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Nearly Legal

@nearlylegal.co.uk
8.8K followers 1.4K following 5.1K posts

Solicitor. Done housing law since 2006. The Guardian says top 5 for squalor. Legal Aid Housing Lawyer of 2018. Co-author of Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018. ‘Not an academic authority’ - Judge Carr. nearlylegal.co.uk

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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 07/04/2026
Now nature morte
Dying tulip with bowed head and curled up petals.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 05/04/2026
Spring still lives Fuji X-E3. Fuji 18-50mm at 33m. F9. 1/30 sec #stilllife
Red pointed petal tulip in Delft bue and white horizontal vaseRed pointed petal tulip in Delft bue and white horizontal vase
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 05/04/2026
Spring still lives Fuji X-E3. Fuji 18-50mm at 33m. F9. 1/30 sec #stilllife
Red pointed petal tulip in Delft bue and white horizontal vaseRed pointed petal tulip in Delft bue and white horizontal vase
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 03/04/2026
Not seen this before. Leaseholders prevented from selling because council has failed to pursue £850,000 in s.106 payments from developer. For almost 9 years! www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
‘We’re trapped’: developer’s unpaid debt leaves London flat owners unable to sell
Hackney leaseholders feel council made the problem worse by leaving £850,000 debt uncollected for eight years
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The Exchange @theexchangeleeds.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
"It was horrid, absolutely horrid. We felt a lot of pressure, which I think is his tactic." London lawyer Andrew Milne bought a strip of land. Then the threatening letters began. Featuring bee keepers, bikers and legal threats, it's a strange and disturbing tale... Check our latest piece below 👇
theexchange.news
A London lawyer bought an ugly strip of land. Then the threatening letters began
“It was horrid, absolutely horrid. We felt a lot of pressure, which I think is his tactic.”
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 02/04/2026
Yellow field in golden hour light.
Yellow rape flowers in field with oak trees and evening golden hour skyYellow rape flowers in field with oak trees and evening golden hour sky
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Sheffield Tribune @sheffieldtribune.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
BREAKING: Andrew Milne has been arrested. A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police told The Tribune: "Detectives investigating allegations linked to the purchase and sale of freeholds in Sheffield have arrested a man on suspicion of fraud and blackmail."
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 02/04/2026
Consequence of great work by @jessmccabe.bsky.social
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 01/04/2026
A big red flag for ever voting Green (unless you are an antisemitic crank). This motion was allowed to go forward to conference, was debated, and failed because filibustered, not because voted against. May yet reappear at a future conference. Just the worst of left antisemitism.
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The Property Ombudsman @tpos.co.uk · 01/04/2026
Share your views on the future of leasehold flats. 🔊 The Government is asking for your feedback on its plans to ban new leasehold flats, including how and when a ban should happen and what exceptions may be needed. The consultation closes on 24 April 2026.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 31/03/2026
Bay tree blossom.
Blossom on standard bay tree.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 30/03/2026
Do not disappoint Kim Novak… www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ma...
theguardian.com
Kim Novak says Sydney Sweeney is ‘totally wrong to play me’ in biopic
The 93-year-old says Sweeney ‘looks sexy all the time’ and she ‘never approved’ Scandalous, drama about her romance with Sammy Davis Jr
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 27/03/2026
Frost halo around the moon tonight.
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Law Centres Network @lawcentres.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Everyone deserves to live in a decent home. Yet poor housing conditions are all too common. The current regulation system for housing disrepair is not working effectively. Learn what’s needed to protect dignity, health and justice for all. 👇
lawcentres.org.uk
Justice for unsafe homes: LCN responds to consultation on disrepair
The Law Centres Network recently submitted evidence to the joint call for evidence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Ministry of Justice on housing disrepair claims and the role of claims management companies.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 26/03/2026
Plum blossom starting.
Scattered blossom on old plum tree branches against a blue sky.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 25/03/2026
Somewhat misleading story. MHCLG is not demanding money from leaseholders. It has registered the debt in the administration of the bust freeholder. Leaseholders think this will mean less available to them as compensation, but unlikely there will be much anyway. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/m…
theguardian.com
Dagenham leaseholders left homeless by fire could be forced to pay for cladding works
Greater London Authority seeks £6m refund for uncompleted fire safety work on destroyed Spectrum Building
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 23/03/2026
A few yellow rape flowers dotted in the field. In a week or two this will be a full carpet of yellow.
