council was found not to be in breach of that legislation, even though one tenant had a depressive illness and the other suffered from a personality disorder. The key issue in both cases was the threat to the health of neighbours caused by the antisocial behaviour.
The software company Comino was reported to have agreed a substantial settlement with London & Quadrant Housing Trust after failing to meet deadlines for installing a new housing management system. The Trust was suing the IT Company for £3.5 million over allegations that nine deadlines had been missed and the final completion date had slipped by twelve months.

The out of court settlement is believed to include repayment to the Trust the cost of installing the system plus other agreed expenses. This is thought to be significantly less than the amount originally being sought.

Reporting on July-Sept. 2004