Lime Legal's
Housing Law Week

General Editor: Jan Luba QC

14th October 2015 Update

POLICY ISSUES IN HOUSING LAW

Social Housing Lettings

The UK Government has published a summary of the latest statistics on lettings of council and housing association properties in England. The figures cover 2014-15. For the summary, click here The figures are based on data collected through the CORE (Continuous Recording of Lettings and Sales) arrangements. For those more detailed figures, click here  The available data includes an area-by-area table split by housing association and council data. For that table, click here  For a summary of key issues relating to quality of the data that users of the social housing lettings statistical report need to be aware of, click here

 

Assured Tenants: Notices Seeking Possession

On 1 October 2015, the April 2015 version of the prescribed form of the “section 8” notice of seeking possession against an assured tenant (Form 3) was amended again. For the amendment, see regulation 4(4)(a) of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015. For those regulations, click here

 

Council and Housing Association Rents

On 9 October 2015, the UK Government published a new consultation document on its proposals to require higher-earning social housing tenants to pay market rents. For the consultation details see Housing Law Consultations (below).

 

Homelessness in England

On 8 October 2015, the Local Government Ombudsman reminded councils in England to decide homelessness applications promptly and effectively, following an investigation into how one London council had handled a homelessness application. She said: “I appreciate the challenge councils face in response to homelessness and the pressures their resources are under but, as is evident in this case, councils must remember they can be dealing with the most vulnerable members of society who are reliant on them for the most basic of needs. Councils must ensure they are following the correct procedures in deciding applications.” For the full press release, click here

 

Housing Associations and the ‘Right to Buy’

At the Conservative Party Conference 2015, the Prime Minister announced that a deal had been struck between the main housing associations and the UK Government to extend a right to buy to housing association tenants. For the UK Government announcement, click here For the National Housing Federation response to announcement, click here For media comment on the ‘deal’, click here For a lawyer’s commentary on the ‘deal’, click here  For the latest House of Commons Library Briefing on extending the right to buy in England, click here  For the Local Government Association assessment that extending the Right to Buy scheme to housing association tenants will cost £6 billion over the next four years, click here

 

Disability & Homelessness

The organisation Homeless Link has published a briefing about autism and homelessness. It offers useful information on engagement and support, when working with homeless people on the autistic spectrum.  For a copy, click here

 

Private Renting in Scotland

On 7 October 2015, the Scottish Government published a new Bill to amend the law relating to private rented housing and to establish a new type of tenancy to be known as a ‘private residential tenancy’. The Bill will be considered in the Scottish Parliament. For the announcement, click here For further details of the Bill, see Housing laws in the pipeline (below).

 

Selective licensing

Hyndburn Council introduced selective licensing in December 2012, to help tackle low housing demand and requires landlords to comply with a range of conditions to ensure good property management. Three local landlords have recently become the first to be prosecuted for failing to comply with the requirements of the council's Selective Licensing Scheme. For the details, click here  

 

Housing Benefit

On 30 September 2015, the DWP issued a new circular (HB U1/2015) on the limited impact of other benefit sanctions on Housing Benefit. For a copy, click here

 

Housing & Bankruptcy

A new House of Commons Library briefing covers the facts and issues arising when a home owner is made bankrupt. For a copy, click here

 

Regulating Social Housing

The social housing regulator for England has updated its guidance on how and when social housing providers should get consent from the regulator before they undertake certain changes to their organisations. For the latest materials, click here

 

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HOUSING LAWS IN THE PIPELINE

Welfare Reform and Work Bill

This UK Government Bill was published on 9 July 2015. It makes provision about: (1) the benefit cap; (2) social security and tax credits; (3) loans for mortgage interest; and (4) social housing rents. It had its Second Reading in the House of Commons on 20 July 2015 and is being considered in detail by a public bill committee during September and October. For the Bill, click here For the explanatory notes, click here To follow the progress of the Bill, click here. For the documents relating to the Bill (including several impact assessments), click here The Committee which will review the Bill has issued a call for written evidence. For the details, click here  For the official records of the Committee debates to date, click here For the latest CPAG update on the Bill, click here For the Memorandum to the Joint Committee on Human Rights from the UK Government about the Bill, click here

  

