Peter Marcus

Housing

Practice Summary

Peter is highly experienced in all aspects of housing and anti-social behaviour law, acting for landlords and tenants, in the public and private sectors, in the civil, criminal and appeal courts.

Peter regularly acts in cases involving persons lacking mental capacity, and involving the Official Solicitor.

Peter acts for public and private landlords, leading the charge against the wave of CFA disrepair claims sweeping the country, succeeding in strike-outs, allocation to small claims and adverse costs orders. Peter regularly achieves costs awards for landlords in legally aided cases. Peter advises public landlords on tenancy agreements, particularly in relation to unfair tenancy terms.

Practice Areas

Peter’s areas of practice include:

Possession

• Secure, Assured, Rent Act and Assured Shorthold

• Demoted, Introductory/Starter Tenancies, FITs and many others!

• Licences (excluded, non-excluded)

• All discretionary or mandatory grounds

• Tenancy fraud

• Trespassers

• Public Law Defences including Human Rights/Proportionality and Equality Act

• Unfair Tenancy Terms and the Consumer Rights Act 2015

• Estoppel and constructive &c. trusts

Anti-Social Behaviour

• Part One injunctions & committals

• Gang Injunctions

• Closure Orders (houses, flats, legal high shops, brothels, hostels, hotels, &c.)

• Criminality, harassment & nuisance, including cannabis farms

• All aspects of the 2014 Act, Parts 1 to 6

• All remnants of the old Acts, including existing ASBOs, ASBIs

• Protection from Harassment Act 1977

• Statutory Nuisance (EPA 1996) prosecutions

Disrepair

• Quick, reliable advice on merits and quantum

• Strong, thorough, quick and effective defences to claims and counterclaims

• Strike-outs, allocations to small claims, injunctions and other tactical defence responses

• Experienced at fighting for public landlords against CFA and other claims-handler cases

• Tenancies or Leases

Injunctions & Committals

• ASB Part One injunctions, incl. exclusions

• General civil, breach of tenancy and s.222 injunctions (including access for repair and gas servicing)

• Unlawful eviction

• Breach of tenancy

• Trespassers

• Access for gas inspections, urgent repairs

Local Authority regulation and prosecution

• HMO and selective licensing prosecutions and appeals

Unlawful Eviction

• All aspects, including emergencies

Homelessness and Allocations

• Initial advice

• s.204 appeals

• Judicial Review (incl. emergency accommodation)

ALSO:

• Right to Buy

• dealing with Vexatious Litigants and other persistent nuisances

• Succession

• Residential Leases & Forfeiture - including relief from forfeiture

• Mediation - any types of case

Peter can accept instructions directly through Direct/Public Access.

NOTABLE RECENT CASES:

• City West v Massey [2016] EWCA Civ 704 (Court of Appeal)

For landlord — use of discretion to suspend possession order, particularly when tenant gives dishonest evidence and relies on “landlord inspection” conditions (following 300-plant cannabis farm). 

• Salford City Council v Birdsall & co (County Court, Manchester) – 2014

Acted for applicant local authority against 4 defendants to gain Gang-related Violence Injunctions and numerous convictions and custody for breaches.

• Manchester City Council v Graeme Wilson (County Court Appeal, Manchester) – 2015

Anti-social and criminal secure tenant. Got outright possession at trial, beat tenant’s appeal, defeated tenant’s application to suspend, defeated tenant’s 2nd appeal. Recovered costs for landlord against Legal Aid Agency, twice.

• Home Group v Brookes (County Court, Birmingham & High Court appeal) – 2016

Successful possession action against young woman in homelessness "half way" accomodation – involved determination that exclusive right to occupy was neither tenancy nor non-excluded licence.

• Affinity Sutton v Bell (County Court, Hull) – 2015

Long-running case acting for very vulnerable man without representation, initially in prison for breach of anti-social injunction. Involved working with psychiatrist, social services.

• Nottingham City Council v Norozee (County Court, Nottingham) – 2016

Outright possession against secure tenant following long-term unlawful tampering with district heating system

• Muir Housing v Fletcher (County Court, Liverpool) – 2016

Civil Restraint Order against housing association’s long-term vexatious complainant