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Gail Myerscough @gailmyerscough.co.uk · 21/03/2026
Hello! It doesn’t cost anything to repost but it helps me spread the word about my small business. My online shop is full of bold & colourful prints, homewares, T-shirts and cards. I’m also available for freelance design work and art licensing. gailmyerscough.co.uk
gailmyerscough.co.uk
Gail Myerscough | Surface Pattern Designer & Illustrator | Manchester
Explore bold and colourful designs by Gail Myerscough, featuring prints, homewares, and stationery. Designed in Manchester, made in the UK.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 18/03/2026
This frankly makes me proud to be British. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Red kite with sausage roll snapped by Banbury photographer
Mark Hopkins managed to get some pictures of the bird from his back garden.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 17/03/2026
This is real Succession stuff. Wife applies to set aside consent order on finances on basis that husband had concealed forthcoming multi million gift to him from wife’s parents. www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/…
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 17/03/2026
This entire thread of a hearing is just humiliating for the New Jersey US attorney’s office, but the moment a supervisory assistant US attorney is threatened by the Judge with removal by court security is a particular highlight.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 17/03/2026
Is being on hold with just endless hold music, no reminders that my call is important to them: a) at least honest? b) more contemptuous in not even bothering to pay hypocritical lip service to any basic service values?
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 15/03/2026
Another landlord’s forced access injunction case in the County Court. This one allowing forced access. This issue really, really needs to go to a higher court. I have doubts about the logic in this case, and whether CPR 70.2A(2) is available. nearlylegal.co.uk/2026/03/the-ki…
nearlylegal.co.uk
The King crossed the threshold - forced entry injunctions - Nearly Legal: Housing Law News and Comment
Taylor Clark Ltd v Mohamed (unreported, Central London County Court, 5 March 2026) (note of case here via Falcon Chambers) This was a count court hearing, before DJ Le Bas, in which the issue of injunctions to permit the landlord to force access to the tenant’s property was again addressed. It foll…
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 15/03/2026
Another landlord’s forced access injunction case in the County Court. This one allowing forced access. This issue really, really needs to go to a higher court. I have doubts about the logic in this case, and whether CPR 70.2A(2) is available. nearlylegal.co.uk/2026/03/the-ki…
nearlylegal.co.uk
The King crossed the threshold - forced entry injunctions - Nearly Legal: Housing Law News and Comment
Taylor Clark Ltd v Mohamed (unreported, Central London County Court, 5 March 2026) (note of case here via Falcon Chambers) This was a count court hearing, before DJ Le Bas, in which the issue of injunctions to permit the landlord to force access to the tenant’s property was again addressed. It foll…
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 14/03/2026
Meanwhile, in hindsight, today’s programme of a lunch at the local pub, followed by giving the lawn its first mow, might have been ambitious. It is done, but so am I.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 14/03/2026
Neighbours’ (one each side) star magnolia trees getting into their stride. A real treat each spring.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 14/03/2026
Robin wars heating up at the front. (Sound on)
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 14/03/2026
Frogspawn in the pond, after weeks of amphibian orgies.
Frogspawn attached to a pond plant.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 13/03/2026
Oh bloody hell. Just heard about a ridiculous claim being pursued by a LIP through this ‘Grapple Law’ set up. AI only, set up by a solicitor but no lawyers, no SRA registration. Why are people so stupid/greedy? I think Alex Monaco should face SRA sanction. www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/ex…
legalfutures.co.uk
Exclusive: Solicitor launches AI-only consumer law business
An employment law service powered entirely by artificial intelligence goes live today, offering consumers both legal advice and representation.
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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
“I lost my job after harassing a complete stranger in the street because he’s Jewish”
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 13/03/2026
I can’t help but feel we’ve come a long way from Sandie Shaw… www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2…
theguardian.com
Romania’s Eurovision song criticised for ‘glamorising sexual strangulation’
Calls for Alexandra Căpitănescu’s Choke Me to be banned as campaigners say lyrics are ‘dangerous’ and ‘reckless’
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Legal Action Group @legalactiongroup.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
New edition of #HousingLaw Handbook out in May! By the brilliant Diane Astin, this must-have resource for #housing lawyers and advisers is updated to include the RRA 2025, developments in homelessness, Awaab's Law & enforcement of housing standards. PRE-ORDER PRINT COPIES: bit.ly/3Nx6I2i
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 12/03/2026
Interesting morning doing the keynote(!) at the Social Housing Law Association (mostly the landlord-side organisation) conference. They were very kind to an avowed tenant lawyer. But an interesting consensus building on the need for legal aid for housing conditions claims to tackle claims farmers.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 11/03/2026
“We finally got caught out doing something really bad that might get us sued, or look like grave robbing ghouls, or both. So we are going to re-imagine it.” I so hate tech bros…
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 10/03/2026
This whole thread on a show cause hearing is just excruciatingly painful. Yes, AI used to generate filings, yes fake citations and made up quotes from actual cases. Yes, lawyer attempts to bluster out of trouble. Car crash.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 10/03/2026
New flower on new hellebore.