Immigration Bill

This UK Government Bill was published on 17 September 2015. Clauses 12-15 address residential tenancies.  They would create four new offences to target those landlords and agents who deliberately and repeatedly fail to comply with the right-to-rent scheme by letting to tenants subject to immigration restrictions or fail to evict tenants who they know or have reasonable cause to believe are disqualified from renting as a result of their immigration status. For a copy of the Bill, click here  For the Explanatory Notes on Clauses, click here   For the official Impact Assessment, click here For a housing lawyer’s commentary, click here The Commons Second Reading was completed on 13 October 2015. For the ILPA Information sheet on the Bill, click here For the Migrant Rights Network’s Briefing on the Bill, click here To follow the progress of the Bill, click here For the House of Commons Library Briefing on the Bill, click here

 

Housing Bill

This UK Government Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 28 May 2015 but has yet to be published. For the official outline of its content, click here The official briefing about the Queen’s Speech contains the details at pages 27-29. For that, click here For a commentary on the likely content of the Bill, click here  On 4 July 2015 the Chancellor and the Prime Minister released a joint statement indicating that their plans, “which will form part of the Housing Bill to be introduced this autumn, include steps to build discounted homes for first time buyers on all reasonable sized developments, unlock public land for hundreds of thousands of new homes and back small builders with planning changes” (emphasis added). For the statement, click here

  

Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Bill 2015

This is a Government Bill introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 7 October 2015. For a copy of the Bill, the Explanatory Notes and related official documents, click here For the final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment on the Bill, click here For the Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment on the Bill, click here For the final Equality Impact Assessment for the Bill, click here

Renting Homes (Wales) Bill
This is a Welsh Government Bill introduced in the Welsh Assembly. For a copy of the Bill, click here For the Explanatory Memorandum, click here To monitor the progress of the Bill, click here The Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee has completed its examination of the Bill and has made 37 recommendations. The Bill has now completed its Committee Stage in the Assembly (Stage 2) For the amendments that were marshalled for discussion in Committee, click here and scroll to the foot of the webpage. Stage 3 commenced on 9 October 2015. 

Housing (Amendment) Bill
This is a Bill introduced in the Assembly on 30 June 2015 by the Northern Ireland Executive. It would make provision for the better sharing of information relating to empty homes or to anti-social behaviour and provide for the registration of certain loans as statutory charges. For a copy of the Bill, click here For the explanatory memorandum (listed under ‘All associated documents and links’), click here  For a commentary on the Bill, click here The Bill has been referred to the Committee for Social Development which has responsibility for the Committee Stage of the Bill. For further details of that stage, click here . To read the evidence submitted to the Committee, click here To follow progress of the Bill, click here

  

Houses in Multiple Occupation Bill

This is a Bill introduced in the Assembly on 7 September 2015 by the Northern Ireland Executive.  It would make provision for and in connection with the licensing of houses in multiple occupation In Northern Ireland. For a copy of the Bill, click here For the explanatory memorandum, click here  To follow the progress of the Bill, click here

  

Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill

This is a Private Members Bill introduced by Karen Buck MP. It would amend the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to require that residential rented accommodation is provided and maintained in a state of fitness for human habitation. It had a First Reading on 24 June 2015 and its Second Reading is scheduled for 16 October 2015. For details on the progress of the Bill, click here For a commentary on its content, click here For the Shelter Blog on the Bill and its importance, click here

 
Local Government Finance (Tenure Information) Bill

This is a Private Members Bill introduced by Dame Angela Watkinson MP. It would amend the Local Government Finance Act 1992 to make provision for collecting information about tenure and the details of private landlords. It had a First Reading on 24 June 2015 and its Second Reading is scheduled for 30 October 2015. For details on the progress of the Bill, click here

  

Crown Tenancies Bill

This is a Private Members Bill introduced by Mark Pawsey MP. It would provide that Crown tenancies (mainly of properties owned by Government Departments) may be assured tenancies for the purposes of the Housing Act 1988, subject to certain exceptions, and would modify the assured tenancies regime in relation to certain Crown tenancies (including by provision of a new ground for possession).  It had a First Reading on 24 June 2015 and its Second Reading had been scheduled for 11 September 2015 but was objected-to and has now been put back to 6 November 2015. For a copy of the Bill, click here For the Explanatory Notes, click here  For details on the progress of the Bill, click here For the House of Commons Library Briefing note that has been prepared for the Second Reading, click here  

