Kuljit Bhogal KC is a leading barrister based at Cornerstone Barristers with particular specialism in local government, public law and judicial review, housing, and the Court of Protection.

In March 2023, she was appointed King’s Counsel. Kuljit is ranked by Chambers and Partners UK Bar Directory and the Legal 500 for Social Housing Law and Public Law.

In her public sector work, she acts predominantly for local authorities, housing associations and health bodies. In her private sector work, Kuljit acts for private landlords and developers. Her local authority experience goes back over 25 years and she is able to advise on the full range of local authority functions.

Kuljit has an excellent understanding of the pressures faced by public bodies and is well able to service their needs. She is able to provide policy and strategic advice at the most senior levels.

She has extensive experience in policy and governance issues as well as in relation to individual cases and contracts.

Her recent work has ranged from governance (and other) issues relating to Public Space Protection Orders, the use (or misuse) of Community Protection Notices, the contracting out of local authority functions (in particular, homelessness functions) and the legality of Part VI Allocation Schemes.

Kuljit is the author of Cornerstone on Anti-Social Behaviour (2^nd edition), the leading text on the powers introduced by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, published by Bloomsbury Professional. Most recently, Kuljit authored an article for The Times about Safe Access Zones outside abortion clinics, after notably acting in the High Court case upholding the UK’s first abortion facility buffer zone.

Sue is a Professor of Land Law at New College, University of Oxford, primarily focused on property law. Much of her recent and ongoing research is concerned with complexities stemming from multi-owned property. This includes exploring the challenges of net zero, building safety problems, the running of modern private housing estates, and particular issues around high-rise towers. She has set up the Housing after Grenfell blog for discussion of these issues, as well as for conversations around housing and law more generally.

Qualified as a solicitor in 1997, I have extensive experience in representing Social Housing clients across various aspects of public sector housing and property litigation. I have advised Social Landlords on applications for anti-social behaviour injunctions, possession claims, Equality Act compliance including the Public Sector Equality Duty, disrepair claims, service charge disputes, consultation requirements under S.20 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, boundary issues, rights of way, adverse possession claims, squatters and proceedings before the First Tier and Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber). I also have experience in appeals, both in the High Court and Court of Appeal.

I have worked in housing for both local government, and housing associations for over 20 years, I specialised in fraud prevention in 2013 and have been an Executive Committee Member of the Tenancy Fraud Forum since 2017. I am passionate about stopping people exploiting the system and committing fraud. I am currently a Counter Fraud and Investigations Lead for Buckinghamshire Council. I have worked across various Boroughs in London, including Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Camden, Islington and Hounslow where I have pursued both civil and criminal cases, and assisted in the recovery of hundreds of properties. I have also provided guidance, established procedure and practice, and conducted tenancy fraud awareness training

Mark is responsible for Litigation matters on behalf of the five south London Boroughs that SLLP serves, specialising in Housing & Anti-Social Behaviour. He started his career as an outdoor clerk and, with four authorities, worked in conveyancing and child protection before returning to litigation.

Alex is a Costs Lawyer with over a decade of experience in high-value, complex and technically-demanding costs litigation. He is an experienced advocate who appears frequently in County Courts and the SCCO; and who has also appeared in specialist fora including the Upper Tribunal and the Supreme Court.

During his career he has dealt with a wide range of costs disputes, with a focus on commercial and chancery matters. He has conducted costs litigation in Courts at all levels and has had conduct of costs appeals in the County Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

Alex also has a practice in non-contentious costs matters, particularly in relation to the formation or variation of contracts of retainer; and in advising on funding options. He has been instructed by large organisations during the course of litigation to advise at board level on legal spending, budgeting, reserving and making provisions in annual accounts.

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Angela is an experienced member of the 42BR Barristers Housing Group. She deals with all areas of social housing. She represents local authorities and housing associations in complicated and protracted claims for possession involving issues of anti-social behaviour, sub-letting and succession. She regularly drafts and makes applications for injunctive relief for anti-social behaviour issues and breaches of tenancy agreement. Angela’s work has involved cases where tenants may be vulnerable and may have health issues that need to be taken into consideration.

