Lime Legal's
Housing Law Week

General Editor: Jan Luba QC

14 January 2015 Update

HOUSING LAW NEWS

Policy Issues in Housing Law

Homelessness
On 23 December 2014, the charity CRISIS published new research from Cardiff University on homelessness among single people and couples without children. It shows that nearly 50% of single homeless people first became homeless aged 20 or younger. The median average age was 22. For a copy of the full report, click here  

On 11 December 2014, the UK Government published the latest official statistics on homelessness applications made to local councils in England. The figures cover July to September 2014. For the statistical report, click here 
For the homelessness statistics for Wales for the same period, click here  For an analysis by Shelter (Scotland) of the latest homelessness statistics in Scotland, click here  

On 8 December 2014, new research was published - based on freedom of information requests to local authorities - on the use of emergency accommodation for young people aged under 16 who run away from their homes. For a copy of the report Reaching Safe Places, click here 
Another  new report - The Door is Closed - suggests that failure by councils  in England to comply with their legal duties to protect homeless teenagers is leaving them at risk from abuse. For a copy of that report, click here 

Social housing lettings and evictions

The latest official statistics on social housing lettings in England show that, while the 270,659 lettings by housing associations in 2013/14 were more than double those made by councils (126,238), there was a small increase in the number of local authority lettings. For the full figures, click here  

Local authorities have reported that in 2013-14 court bailiffs carried out 6,870 evictions from their properties - an increase of 12% compared to 2012-13. For the full local authority housing statistics for the year ending March 2014, click here  


Housing & anti-social behaviour

On 12 January 2015 the Secure Tenancies (Absolute Ground for Possession for Antisocial
Behaviour) (Review Procedure) (Wales) Regulations 2014 came into force. They detail the procedure to be followed if the landlord of a secure tenant of a dwelling in Wales gives notice of intention to use the new mandatory ground for possession and the tenant seeks a review. For a copy of the regulations, click here  

Private renting
In early January 2015, the organisation CIVITAS published a discussion paper on The Future of Private Renting: Shaping a fairer market for tenants and taxpayers. For a copy, click here  

On 30 December 2014 the House of Commons Library published an updated briefing note relating to retaliatory ('revenge') eviction and evidence around the extent to which it occurs. The note reviews the recent measures to legislate to tackle the problem. For a copy, click here 
 Earlier, on 15 December 2014, the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Private Rented Sector had published its report on tackling retaliatory evictions. For a copy of that report, click here  

On 23 December 2014, the National Housing Federation published findings from a YouGov poll showing that around one in 12 private renters (8%) struggle to afford their rent every time it’s due – the equivalent of over 700,000 people. For more details, click here 
 

On 22 December 2014, Citizens Advice launched a new report which shows that, while private tenants do have statutory rights to a safe home in good repair, they face substantial barriers to having these rights upheld in practice. For a copy of the report, click here 
 

Based on information obtained from the Ministry of Justice (after a ruling from the Information Commissioner) in December 2014, the Guardian newspaper and Environmental Health News jointly published an alphabetical dataset of companies convicted of housing-related offences. For the background detail, click here
and here For the full dataset, click here   

On 4 December 2014, the Housing Minister provided a table of results for adjudication of disputes between private landlords and tenants over tenancy deposits undertaken by the various tenancy deposit protection agencies. For the table, click here 

The initial introduction of immigration status checks for prospective tenants on 1 December 2014 is being monitored by Movement Against Xenophobia. It has initiated a coalition that has designed a joint survey to monitor the scheme and to assess the impact on tenants and landlords. For further details, click here 
 

Housing Benefit
On 5 January 2015, the Valuation Office published the latest updated official list of local reference rents, listed by broad rental market areas and property size. For the details, click here  

On 18 December 2014, the DWP published the latest data on the likely impact of making direct payments to social housing tenants of their benefits paid to meet housing costs. For a copy of Direct Payment Demonstration Projects: The longitudinal survey of tenants and other research reports on the ‘pilot’ projects, click here
 

‘Bedroom Tax’
On 8 January 2015 the National Housing Federation published their final report on the impact of the ‘bedroom tax’ and other welfare reforms on housing associations and their tenants. For a copy, click here   

On the same day, the Wales Audit Office published its report on the impact of the ‘bedroom tax’ and welfare reform changes on social housing tenants in Wales. For a copy, click here 

On 30 December 2014 the House of Commons Library published an updated briefing note on the fate of the Affordable Homes Bill - which was intended to introduce three new exemptions from the ‘bedroom tax’. For a copy, click here 
 