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NEW HOUSING CASES

R(F) v Barking & Dagenham LBC

8 October 2015

The claimant was homeless. She had no leave to remain in the UK, no recourse to public funds and no ‘live’ application for leave to remain. As a result, she was not eligible for assistance under Housing Act 1996, Part 7 (Homelessness). She was the parent of a child (J) who was living with the child’s father. Because she had no accommodation, the claimant had nowhere the child could stay with her. She sought an order to compel the council to provide her with accommodation where the child could stay, so that a family court would be able to make a shared residence order. The High Court said that there  was “a difficult but logically and legally arguable route by which the claimant may be able to bring herself within the grace of the local authority by way of reliance on J's Article 8 ECHR rights” but adjourned the claim to be heard by a family court judge alongside the application for shared residence. For the judgment, click here

  

Ferrera v Hardy

7 October 2015

A tenant claimed housing benefit to help pay her rent. She was content for the council to pay the housing benefit direct to the landlords but, because they lived abroad, the benefit was paid to an agent in the UK (Mr Ferrera). Mr Hardy had the benefit of a long outstanding court judgment against Mr Ferrera. He applied for a court order that the council pay the benefit to him – instead of the agent – in satisfaction of that debt. A judge made such an order for £7,281.20. The council applied to set that aside. The order was reduced to £650. Mr Hardy appealed but the High Court dismissed that appeal: [2013] EWHC 4164 (Ch). The Court of Appeal has dismissed Mr Hardy’s further appeal. The agent had no right to the money. The housing benefit legally belonged to the tenant. The judgment is noted on LAWTEL.

  

Oxford City Council v Mohammed Waqas Anwar

28 September 2015

The defendant owned and managed a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) that was unlicensed and failed to comply with fire safety and other requirements. Council officers found four occupants living in the house, which had broken smoke alarms, a missing fire door and locks on doors that could stop occupants escaping in the event of a fire. The house was in poor repair, with damaged bathroom tiles, a filthy shower and mouldy walls. At Oxford Magistrates' Court, the defendant pleaded guilty to being in control of an unlicensed HMO and received a fine of £2,000 for failing to obtain a licence. He also pleaded guilty to five breaches of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006 and received a separate fine of £1,250. He was also ordered to pay the council’s full costs of £1,426 35. For details of the prosecution, click here

  

Complaint against Hounslow Council

23 September 2015

Ms X was a vulnerable homeless woman fleeing domestic abuse. She complained about the way that the council dealt with her homelessness application. The council failed to provide her with accommodation while it made enquiries. It also took too long to review its decision that she was not in priority need and failed to follow the correct process for carrying out the review. Overall, it took the council 62 weeks to reach a final decision about Ms X’s application. The council also failed to respond to her complaints about what had happened. The Local Government Ombudsman recommended £1,450 compensation and a range of remedial measures. For the investigation report, click here For the council’s subsequent apology, click here

  

Bristol City Council v Adrian Hill

23 September 2015

The council obtained an injunction which prohibited the defendant from “sitting, loitering or approaching people for the purposes of begging anywhere in the City of Bristol.” On a committal application, the court was satisfied that there had been numerous breaches of the injunction. Although the individual breaches were relatively minor, they were aggravated by: the persistent nature of the breaches; the defendant's apparent reluctance to have any regard to the terms of the order; the fact that the breaches started only two days after the defendant was released from prison following committal for previous breaches; and that the defendant had already been punished for breaches of the same order which were of the same nature. He was sentenced to three months immediate imprisonment. For the judgment, click here

  

Wrekin Housing Trust v Holly Davies

14 September 2015

The trust was granted a conventional interim injunction under section 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 to restrain anti-social behaviour by the defendant tenant. On the return date, a full injunction was granted. The court was also asked to consider a schedule of over a dozen breaches of the interim injunction starting with the very date it had been granted. The court found all but two alleged breaches established to the criminal standard of proof. For the judgment, click here

  

Mossbank Homes Ltd v Julie Reece

28 August 2015

An injunction was made requiring the defendant to refrain from doing a number of acts of what would have been anti-social behaviour. On an application for committal, the court was satisfied that she had breached the injunction on 18 occasions. The judge said that the “breaches complained of are appalling behaviour and would have been greatly distressing for your neighbours and, in particular, children where you live. Your behaviour is not acceptable. The nature of the breaches found against you make it inevitable that a prison sentence must be imposed”. The sentence was 26 weeks imprisonment “but because this is your first set of breaches before the court I am able, just about, to say that the prison sentence should be suspended”. For the judgment, click here

