Adrian Davis

Called 1996 (Gray's Inn)

BSc (Dunelm)
LLB (Nottingham)

Main Areas of Practice

LandLord and Tenant
Housing
Community Care

Professional Memberships

SHLA

Profile

Adrian specialises in property law. His principal areas of practice are housing and landlord and tenant. He acts for clients at all levels of court and tribunal. In addition, Adrian frequently acts for local authorities in cases involving public interest immunity.

Adrian is ranked Leading Junior 2011 -  in Legal 500 2011

Landlord and Tenant

Acting for landlords and tenants, Adrian's practice encompasses both commercial and residential work, including:

Forfeiture
Possession proceedings
Business lease renewals and Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
Disrepair and dilapidations
Mobile Homes
Agricultural tenancies

Homelessness and Part VII Housing Act 1996
Allocations and Part VI Housing Act 1996
Judicial review
Possession proceedings
Succession
Anti-social behaviour orders and injunctions
Houses in multiple occupation
Statutory regulation

Publications

Adrian is a co-author of the fifth edition of Butterworths Claims to the Possession of Land, a highly successful, loose-leaf work of landlord and tenant law, of which The Conveyancer says:

"...for its combination of scholarship and practicality in an area which is more minefield than lush meadow, this book serves as a model..."

In addition, Adrian is a co-founder and co-editor of chambers Housing e-bulletin, a free, quarterly email publication of legal developments sent to local authorities, registered social landlords and solicitors nationwide. To view the current and historic e-bulletins please go to Newsletters in the Resources Section .
Adrian is also a regular contributor to Chambers seminar programme and lectures frequently to members of the West London Alliance and other local authorities.  He is happy to provide in-house seminars.

Notable Cases

Haq v (1) Island Homes Housing Association Limited (2) Tower Hamlets LBC – This case involved commercial premises and complex arguments about proprietary estoppel and constructive trusts.  After a four day hearing Adrian, who represented Tower Hamlets LBC, was successful in avoiding a finding of liability against his client.   

De Winter Heald v Brent LBC ­- The central issue was whether it was lawful for local authorities to contract out to third parties the making of their Housing Act 1996 review decisions, pursuant to the Local Authorities (Contracting Out of Allocation of Housing and Homelessness Functions) Order 1996 (SI 1996 No. 3205). Adrian, acting for Brent LBC, was successful in persuading the Court to rule that it was lawful for local authorities to contract out the making of review decisions to a third party. Ms De Winter Heald appealed to the Court of Appeal but was unsuccessful: see [2009] EWCA Civ 930.

R (on the application of Zehour Chelfat) v The London Borough of Tower Hamlets - Failure by the local authority to hold a review of a decision to terminate an introductory tenancy by the issue of possession proceedings within the time limit prescribed by the Housing Act 1996 s.129 was not fatal to those proceedings where the parties had expressly agreed that a review could occur after the proceedings had commenced.

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets v (1) Basil Bharat Chavda (2) Dulcie Druscilla Joseph (3) Cindy Joseph Chavda and Others - The local authority was entitled to recover damages against the first and second defendants who had intended to injure the authority by imposing upon it a liability in respect of accommodation for asylum seekers that, but for their actions, it would not have been undertaken.

Donoghue v Poplar Housing & Regeneration Community Association Limited and the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Interested Party) - The Court of Appeal held that (1) the respondent housing association was a public authority for the purposes of the Human Rights Act 1998; and (2) notwithstanding its mandatory terms, the summary possession procedure contained in s.21(4) Housing Act 1988 did not conflict with the appellant's right to respect for a family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

If you would like any further information regarding Adrian Davis's practice, please contact his clerks or call +44 (0)20 7405 6114.