On 29 December 2014 the House of Commons Library published an updated version of its ‘bedroom tax’ briefing note providing information on who is affected, summarising a selection of legal challenges and discussing responses by landlords and tenants. For a copy, click here 
 

On 15 December 2014 the House of Commons Library published an updated version of its ‘bedroom tax’ briefing note summarising key findings of studies into the impact of the ‘bedroom tax’. For a copy, click here 
 

On 12 December 2014 the DWP issued a Housing Benefit Urgent Bulletin (HB U6/2014) covering two Upper Tribunal decisions from Scotland (CSH/41/14 and CSH/42/14) on the ‘bedroom tax’. For a copy of the Bulletin, click here
  For commentary on the two decisions, and on the Bulletin, click here  

Discretionary housing payments
On 19 December 2014 the UK Government released the latest official statistics on local authorities' use of Discretionary Housing Payment funds. They cover the first six months of the 2014/15 financial year and suggest that the majority of councils were underspending on DHPs. For the figures, click here  For a commentary on the figures, click here  

Shared ownership
On 15 December 2014 the Orbit Group and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) released a report exploring how an overhaul of shared ownership could double supply to 30,000 homes. For a copy of the report, click here  

Long leases
The Competition and Markets Authority has published the findings and recommendations from its study into the residential property management services sector in England and Wales. For a copy, click here  

Social Housing
The National Housing Federation has updated its guidance in relation to consumer credit authorisation which sets out what housing associations need to know about the application of the updated consumer credit legislation and the change of regulator. For a copy of the guidance note, click here     
 

Housing Laws in the Pipeline  

Consumer Rights Bill
This is a government bill that relates to housing by: (1) repealing and replacing laws dealing with unfair terms in tenancy agreements and other contracts; and (2) requiring letting agents to publish their fees. For more details about the bill and its progress, click here  The bill has completed its House of Lords stages and the consideration of Lords Amendments by the House of Commons took place on 12  January 2015.The Lords Amendments included provisions for the enforcement of the proposed new obligations on letting agents. For the Lords Amendments, click here  For a House of Commons Library briefing paper on the amendments click here  

Deregulation Bill

This is a government bill that relates to housing by: (1) reducing the qualifying period for right to buy; (2) removing the power to require preparation of housing strategies; and (3) amending the law on tenancy deposits. The bill has completed its House of Lords Committee Stage and a date for Report Stage has yet to be fixed. For more details about the bill and its progress, click here  For the amendment designed to insert provisions relating to retaliatory eviction into the Bill, click here 

NEW HOUSING LAW CASES

Birmingham City Council v Satinder Kholi
7 January 2015
The defendant regularly played loud music in her house and garden. The council served abatement notices requiring her to stop the nuisance. Between September 2013 and August 2014 council officers made three seizures of audio equipment at her home. At Birmingham Magistrates’ Court she was found guilty of three offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, in a second successful prosecution. She was fined £400 with costs of £1,757 and a £40 victim surcharge. For details of the prosecution, click here  

Health & Safety Executive v Matthew Congdon
19 December 2014
The defendant, a director of Coastal Plumbing and Heating Ltd, claimed to be on the Gas Safe Register long after his registration had expired. He undertook a number of landlords’ gas safety checks for a managing agent, making them believe that he was a member of the Gas Safe Register. At Bodmin Magistrates’ Court, he pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and a single breach of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was fined a total of £5,000 with costs of £418 and £700 compensation. For details of the prosecution, click here  

Burgess v Director of Housing
17 December 2014
The claimant and her teenage son lived in public sector housing in Australia. She was a drug addict. Following execution of search warrants, she was convicted of trafficking heroin. On release from prison she returned to the property, removed squatters from it, redecorated it and kept off drugs. The Director obtained an outright order for possession. As soon as it was received, an application was made for a warrant to execute it. The claimant sought judicial review of the decision to enforce the order. The claim was allowed by the Supreme Court of Victoria. The Director had failed to consider the claimant’s health, her well-being and her human rights (and those of her son) before deciding whether to apply for the warrant. For the judgment, click here  

