2nd November 2016
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HOUSING LAW NEWS & POLICY ISSUES

Homelessness Reduction Bill
On 28 October 2016 the Homelessness Reduction Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons. For full details of progress of the Bill and for documents related to the Bill, see Housing Laws in the Pipeline. For articles related to the Bill, see Housing Law Articles.

Affordable housing
On 30 October 2016 the Telegraph reported that ministers plan to offer help to build 100,000 ready-made (modular) homes to try to solve the housing crisis. According to the report, it is understood that a Government white paper, expected to be published next month, will include measures to encourage banks to lend to small firms that build houses off-site and then deliver them to their destination. For the report, click here

Private rental prices – September 2016

On 28 October 2016 the Office for National Statistics published the index of private housing rental prices in Great Britain for September 2016. Private rental prices paid by tenants rose by 2.3% in the 12 months to September 2016; this is unchanged compared with the year to August 2016. Private rental prices grew by 2.5% in England, fell by 0.1% in Scotland and grew by 0.1% in Wales in the 12 months to September 2016. Rental prices increased in all the English regions over the year to September 2016, with rental prices increasing the most in the South East (3.5%). For the full figures, click here

Homelessness – comparison of duties in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
On 28 October 2016 the House of Commons Library published a research briefing comparing the legal duties to tackle homelessness and assist people presenting as homeless in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The paper notes that in this devolved policy area, increasingly divergent approaches are emerging from the four nations. To read the briefing, click here

Homelessness – Housing First service in England
On 31 October 2016 Homelessness Link launched the key principles for providing Housing First services in England. Housing First is ‘an evidence-based approach to successfully supporting homeless people with high needs and histories of entrenched or repeat homelessness to live in their own homes’. To read more about the service, click here For the key principles for designing and delivering Housing First in England, click here

Autumn Statement submission by ARCH and NFA

On 25 October 2016 ARCH (the Association of Retained Council Housing) and the National Federation of ALMOs published their joint Autumn Statement submission. They ask that the Government should: encourage and support councils to supply homes for sale and market rent, not only traditional council housing; reconsider social rent reduction plans and debt caps to enable councils to finance much more new building from their HRAs; and make sure that agreements to replace council higher-value homes give councils the resources and flexibility to deliver at least one-for-one replacement (two-for-one in London). To read the submission, click here

Mandatory licensing of flats
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, while welcoming new proposed rules covering houses in multiple occupation, has raised concerns that plans to introduce mandatory licensing for poorly converted flats have been shelved. Bob Mayho, CIEH principal policy officer, said: ‘we wish the government ha[d] included mandatory licensing for poorly converted blocks and had reduced the number of persons required for HMO status down from five.’ For more details, click here

Houses in multiple occupation – interim management order
On 26 October 2016 Environmental Health News reported that Waltham Forest Council had used an interim management order to take over day-to-day management of an overcrowded HMO due to the landlord’s ‘complete refusal to operate responsibly’. The move was described as a ‘last resort’ by the council having already revoked the property’s HMO licence and prosecuted the landlord earlier this year. To read the report, click here To read the press release by Waltham Forest Council, click here

Help to Buy – Wales
On 26 October 2016 the Welsh Government released latest statistics for its Help to Buy scheme. Between 1 July and 30 September 2016, 404 property purchases were completed using a Welsh Government shared equity loan. This brings the total number of purchases under the scheme since its introduction on 2 January 2014 to 4,064. At 30 September 2016 there were 637 applications for loans still outstanding. Between 1 July and 30 September, the total value of these equity loans was £14.9 million, with the value of the properties purchased totalling £75.3 million. For the full figures, click here

Welfare benefits cap – effect on tenants’ families
On 1 November 2016 the Chartered Institute of Housing published new research which indicates that a ‘new cap on overall benefits will reduce incomes of more than 116,000 families across the social rented and private rented sectors, the vast majority of which are two and three-children families, by up to £115 a week’. The lower overall benefit cap comes into effect from 7 November 2016 and limits the total amount of benefits a household can receive from £26,000 to £23,000 and £20,000 outside of London. To read the research paper, click here To read the CIH’s accompanying statement, click here

Housing shortage and young people
On 27 October 2016 the House of Lords Library published a research briefing presenting an overview of housing in the UK, including statistics on housing supply and demand. It considers some of the causes of the housing shortage and explores recent reports that have sought to identify the impact of the housing market on young people. It concludes with a brief summary of government policy in this area. To read the briefing, click here

Housing and planning – the ‘need for devolution of powers’
On 31 October 2016 the Institute of Public Policy Research North published a report reviewing the housing powers devolved, and successes achieved to date and makes the case for a more ambitious devolution agenda capable of delivering on the housing needs of every locality across the country. The report concludes that there is needed a two-way process in which newly created combined authorities, under mayoral leadership, commit to ambitious long-term housebuilding targets in return for an expanded menu of powers and resources transferred down from central government. To read the summary, click here To read the full report, click here To read coverage of the report in the Guardian, click here