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Sheffield Tribune @sheffieldtribune.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
BREAKING: Andrew Milne, the solicitor who has been buying up hundreds of freeholds in Sheffield and then demanding money from homeowners, has been sentenced to a 24 month community order and 300 hours of unpaid work for “grossly offensive and menacing” emails to the court reporter Daniel Cloake.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 09/03/2026
Hey-la-day-la my broadband’s back
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 08/03/2026
A note on a rent arrears possession claim and disrepair counterclaim in the County Court. Contains a smorgasbord of illegible witness statements, errors in section 8 notices, a ‘vague and approximate’ landlord, and attempts to raise new claims at (and after) trial nearlylegal.co.uk/2026/03/a-vagu…
nearlylegal.co.uk
A Vague and Approximate Landlord and a County Court Conditions Counterclaim - Nearly Legal: Housing Law News and Comment
Here is a recent housing conditions case that actually reached trial. A rent arrears possession claim with a disrepair counterclaim. N’Guessan & Anor v Bewry (2026) EWCC 9. I’m not entirely clear why this was given to Bailli, though I suspect there may be an element of a long suffering District Jud…
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 07/03/2026
Boom bang-a-bang, boom bang-a-bang Loud in my ear Pounding away, pounding away Won’t you be mine? Boom bang-a-bang-bang all the time
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 07/03/2026
Interesting step. Defendant company sues ChatGPT for the baseless applications and claims made by an employee whose case was already settled. nypost.com/2026/03/06/us-…
nypost.com
Blowhard ChatGPT bot posed as lawyer, convinced woman to fire her real attorney — while citing phony ‘case law’: suit
The AI-powered chatbot urged Graciela Dela Torre, of Des Plaines, to reopen her already-settled disability case and file dozens of illegitimate motions against her employer, Nippon Life Insurance C…
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 06/03/2026
*Bangs head on wall repeatedly*
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 05/03/2026
Claimant pleading of impecuniosity in not bringing a professional negligence claim against her divorce solicitors in time does not survive evidence that her boyfriend loaned her “£22,000 in November 2018 to enable her to buy a second hand Range Rover car”. www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/…
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 05/03/2026
Good morning.
Pink sunrise mist over field, with silhouettes of treesPink sunrise mist over field, with silhouettes of trees
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 04/03/2026
I know we all hate Yodel. But bloody hell. Email saying ‘delivered: BINS’ (Someone was in all day). Eventually receive photo of delivery from their app (which I had to download, because website won’t do anything). Photo of BINS, but not mine, nor any neighbours within 5 houses each way. Mystery BINS
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 03/03/2026
Big fish pulpits were a thing in counter reformation Poland and Czechia. Neither noted for their maritime history. Who knew? Via www.worldofinteriors.com/story/sea-pulp…
Pulpit in the form of a big, baroque fish, with open jaws where the priest would stand (pulpit at St Peter and Paul in Duszniki-Zdrój )Pulpit in the form of a big, somewhat naive and indeed bemused looking fish, where the priest would speak through its jaws. (St Hedwig’s, Dobroszów )Pulpit with big, and ornate, fish canopy, with its mouth forming the edge above where the priest would speak. (Our Lady, Mnichovice, Czechia )
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 02/03/2026
Oh for heavens sake, of course it is illegal to impose a planning condition that properties will only be sold or rented to Welsh speakers. www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…
bbc.co.uk
Welsh-only Gwynedd housing estate deemed 'illegal' by planners
A community council wanted a clause to only rent or sell the houses to Welsh speakers.
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 01/03/2026
Note on the recent FTT decision that all joint tenants during the relevant period must participate in a rent repayment order application. Also includes my first thoughts as to why there are problems (in law) with the decision. nearlylegal.co.uk/2026/03/a-can-…
nearlylegal.co.uk
A can of (joint and several) worms - Rent Repayment Orders - Nearly Legal: Housing Law News and Comment
122 Widdenham Road, London N7 9SQ, LON/00AU/HMF/2025/0753. (Copy of Decision) This was a final decision in a rent repayment order application brought by (some of) the tenants of 122 Widdenham Road against the landlord, Mr Semelo-Shaw, for a failure to licence an HMO that required a licence. In an e…
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 01/03/2026
Thanks to Nicholas Nichol of @onepumpcourt.co.uk for this note of an ASB possession claim that ended with a possession order refused, damages to the tenant for breach of Public Sector Equality Duty, and for disrepair. nearlylegal.co.uk/2026/03/not-an…
nearlylegal.co.uk
Not an open-minded balancing exercise - Nearly Legal: Housing Law News and Comment
Our grateful thanks to Nicholas Nicol of One Pump Court for the following note of a complex ASB possession claim, with counterclaims for breach of the Equality Act 2010 and for disrepair. Redacted copy of the Judgment is here (a condition of the Official Solicitor in allowing circulation). The Co-o…
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 01/03/2026
Note on the recent FTT decision that all joint tenants during the relevant period must participate in a rent repayment order application. Also includes my first thoughts as to why there are problems (in law) with the decision. nearlylegal.co.uk/2026/03/a-can-…
nearlylegal.co.uk
A can of (joint and several) worms - Rent Repayment Orders - Nearly Legal: Housing Law News and Comment
122 Widdenham Road, London N7 9SQ, LON/00AU/HMF/2025/0753. (Copy of Decision) This was a final decision in a rent repayment order application brought by (some of) the tenants of 122 Widdenham Road against the landlord, Mr Semelo-Shaw, for a failure to licence an HMO that required a licence. In an e…
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