P (a child)
16 December 2014
A child aged 5 had been in foster care for over two years. He was ready to re-join his parents but they had no home in which they could live together. Their local housing authority was Greenwich council (RBG). In litigation concerned with the child’s welfare, the judge said the evidence suggested that “there has been a complete and utter failure of the RBG to meet its responsibilities to provide housing to this family or even allow them to apply as a family such that these parents are prevented from bringing to an end the 2 ½ years (half of his life) that P has spent as a 'looked after' child. Indeed the information that I have received suggests that the RBG has acted in bad faith and has sought to engineer a situation in which they would be freed of the obligations I might impose…”. She adjourned the hearing so that a senior RBG housing officer could attend. That produced a council nomination to a housing association and a tenancy was accepted. The judge said: “this family was only ever going to be top of the list when they were recognised as an emergency and it had taken my order that he attend a hearing for them to be so recognised. That is not an acceptable way of working by public authorities in my view”. For the judgment, click here  

Barnet LBC v Steven Gregory
16 December 2014
In April 2014, the council let a flat to the defendant. Within weeks he had advertised for, and found, a sub-tenant willing to pay £600 a month. He moved out but continued to claim housing benefit. On a guilty plea at Willesden Magistrates’ Court, he was sentenced to 8 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, required to undertake a 12 month supervision order, ordered to pay £100 towards the council’s costs and made liable for an £80 victim surcharge. For more details of the prosecution, click here  

Charalambous v Ng
16 December 2014
Tenants took a one year tenancy of a flat expiring in August 2003. They paid a deposit of £1,560. The tenancy was renewed in August 2003 and again in August 2004, in each case for a further year. Under each agreement the same deposit was required to be paid. No further money actually changed hands. Instead, the original deposit was carried over and credited against the renewed tenancy. When the last of the tenancies came to an end in August 2005, a statutory periodic tenancy arose under the Housing Act 1988. Seven years later, the landlady served a section 21 notice. In the possession claim, the tenants said that the notice could not be valid because the landlord had not complied with the tenancy deposit protection provisions in Housing Act 2004 section 215. The Court of Appeal held that section 215(1)(a) was expressed in the present tense. If the deposit was not currently protected (and it was not) no section 21 notice could validly be given. For the judgment, click here 
 

Thanet Council v Rudolph Pink
16 December 2014
The council had designated certain parts of its district as a selective licensing area. The defendant was a private landlord who rented-out homes in the area. He failed to obtain a licence. On a first offence, he was fined £15,000. The council brought a prosecution in relation to a second property for which he had no licence. At Canterbury Magistrates’ Court he was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £120 costs and a victim surcharge of £120. 
 

Northern Ireland Housing Executive v Gary Campion
12 December 2014
The defendant was a tenant of social housing. He sub-let the house for £350 a month but continued to claim another £250 a month in housing benefit towards his own rent. The income enabled him to move into more expensive accommodation elsewhere. Belfast Magistrates' Court imposed a sentence of three months imprisonment, suspended for a year. For more details of the prosecution, click here 


R(Regas) v Enfield LBC
11 December 2014
The council decided in April 2014 and again in November 2014 to extend selective licensing of private landlords to all properties in its borough and to require all HMOs to be licensed. The claimant, a private landlord, sought judicial review. The High Court held that the April 2014 decision was flawed because it was based on a consultation that only involved those in the borough and not those in adjacent areas who were likely to be affected. The November 2014 decision was flawed because an insufficient time had been allowed for consultation responses. In those circumstances, the additional requirements could not be imposed based on either decision. For the judgment, click here  


Aquilina v Malta
11 December 2014
The applicant owned a property let to longstanding tenants. They enjoyed statutory security of tenure and paid a protected rent of less than 5% of their income. The applicant could not recover possession or increase the rent. The restrictions had been lifted for new tenancies in 1995, the country had no housing shortage, and less than 2% of the population sought social housing. The European Court of Human Rights held that in the circumstances the continued application of the security and rent control provisions was such a degree of control over the applicant’s property as to amount to an infringement of his human rights under Article 1 of Protocol 1. For the judgment, click here  


Health & Safety Executive v Barclay Ltd
10 December 2014
The defendant company was the private landlord of a number of properties in respect of which it failed to carry out annual gas safety inspections.  At Westminster Magistrates’ Court it was fined a total of £6,500 and ordered to pay £1,822 in costs after admitting two breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and a charge of non-compliance with an enforcement notice. For details of the prosecution, click here  


Health & Safety Executive v Keith Downie
9 December 2014
The defendant had never been Gas Safe registered and was not competent to carry out gas safety certification work. He supplied fraudulent gas safety records to the landlords of at least three properties in the Darlington area between February and May 2012. At Darlington Magistrates’ Court he pleaded guilty to six breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 – three each of sections 3(2) and 33(1)(m). He was sentenced to 16 weeks imprisonment (suspended for 12 months), ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work and required to pay £500 costs. For details of the prosecution, click here  


