Tolerated trespassers and assured tenancies

Former Member

Does anyone know if a higher court has made any ruling on the issue of whether tolerated trespasser status can arise from an assured tenancy??

TIA.

Former Member

NM, found the answer.

Former Member

i was unsure of what an assured tenancy is, having only covered licences, leases and freeholdings.

in what context is this being asked, it sounds like an interesting gap in my knowlege that needs to be filled.

Former Member

Secure tenancies can only be granted by local authorities, so most council tenants will be secure tenants, unless they have temporary assured tenancies to begin with, which is common practise to weed out problem tenants.

Housing association tenants and private tenants are likely to have assured tenancies. The terms of an assured tenancy can vary, and especially if they're made in the event of stock transfer from LA to HA can be broadly simillar to the terms of a secure tenancy regarding the tenant's rights. On the whole you tend to have more rights with a secure tenancy though.

It's unclear at the moment whether tolerated trespasser status can arise from an assured tenancy, as it can from a secure tenancy when a Suspended Posession Order is made, because of the omission from the Housing Act 1988 (covering assured tenancies) of an equivalent to Section 82(2) Housing Act 1985 which covers this issue in regard to secure tenancies.

In the case of Stan v Stadium HA, Willesden County Court ruled that the breach of a suspended possession order did not, in itself, end a periodic assured tenancy and consequently tolerated trespasser status did not arise. In the case of Knowsley HT v White, Liverpool County Court answered the same question in exactly the opposite sense. Knowsley v White is headed for the Court of Appeal.

The context in which I asked is that I heard that there had been a recent ruling in the Court of Appeal, and I wasn't sure if Knowsley v White was the case in question, but it seems it was actually referring to another case, Harlow v Hall, which was more to do with the technicalities of SPOs and when tolerated trespasser status arises in the case of secure tenants.

Hope this helps.