Property litigation procedure – Scotland
The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Housing and Property Chamber (Procedure) Regulations 2016 will come into force in Scotland on 1 December 2016. Schedule 1 to these Regulations sets out the rules of procedure in respect of proceedings before the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Housing and Property Chamber. Part 2 of schedule 1 covers proceedings in respect of homeowners and Part 3 covers proceedings in respect of the private rented housing sector, including landlord applications and assured tenancy references. Schedule 2 contains forms to be used for certain purposes of the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 and the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988, and for the purpose of proceedings before the First-tier Tribunal. For the regulations, click here

Private letting – Scotland

The Tenant Information Packs (Assured Tenancies) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2016 will come into force on 1 December 2016. The order substitutes a new schedule in the Tenant Information Packs (Assured Tenancies) (Scotland) Order 2013. That schedule sets out a Tenant Information Pack that persons who are to be landlords under assured tenancies are to provide to persons who are to be their tenants. The changes as compared to the existing Tenant Information Pack are all concerned with reflecting that the responsibility for certain matters passes to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland Housing and Property Chamber with effect from 1 December 2016 (see above). For the order, click here

Private renting – gas safety
Gas Safe Register, the gas registration body, has reported that unsafe gas appliances have been found in a fifth (21%) of privately-rented accommodation, leading Gas Safe Register to believe that more than 2.7million people could be living in dangerous housing. Investigation data spanning five years by the body reveals that gas heaters are the most dangerous appliance in rented accommodation, accounting for the majority (59%) of all unsafe appliances. For more information, click here

Community protection notices
On 31 October 2016 the Manifesto Club published a report analysing the use of community protection notices (CPNs), introduced by Part 4 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Section 43 of the Act empowers a local authority to issue a CPN to an individual or body if satisfied on reasonable grounds that (a) the conduct of the individual or body is having a detrimental effect, of a persistent or continuing nature, on the quality of life of those in the locality, and (b) the conduct is unreasonable. The new report says that nearly 4,000 CPNs and over 9,500 CPN warnings were issued between October 2014 and October 2015. To read the report, click here. For Part 4 of the 2014 Act, click here

Right to Buy – Wales
On 31 October 2016 BBC News reported that Powys Council is set to apply to the Welsh Government to suspend the right to buy scheme for five years. Swansea, Carmarthenshire and Anglesey councils have already been given the power to halt sales. For the news report, click here

HOUSING LAWS IN THE PIPELINE

Homelessness Reduction Bill
This is a Private Members’ Bill introduced in the House of Commons by Bob Blackman which seeks to amend the Housing Act 1996 to make provision about measures for reducing homelessness; and for connected purposes. The Bill has won the support of the Government; for the DCLG press statement in that respect, click here The Bill received its Second Reading on 28 October 2016; for a record of the debate, click here For the Bill as introduced, click here For progress of the Bill, click here The House of Commons Select Committee for Communities and Local Government has published a report following its pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill; to read the report, click here For the Law Society’s parliamentary briefing on the Bill, click here

Renters’ Rights Bill
This is a Private Members’ Bill introduced in the House of Lords by Baroness Grender which seeks to provide tenants and prospective tenants with certain rights, including affording access to a local housing authority’s database of rogue landlords, ending certain letting fees and providing for certain mandatory electrical safety checks. The Bill had its Second Reading on 10 June 2016 and will enter the Committee stage on a date to be announced. For the Bill as introduced, click here To read debates at all stages of the Bill’s passage, click here For progress of the Bill, click here

Crown Tenancies Bill

This is a Private Members’ Bill introduced in the House of Commons by Wendy Morton which seeks to provide that ​Crown tenancies may be assured tenancies for the purposes of the Housing Act 1988, subject to certain exceptions; to modify the assured tenancies regime in relation to certain Crown tenancies; and for connected purposes. The Bill is being prepared for publication and is due to have its Second Reading on 16 December 2016. For progress of the Bill, click here

Housing (Tenants' Rights) Bill
This is a Private Members’ Bill introduced by Caroline Lucas which seeks to establish a Living Rent Commission to conduct research into, and provide proposals for, reducing rent levels in the private rented sector and improving terms and conditions for tenants; to require the Secretary of State to report the recommendations of the Commission to Parliament; to introduce measures to promote long-term tenancies; to establish a mandatory national register of ​landlords and lettings agents; to prohibit the charging of letting or management agent fees to tenants; and for connected purposes. The Bill is being prepared for publication and is due to have its Second Reading on 20 January 2017. For progress of the Bill, click here

NEW HOUSING CASES

Estate temporarily saved from demolition following legal challenge
The Cressingham Gardens Estate in the London Borough of Lambeth has been temporarily saved following a court order preventing Lambeth Council from demolishing the estate until the conclusion of legal proceedings. The order, which was agreed by the council, also prohibits the council from beginning possession proceedings and compulsory purchases.