R(Turley) v Wandsworth LBC

8 December 2014
The council granted a secure tenancy of a flat (before 1 April 2012 when succession rules for secure tenancies changed). The tenant died. He had had an on-off relationship with the claimant and they had four children. They were not married. After a period of separation, they lived together again in the flat for only three months prior to his death. The claimant could not fulfil the 12 month rule contained in Housing Act 1985 section 87(b). She complained of unlawful discrimination because she was treated differently from a spouse or civil partner who was not subject to that rule. The High Court dismissed her claim. The rule did discriminate but it had an objective and reasonable justification. For the judgment, click here 


Hillingdon LBC v Shalini Largey
and McKane Holdings
8 December 2014
The defendants were prosecuted as part of the council’s strategy to tackle unauthorised “beds in shed” in its district. At Uxbridge Magistrates' Court the first defendant was fined £18,000 with costs of £2,505 after pleading guilty to failing to comply with an enforcement notice requiring her to cease the illegal use of an outbuilding. The council demolished the outbuilding and is seeking to recover the costs of that work. The second defendant company was fined nearly £15,000 for similar offences relating to another illegal outbuilding.
For details of the prosecutions, click here  

R(C) v Buckinghamshire CC
8 December 2014
The claimant – aged 14 - wanted to establish that the council had been accommodating him for the purposes of Children Act 1989. He had lived with his mother (and younger brother) in her flat. In 2009 she left the flat and they all moved to live with the maternal grandparents in their house. In March 2010 the mother left the claimant and his brother with the grandparents and returned to live in her flat with her then partner. The council was content for the children to remain with the grandparents but would have intervened had they returned to the mother. The High Court held (see [2014] EWHC 4072 (admin)) that the circumstances had not triggered a duty under section 20 and the arrangement for the children to live with the grandparents had been a private one rather than one arranged by the council. 


Brighton & Hove CC
v Antony Paul Martin
5 December 2014
The defendant was a private landlord of an unlicensed HMO. At Eastbourne Magistrates' Court he pleaded guilty to managing an HMO without the required licence and to four breaches of HMO management regulations (failure to ensure that that the internal structure in each part of the HMO that is used as living accommodation is maintained in good repair; failure to ensure that all means of escape in case of fire were kept free from obstruction and maintained in good repair; failure to ensure that the yard was maintained in repair, good order and clean condition; and failure to ensure that his name, address and telephone contact number - as the person managing the HMO - was displayed at the property). He was fined £2,000 for the failure to licence and £1,000 for each of the four management offences with costs of £600 and a £120 victim surcharge.  


Ealing LBC v Bhupinder Singh Gill
5 December 2014
The defendant was a private landlord. Without planning consent, he was using his property as five self-contained flats and its garden outbuilding as another flat.  The flats could have been used to accommodate more than 12 people. An enforcement notice required him to remove all en-suite kitchens, internal partitions and the doors being used to separate the flats. An appeal against the notice failed but he still did not comply.  At Isleworth Crown Court he was made subject to a conditional discharge for 18 months and ordered to pay £4,765.57 towards costs and a £15 victim surcharge. The court also made a confiscation order for £66,325 in respect of the rent he had collected. He was given six months to pay with 18 months in prison if he defaults. For more details of the prosecution, click here  


Crossfield v Jackson
4 December 2014
The defendant was a council tenant. She exercised the right to buy her flat. The claimant was her brother. He paid the legal fees, cleared the arrears and paid the purchase price. The defendant became the legal owner but the parties entered into a deed of trust by which the claimant became the beneficial owner. Later, the defendant said that the arrangement had been an interest free loan or that, if the deed was genuine, it had been procured by undue influence. A judge rejected her case on its facts. The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal. For the judgment, click here  


Newham LBC v Priptal Sira and Anjum Rashid (of AJ Properties Ltd)
3 December 2014
The first defendant was a private landlord. The second defendant was his agent. They let and managed a house which had been converted into an HMO without planning consent. A council inspection found no working fire detectors, mould on the walls and dirty communal areas. At Thames Magistrates’ Court, the first defendant was convicted of 12 breaches of housing regulations and was also found guilty of one planning regulation breach. He was fined £2,700 with costs of £3,000 and a £40 victim surcharge. The second defendant was convicted of 13 offences relating to managing an HMO. He was fined a total of £32,500 with £1,321.30 costs and a £120 victim surcharge. For more details of the prosecution, click here  


