Property Law Update

Lewisham London Borough Council v Malcolm [2007] EWCA Civ 763, [2007] All ER (D) 401 (Jul)

In Malcolm the Court of Appeal was asked to consider the effect of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995) on mandatory orders for possession. Courtney Malcolm, a secure tenant under the Housing Act 1985, sought to exercise his right to buy, but had, before completion, lost his statutory security of tenure by subletting without the consent of Lewisham. Discovery of the subletting prompted Lewisham to refuse to complete and instead to issue possession proceedings. Malcolm was suffering from schizophrenia, a fact of which Lewisham was unaware. At trial, there was some evidence to suggest that, at the time of the subletting, Malcolm’s condition had become more severe, possibly due to a change in the manner of administration of his medication.

Interaction between possession orders

The question of the interaction between possession orders and DDA 1995 has been considered before, in Manchester City Council v Romano