Iain Colville > 4-5 Gray's Inn Square > London, England > Barrister Profile

Iain Colville

icolville@4-5.co.uk

Position

Since joining chambers in 1997, having previously worked in local government since 1990, Iain has developed a practice which embraces all aspects of planning, compulsory purchase, housing, landlord and tenant, homelessness and wider aspects of local government. He advises and acts on behalf of both public and private sector clients, including local authorities, RSLs, leaseholders, tenants, and the homeless, both in the lower and higher courts. The noteworthy cases he has recently been involved in are as follows: (1) Green v SofS for Communities & Local Government & others [2009] EWHC 754 (Admin); junior counsel for the appellant. It was held that the grant of planning permission permitting eight caravans by condition, rather than expanding or enlarging the permission sought, had the effect of regulating and controlling it. The need for regulation and control arose because of the nature of the planning permission granted. The permission was for a change of use. Although it permitted use of the site by a given number of caravans, in the absence of a condition, there was nothing to prevent intensification of the use by the introduction of further caravans. (2) Knowsley Housing Trust v White: Honeygan-Green v London Borough of Islington: Porter v Shepherds Bush Housing Association [2008] UKHL 70 HL; [2009] 2 WLR 78; [2009] 2 All ER 829; [2009] HLR 17; The Times, December 15, 2008; junior counsel led by Andrew Arden QC on behalf of the council in their appeal against the Court of Appeal decision. Heard together with the White and Porter appeals where the committee addressed the concept of tolerated trespasser established in Burrows v Brent LBC [1996] 1 WLR 1448, HL. This is an important decision as it establishes that an assured tenancy subject to a suspended possession order did not come to an end until possession was delivered up. When making a suspended possession order under the Housing Act 1985, the court could proleptically direct that the order be discharged once its terms had been complied with and could do so even if the terms had not been strictly complied with. So far as it related to the council’s appeal, their Lordships held that a tenant made subject to a suspended possession order who had served notice exercising the right to buy under the 1985 Act would have the right to buy revived if and when the order was discharged. (3) Truro Diocesan Board of Finance Ltd v Desmond Foley [2008] EWCA Civ 1162; [2009] 1 WLR 2218; [2009] 1 All ER 814; [2009] HLR 21: The Times, December 1, 2008. Junior counsel led by Andrew Arden QC on behalf of Truro Diocesan Board successfully resisting a second appeal that addressed the scope of the term ‘tenancy’ in the Housing Act 1988 s34(1). It was held that this term did not include an agreement for a tenancy, and the expression ‘immediately before the tenancy was granted’ in s34(1)(b) should be given its ordinary meaning as being restricted to those cases in which the new tenancy took effect immediately on expiry of the old.

Career

Called 1989; Inner Temple. Arden Chambers 1997. Previously worked in local government from 1990. Prior to joining chambers he was the head of the planning and litigation team at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Whilst in local government Iain appeared in numerous public inquiries, including major public inquiries, for example, a public inquiry into an application for a motorway service area at Junction 8/9 of the M4; he has also promoted the Boroughwide Local Plan Inquiry for Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (1995-96). Publications of note: ‘Blackstone’s Civil Procedure’ (Oxford University Press) – current sole contributor on the Homelessness chapter since 2006; ‘A Guide to the Greater London Authority’ (Sweet & Maxwell, 2000) – co-author. Joint annotator of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (Current Law annotations, 2000); ‘A Guide to the Planning Process’, Arden’s Housing Library, (Lemos & Crane, 2000) – sole author; ‘Human Rights Act 1998: A Practitioners Guide’ (Sweet & Maxwell, 1998) – contributor to Planning & Human Rights chapter.

Memberships

HLPA; PEBA.