Yianni v Shakeshaft

3 December 2014
The claimant owned a flat. From 2007 it was subject to intermittent flooding of the bathroom caused by water coming from the flat above. That flat was owned by the defendants but let to tenants. In June 2011 the cause of the flooding was traced to a fracture of a waste pipe and remedied. The claimant sued in nuisance for damages. A judge rejected her claim holding that the defendants had acted reasonably in the circumstances in their efforts to detect and rectify the problem. The Court of Appeal dismissed a renewed application for permission to appeal ([2014] EWCA Civ 1639) as it had no real prospect of success.


Oxford CC v Juan Zaide Avila
1 December 2014
The defendant was a private landlord renting out an HMO that was unlicensed and in a poor state of repair. At Oxford Magistrates' Court he pleaded guilty to being in control of an unlicensed HMO and was fined £7,500. He also pleaded guilty to five breaches of the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006. He was fined £500 per offence for four offences relating to disrepair and £2,000 for a lack of fire detection equipment and fire doors. He was ordered to pay costs of £1,124. For more details of the prosecution, click here 
 

 
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HOUSING LAW CONSULTATIONS  

On 15 December 2014, the UK Government launched a consultation about its Starter Homes proposals (designed to enable 100,000 homes to be built over the next 5 years so that more young people can buy their own home) and seeks views about the proposed planning policy change and its implementation. Responses are sought by 9 February 2015. For a copy of the consultation paper, click here  

On 19 December 2014, the Welsh Government launched a consultation exercise about: (1) the designation of a single licensing authority for Wales to manage the registration of private rented sector properties and the licensing of landlords and agents under Part 1 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014; and (2) the requirement of the designated licensing authority to stipulate the training requirements necessary for a licence for landlords and agents licensed under the Act and to be given the power to approve trainers and training courses. Responses are sought by 6 February 2015. For a copy of the consultation paper, click here 

 

NEW HOUSING LAW ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS

Ringing up an eviction bill (commentary on Loveridge v Lambeth) Michael Paget [2015] Inside Housing 7 January. To read the article, click here   

Shared blame
(commentary on Greenwich v Tuitt) Matthew Lake [2015] Inside Housing 7 January. To read the article, click here 

Recent developments in housing law
Jan Luba QC and Nic Madge [2014] Legal Action December 2014/January 2015 Issue. To read the article, click here (subscription only)  

Housing repairs update 2014
Beatrice Prevatt [2014] Legal Action December 2014/January 2015 Issue. To read the article, click here (subscription only)  

Article 8 defences to possession claims
Toby Boncey and Tricia Hemans [2014] 226 In-House Lawyer December/January issue pp34-36.

Challenging unlawful allocation policies post-Localism Act 2011 Eleanor Solomon [2015] 18 Journal of Housing Law p16

When are the best interests and welfare of the child relevant and how can they be used in housing-related claims? Part 2: application Joseph Markus [2015] 18 Journal of Housing Law p10

The five key housing moments of 2014
Hannah Fearn [2014] Guardian Housing Network 29 December. To read the article, click here  

History repeating?
(comment on Dacorum BC v Sims) Andrew Arden QC and Clare Cullen [2014] LAG Housing law blog 4 December.  To read the article, click here  

A proportionate response
(comment on Dacorum BC v Sims) Nicholas Dobson [2014] 164 New Law Journal No.7633 pp12-13. To read the article, click here  

Six ways to reduce evictions
Mark Walker [2014] Guardian Housing Network 11 December. To read the article, click here 

Supreme Court homeless appeals Giles Peaker [2014] Law Society’s Gazette 16 December. To read the article, click here  

Landlord licensing thrown into doubt by ruling
(comment on the Regas v Enfield case) Tom Wall [2015] Environmental Health News 7 January. To read the article, click here 

Anti-social behaviour: getting it right
Angela Forshaw [2014] Inside Housing12 December. To read the article, click here 
 

THE HOUSING LAW DIARY

26 January 2015  
Supreme Court to consider rules on service charge clauses in the appeal Arnold v Britton

29 January 2015  
Supreme Court to consider rules on intentional homelessness in the appeal Haile v Waltham Forest LBC

6 February 2015    
Closing date of consultation on landlord licensing in Wales (see above)

9 February 2015   
Closing date of consultation on Starter Homes proposals (see above)

 

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