Nikki was appointed as a Chair of the Valuation Tribunal for England in 2016, and a Deputy District Judge in the County Court in 2019. She took up a full-time position as a Deputy Regional Judge of the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in London in February 2020. Prior to that, she spent nearly 20 years practising in Landlord & Tenant/Housing law as a barrister, latterly of 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square. She spent an informative 5 months as the sole lawyer in a housing association with a stock of over 5000 units. She also spent 5 years as a Senior Lecturer on the BPTC at City Law School. She has written for cILEX level 4, and delivered ongoing professional training to the profession through organisations such as MBL.

Clare Cullen is a civil and public law practitioner who specialises in housing, property and local government.

She advises and represents public and private clients including local authorities. Clare began practice at a specialist housing set and has appeared in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court.

Clare delivers training on housing and property related issues. She was appointed a Deputy District Judge in September 2021.

A medical graduate of Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Science in Management, Dr Matt Appleyard also holds a BSc in management from Imperial College, a MSc in Health and Public Leadership.

He works for the NHS, as a consultant general adult and forensic psychiatrist, he is Section 12 approved. He is competent and experienced in diagnosing and treating patients with a full range of mental health conditions.

Through his company MLUK Chambers Ltd, Dr Appleyard has provided expert witness services for over 10 years. He receives instructions from solicitors, regulatory bodies, local authorities, and others in relation to legal proceedings – criminal, civil and tribunal proceedings.

His interests lie within the civil field, and he is regularly instructed by prosecution and defence solicitors as well as Shelter UK to provide psychiatric assessments for their clients in housing disputes. Examples of these have included, Injunction Proceedings, Possession Proceedings, Disability within section 6 of the Equality Act 2010, Impact of mental disorder on behaviour, & Treatment and Support, although this list is not exhaustive.

Janine Green is an award winning specialist in community safety and anti-social behaviour (ASB).

Listed by the BBC in their Expert Women database, Janine is nationally recognised as a leading ASB and Community Safety practitioner.

Janine works with:

Social housing providers
Private landlords
Councils
Police
Government bodies
Charities

Barbara came to the Bar after a career as a university lecturer in the United States.

Barbara specialises in property and employment law. She has a substantial landlord and tenant and housing law practice, appearing for both social landlords and tenants and practises in all aspects of employment and discrimination law.

A formidable advocate in Court, Barbara also has a reputation for fast and effective production of paperwork.

Nick is a Property, Public Law, Equality and Human Rights specialist. Nick has particular expertise in statutory interpretation. Nick is head of Five Paper’s Real Property Practice Group and a member of the Housing, Landlord and Tenant and Public Law Groups.

He regularly acts for public bodies in cases where property and public law interact: e.g. Simawi v LB Haringey & SoS CLG (intervening) [2019] EWCA Civ 1770, where he successfully argued that the rules relating to succession to council tenancies were compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

He also acts for commercial entities: e.g. he was successful in the Court of Appeal for Global 100 Limited in establishing, amongst other things, that defences to possession proceedings should, where appropriate, be determined summarily: See Global 100 Limited v Laleva [2021] EWCA Civ 1835.

Nick is recommended as a leading silk in the latest editions of Chambers UK and Legal 500. In 2020 he was short-listed by Legal 500 for Real Estate, Environment and Planning Silk of the year at the Legal 500 UK Awards.

Andrew is a barrister at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square. He is recognised in both Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 as a leading junior in social housing law. His property work includes leasehold enfranchisement, all aspects of service charges and residential property management He is Deputy General Editor of the Housing Law Reports, an editor of Arden and Partington’s Housing Law and co-author of the Manual of Housing Law.

Dorota started her housing career at Birmingham City Council before moving into private practice. She is a Partner at Trowers and Hamlins LLP in Birmingham, where she advises on all aspects of housing management.

