Social Housing Landlord Admits Liability During COVID’19
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 sets out a minimum standard of repairing obligations which landlords of Assured Shorthold Tenants must comply with in England & Wales. Furthermore, the Defective Premises Act 1972 and newly introduced Fitness for Human Habitation Act 2018 impose further standards to ensure that rented properties are free from unsafe, unhealthy or harmless defects. Due to the current pandemic, routine repairs within social and council housing had been brought to a halt due to the government guidelines of social distancing and lockdown measures; unless works where for emergency purposes. During the latter end of May 2020, …
COVID’19 App Poses Data Breach Threat
The Covid’19 tracing app has been introduced to log social interactions based on user’s assessments, of their current infection risk status; which they would upload onto the app itself. According to Tech Crunch the app already lacks robust legal safeguards against data misuse. There are concerns surrounding the apps data collation, with emphasis on the protections and guarantees of safety the app will envisage usage of, via the data the public will input. Legal Futures states that the Covid’19 app used in the Netherlands, recently suffered a Data Breach in April 2020. The rushed action of the app creation resulted …
NORTH WEST FRONT LINE KEY WORKER LIVING IN APPALLING COUNCIL HOUSE CONDITIONS IN MANCHESTER
Our client is a tenant of a Housing Association who is currently suffering from Disrepair to her property she took over from her parent in 2019. Although her landlord is fully aware of these issues within the property prior to her taking over the tenancy; they have continued to ignore the safety concerns and repairs our client has raised for a long period of time. Our client has lived in this property for many years, with it being passed through the generations, the memories are the only thing that has kept her in the property for so long. We were …
High Street Solicitors – Contingency Statement on COVID-19
High Street Solicitors are resolutely devoted to delivering our services to the highest possible standard, without putting the health and wellbeing of our colleagues, clients or suppliers and stakeholders at risk. At a time when uncertainty is growing over the pandemic of COVID-19 (Coronavirus), we are acutely aware of the need of engaging with our clients to create a guarantee that the right procedures are in place to ensure the safe continuance of the business. We have a business continuity policy in place which plans for a variety of potential business continuity incidents, including the impact of pandemic illness. The …
CURRYS DATA BREACH
Thanks to @EquilibriumRisk for highlighting this issue on Twitter recently from the Edinburgh News. To view the article in full follow this link: http://bit.ly/36Zlbtw UK renowned firms, have been at the height of data breach criticism. According to the Edinburgh News the malware was installed onto ‘5,390 tills at the company’s Currys PC World and Dixons Travel stores.’ Sensitive data was exposed by the hackers, which exposed general name and address information. However, the malicious malware discovered by the ICO was able to expose individuals credit check information too with regards to failed credit. The article states that at present …
GRINDR DATA BREACH
This was a great read that was shared on Twitter this week via @HopewiserLtd. Find out more here: http://bit.ly/2tjgpbz To begin with, for those of you that may not be aware of the app ‘Grindr’, Grindr is a social networking site that is downloaded and used most commonly by, from what Grindr states: ‘for gay, bi, trans, and qu**r people.’ Since 2009 Grindr has become one of the most accessed apps on a worldwide basis. The app focusses on a location-based approach for users to connect with one another locally, setting perimeters of those using Grindr within a set location …
UK GOOGLE DATA BREACH
We have just come across what is said to be the “UK’s largest EVER Data Breach!” according to Sky News. The breach has been down to the real-time bidding advertising process Google created along with a third party, Sky News states. The advertisement platform which has come under scrutiny, uses the likes of cookies to track and monitor a user’s behaviour; using this to target and re target with advertisements. Companies can then bid for their advert to be seen as one purchases real-time impressions, based upon a person’s existing behaviours on the web, using their information without consent. The …
MICROSOFT DATA BREACH
It was highlighted this week, that 250 million records had been exposed from one of Microsoft’s customer databases. According to Naked Security email addresses which had been inputted into Microsoft database with spaces in-between letters; would have been left open for the world to see. Therefore, although the email address was not exposed in the correct format, it would be easily rectified for one to use such personal information. It is unknown how many have been affected by such data breach at present; or to the extent of the personal data that has admittedly been exposed. We advise to take …
JAPANESE KNOTWEED Q&A
What is Japanese Knotweed? Japanese knotweed sprouts in Spring with bamboo type shoots, which flourish tall with green shovel/heart shaped leaves. It is easy to identify in the Summer when small cream flowers bloom and the leaves have a distinct zig-zag pattern. In Autumn the plant will wilt and fade into autumnal colours. Where will I find Japanese knotweed? Japanese knotweed most commonly grows wild on disused land. It can be found in locations by train stations for example; which can then lead onto your property boundaries. Knotweed will spread rapidly! Through watercourses and movements of soil for road-building and …
WHAT TYPE OF CLAIMS CAN YOU MAKE IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING JAPANESE KNOTWEED ISSUES?
Here are x3 claims types that you can make IF you suspect Japanese Knotweed growth in the vicinity of your property: Are you affected by Japanese Knotweed from a neighbouring property? • Nuisance Claim – Following a landmark Court case, you may be entitled to compensation if you are experiencing nuisance from Japanese Knotweed Did you buy your home and the vendor didn’t tell you about Japanese Knotweed? • Misrepresentation – a property owner has a duty to notify you if there is any Japanese Knotweed at the property Did you buy your home and the Surveyor didn’t notice Japanese …
