EM v The Secretary of State for Defence
[2023] UKUT 222 (AAC)
Filpe Alexander Scalora v Clarion Housing Association
7 June 2024
[2024] EWHC 1414 (KB)
High Court
A tenant claimed they were wrongly kicked out of their flat. The case depended on whether emails the tenant sent were real. A judge didn't believe the tenant and said the emails showed the tenant wanted to leave. Because the tenant stopped paying rent and gave back the keys, the judge said the tenant wasn't wrongly evicted.
Key Facts
- •Claimant alleges wrongful eviction from a social housing flat.
- •Case hinges on the authenticity of emails between Claimant and Defendant's employees.
- •Claimant's evidence deemed unreliable by the judge.
- •Expert witness analysis of emails found most to be authentic.
- •Claimant gave one month's written notice to terminate tenancy.
- •Claimant returned keys and ceased rent payments.
- •Claimant was absent from the property for an extended period.
Legal Principles
Assured tenancies are governed by the Housing Act 1988.
Housing Act 1988
Implied term in assured tenancies against assignment or subletting without landlord's consent.
Housing Act 1988, section 15(1)
Principles for determining whether a dwelling remains a tenant's principal home (Islington BC v Boyle).
Islington BC v Boyle [2012] HLR 18
Periodic tenancy can be determined by notice to quit.
Fareham v Miller [2013] EWCA Civ 159
Surrender of tenancy can be by express agreement or operation of law.
Law of Property Act 1925, section 52(2)(c); Lyon v Reed (1844); Allen v Rochdale BC [2000]
Unlawful eviction claims under sections 27 and 28 of the Housing Act 1998.
Housing Act 1998, sections 27-28
Liability for deceit of an employee depends on actual or ostensible authority.
Winter v Hockley Mint Ltd [2019] 1 WLR 1617
Principles for deciding disputed facts in civil cases (Briggs v Drylined Homes Ltd).
Briggs v Drylined Homes Ltd [2023] EWHC 382 (KB)
Outcomes
Claim dismissed.
The judge found the Claimant's evidence unreliable and the emails proving he gave notice to quit to be authentic. The Claimant's actions (stopping rent payments, returning keys, removing belongings) supported the finding that the tenancy ended.