A Partner, Katrina specialises in advising on a range of housing management matters including tenancy fraud, anti-social behaviour, disrepair, and access. Highly respected within the industry, Katrina has held a number of influential roles, including founding and chairing the Tenancy Fraud Forum, founding the Disrepair Focus Group, and was the Chair of the Law Society’s LGBT+ Division and the Independent Adjudicator for Grenfell. In 2016 she was honoured with the MBE to services to Social Housing.

Elizabeth is an established property practitioner, with particular expertise in the fields of residential landlord and tenant, and social housing law.

Tara O’Leary practices in public law at Cornerstone Barristers including housing, the Court of Protection and licensing. She has appeared across all levels of courts and tribunals up to the Court of Appeal.  

Tara has significant experience in all aspects of housing law, including possession, homelessness, allocations, discrimination, ASB and housing conditions. She regularly advises local authorities and RPs on the formulation and implementation of policies and procedures, including housing allocation schemes and equality impact assessments. Tara is joint editor of Cornerstone’s Housing Newsletter, and regularly gives training on all aspects of housing law.

Ian has over 25 years’ experience in advising charities, housing associations and local authorities and has established himself as a trusted adviser on charity law, governance, corporate and regulatory issues.

Bethan has extensive experience in social housing, completing her training contract in house for a large, place-driven housing association in the North West. She has an excellent understanding of the needs and demands of social housing clients, as well as experience of wider issues facing the sector. Bethan’s wide-ranging knowledge and experience of housing litigation, and the many varying issues affecting providers of social housing means that she can give advice which not only considers the legal options available but the practical implications for clients too. She is friendly, approachable and determined to secure the best possible outcome for her clients.

A pioneer in the field of antisocial behavior orders and injunctions, Richard has practiced in the field of housing for over 20 years. His clients have included large institutional landlords, including Councils and Housing Associations, private homeowners and tenants.

Richard has a particularly wide and technical knowledge of social housing. Uniquely amongst practitioners at the Bar, Richard has a keen understanding of the different competing pressures and interests that corporate clients are acting under, gained from his years working in-house.

In particular, Richard has a wealth of experience advising on and defending housing conditions claims brought against landlords by their tenants, whether at an early stage under the pre-action protocol or in court.

Having previously been at Ernst and Young and in working in social housing consultancy, Jonathan has been at the Regulator since 2004. He has worked across the organisation and has extensive experience in dealing with funders, government and Registered Providers.

Sarah is a barrister at Cornerstone Barristers and specialises in public law, housing, and property law. She is ranked as a leading junior in Legal 500 for both Administrative Law and Human Rights and housing. She is recommended in Chambers and Partners for housing. Her caseload in housing involves all aspects of the area including possession, homelessness and allocations, Equality Act 2010 duties, welfare benefits, anti-social behaviour, unlawful eviction and housing conditions (including issues with cladding). She acts for local authorities, private registered providers, private landlords and tenants.

During 2022 to 2023, Sarah led a team at Cornerstone Barristers working on contracts for social housing providers and private landlords in Wales – including the Welsh Government – following the wholesale transformation of housing law in Wales by the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016. She is currently writing A Practical Guide to Housing Allocation Schemes in England (Law Brief Publishing, due for publication in 2024). She is also a contributor to the Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents, vol 24(1) Landlord and Tenant (Social Housing) (2019) and to Affordable Housing – Modern Guide to Construction and Delivery (2016, Lexis online publication).

Bio

Lee is a Partner at Devonshires and specialises in all aspects of housing management and property litigation. Among his client base are some of the largest providers of social housing in the United Kingdom. Lee also leads Devonshires’ dedicated Wales team. Lee’s specialisms are in complex dispute resolution and fire/building safety issues along with property litigation aspects to contentious construction disputes. Lee also has extensive experience in advising on non-contentious policy and procedure in addition to regulatory matters.

Lee is Co-Chair of the Social Housing Law Association.