This latest legal challenge against the demolition of the estate has been brought by a resident of the estate, represented by law firm Leigh Day. A judicial review hearing in his case will be held at the High Court on 15 to 17 November 2016. The grounds for the judicial review application include an alleged failure by Lambeth Council to follow its own criteria as to the net value of demolition, as well as a breach of the applicant’s right to property.

This is the second judicial review relating to the estate following the launch of Lambeth Council’s regeneration programme in 2012. In the first judicial review in November 2015 the High Court ruled that Lambeth Council had acted unlawfully when it removed options for refurbishment from its public consultation on the future of the estate. This prompted a re-consultation earlier this year, which resulted in another decision in March 2016 to demolish the estate.

For more details, visit the Leigh Day website here

Heavy fine for HMO and safety offences
The landlord of an overcrowded flat, which lacked proper fire precautions and had a dangerous boiler, and two companies of which he was a director have been fined £162,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,498 by Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court after being found guilty of failing to license a House in Multiple Occupation and 22 further charges under HMO Management Regulations.

The Defendants were each charged after Environmental Health Officers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea inspected the Hyde Park flat following a complaint from a tenant.

The property was one of three flats in a Grade II listed building and had been poorly converted. Officers found that the relevant flat was being let to more than 18 tenants. The large flat had been subdivided into small units using flimsy plasterboard partitions and comprised 14 rooms. The tenants were from a variety of backgrounds and occupations and were paying an average rent of £800 per month.

There were no fire doors, smoke detectors or alarms in the overcrowded flat which had one kitchen shared by all the tenants. The gas boiler had not been serviced and had a cracked flue which was dangerous. Due to the way the flat had been subdivided some rooms had no electric light fittings in the ceiling which led to extension leads and trailing wires running through the property.

Conditions witnessed posed such a risk to safety that Environmental Health Officers issued a Prohibition Order to prevent further use of the flat.

For more details, visit the website of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea here

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HOUSING LAW CONSULTATIONS

Houses in multiple occupation and residential property licensing
The DCLG has opened a consultation on extending the mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation. The consultation seeks views on the Government’s proposed details for: the mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation; the assumptions made in its associated impact assessment; national room sizes; the fit and proper person test; refuse disposal facilities; and purpose built student accommodation. For the consultation document, click here To respond online, click here  The consultation closes on 13 December 2016.

HOUSING LAW ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS

Warrants for possession and suspended possession orders Carys Williams [2016] Local Government Lawyer 27 October. To read this article, click here

Gypsy and Traveller: update Chris Johnson, Dr Angus Murdoch and Marc Willers QC [2016] October issue of Legal Action. Available in print and on-line for Legal Action subscribers. For the latest issue, click here

Reducing the Homelessness Reduction Bill – Part 1 Giles Peaker [2016] Nearly Legal 25 October. To read this article, click here

Reducing the Homelessness Reduction Bill – Part 2 Giles Peaker [2016] Nearly Legal 26 October. To read this article, click here

Recent Developments in Housing Law Jan Luba QC & Nic Madge [2016] October issue of Legal Action. Available in print and on-line for Legal Action subscribers. For the latest issue, click here For back-issues, click here

Our society has lost control of housing – here's how to get it back
Alice Martin [2016] Guardian 26 October. To read this article, click here

What you can do to help rough sleepers this winter Dawn Foster [2016] Guardian 27 October. To read this article, click here

Watch out for the Lump of Subsidy Fallacy Toby Lloyd Shelter Blog 28 October. To read this article, click here

Homelessness Prevention and Evictions Steve Battersby [2016] UK Housing Professionals Forum 28 October. To read this article, click here

Homelessness can only really be tackled if people have somewhere to go Poppy Noor [2016] Guardian 28 October. To read this article, click here

Autumn Statement 2016: what is needed to help the ‘just about managing’ classes? Steve Akehurst [2016] Shelter Blog 28 October. To read this article, click here

Homelessness Reduction Bill Could Change The Way We Think About Homelessness, If The Government Funding Follows Paul Noblet [2016] Huffington Post 30 October. To read this article, click here

New research: give English renters control over their lives by learning from our neighbours John Bibby [2016] Shelter Blog 31 October. To read this article, click here

Time to recognize the right to life for those living in homelessness and inadequate housing Leilani Farha [2016] Open Democracy 1 November. To read this article, click here

THE HOUSING LAW DIARY
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