 

Newcastle City Council v Colin Martin

10 August 2015

The council obtained an anti-social behaviour injunction containing an exclusion zone. The defendant breached the order and was sentenced to imprisonment for contempt. On his release, he was reminded by the probation officer that the injunction was still in force. He immediately breached the order again, by entering the exclusion zone on two occasions. He was sentenced to three months immediate imprisonment. For the judgment, click here

 

Isis Housing v Michael Burn

23 July 2015

The defendant was subject to an anti-social behaviour injunction. He breached it and was made subject to a suspended sentence of six weeks imprisonment. On a further committal application, the court was satisfied that there had been a further breach. The suspended sentence was activated and a further two week sentence of imprisonment was imposed for the further breach. For the judgment, click here

 

 
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HOUSING LAW CONSULTATIONS   

Renting Social Housing

On 9 October 2015, the UK Government launched a consultation on two features of its proposals (the ‘pay to stay’ policy) for higher income tenants in social housing to pay market rents. Firstly, it proposes a system of ‘tapers’ that would tie rent levels more closely to income. Secondly, it asks for views on the potential administration costs. For the consultation paper, click here Responses are due by 20 November 2015

 

NEW HOUSING LAW ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS

Recent Developments in Housing Law Jan Luba QC & Nic Madge [2015] October issue of Legal Action magazine. Available in print and on-line for Legal Action subscribers. To read the article on-line, click here  For back-issues of this series of articles, click here

Landlords - discriminate at your peril Russell James and Catherine Casserley [2015] 19 Landlord & Tenant Review 177

The Immigration Act 2014: "Not on the list you're not coming in; landlords forced to discriminate" Elliot Schatzberger [2015] Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 395

The damages dog and its horrible bite: statutory damages for unlawful eviction Chris Bevan [2015] Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 399

Selective licensing – challenging the consultation process Julian Sidoli del Ceno and Abigail Jackson [2015] 19 Landlord & Tenant Review 206

Defects in flat and common parts - builder's liability under s.1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 Mark Pawlowski [2015] 19 Landlord & Tenant Review 217

Recognised tenants' associations: Part 2 Rebecca Cattermole [2015] 19 Landlord & Tenant Review 201

A welcome example of a hard case making good (Arnold v Britton) Janet Bignell [2015] 19 Landlord & Tenant Review 175

Drafting after Arnold v Britton Paul Clark [2015] Conveyancer and Property Lawyer 373

Arnold v Britton - why the tenants lost Rawdon Crozier [2015] 19 Landlord & Tenant Review 209

Uncertainty of term again Kester Lees and Julia Petrenko [2015] 19 Landlord & Tenant Review 212

'Generation buy' could leave behind those in greatest housing need Stephen Holland [2015] Homeless Link Blog 7 October. To read the article, click here

DWP finally acts to end housing benefit 'maladministration' scandal Patrick Butler [2015] Guardian 6 October. To read the article, click here

Fighting Brent Council for rent in advance and a deposit for a disabled man’s flat [2015] Kate Belgrave Blog 6 October. To read the article, click here

I fear the 1% cut to my social housing rent will lead to poorer service Martin Wicks [2015] Guardian Housing Network 6 October. To read the article, click here

Universal Credit, Alternative Payment Arrangement (APAs) and Bedroom Tax [2015] Forbes Solicitors Blog 5 October. To read the article, click here

This right-to-buy deal will wreck our plans for truly affordable homes Philip Glanville [2015] Guardian Housing Network 5 October. To read the article, click here  

THE HOUSING LAW DIARY

16 October 2015         
Lime Legal’s Allocations Conference 2015 in London. For details click here

16 October 2015          

House of Commons Second Reading of the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill (see Housing Laws in the pipeline above)

30 October 2015          
House of Commons Second Reading of the Local Government Finance (Tenure Information) Bill (see Housing Laws in the pipeline above)

6 November 2015          
House of Commons Second Reading of the Crown Tenancies Bill (see Housing Laws in the pipeline above)

13 November 2015          
Lime Legal's ASB & Social Housing Conference 2015 in London. For further details click here

20 November 2015          
Close of consultation on ‘Pay to Stay’ policy details (see Housing Law Consultations, above)

 

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