Housing and poverty
On 7 December 2016 the New Policy Institute, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, published Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion (MPSE) 2016 which brings together the most recent data in order to “present a comprehensive picture of poverty in the UK”. The report states that: the number of private renters in poverty has doubled over the last decade; there are now as many private renters in poverty as social renters; rent accounts for at least a third of income for more than 70% of private renters in poverty; the number of households accepted as homeless and the number of households in temporary accommodation have both increased for five years in a row; and evictions by landlords are near a ten-year high. To read the report, click here To read a summary, click here

Rough sleeping
On 12 December 2016 Crisis reported that new research by the homelessness charity had found an increase in spikes, noise pollution and other hostile measures in public spaces. Over 450 people were surveyed in homelessness services across England and Wales, with six in ten reporting an increase over the last year in defensive architecture – such as anti-homeless spikes, curved or segregated benches and gated doorways – that makes sitting or lying down impossible. Over the same period, 35% reported they were unable to find anywhere to sleep or rest as a result. For more details, click here For coverage of the issue in The Guardian, click here

Right to Buy sales
On 8 December 2016 the DCLG published statistics on the number of sales of dwellings under the Right to Buy scheme in England between July and September 2016. Local authorities sold an estimated 2,856 dwellings (a decrease of 3% from the 2,941 sold in the same quarter in 2015). Local authorities in London sold an estimated 718 dwellings (a decrease of 21% from the 912 sold in the same quarter in 2015). Local authorities in London accounted for 25% of sales in the quarter (6% lower than the 31% recorded in the same quarter last year). For the full statistics, click here

Homelessness – House of Commons debate
On 14 December 2016 there will be an Opposition day debate on the subject of homelessness. The House of Commons Library has created a webpage which brings together relevant Library briefings on homelessness and some recent media comment. To access the webpage, click here

Private rented sector – tenant references and credit checks
On 7 December 2016 the RICS published a Rented Sector Policy Paper in which the Institution recommended that the Government should create a central database of householders in rented properties as an alternative to the current system of tenant-funded credit and reference checks. According to the paper, the proposed database would hold landlord references and past rental payment histories for up to 10 million householders currently living in private- and social-rented properties across England. To read the paper, click here For the RICS press release, click here

Supply of privately rented properties
On 12 December 2016 the House of Commons Library published analysis of Government policy, and its impact, to increase the supply of privately rented properties in England, as well as analysis of policy proposals from those within the sector, both from large-scale institutional investors and from small-scale individual landlords. To read the briefing, click here

Holiday letting: effect on long-term letting
On 9 December 2016 the Residential Landlords Association reported on oral questions asked in the House of Lords about whether the Government intends to give powers to local authorities to prevent the further loss of long-term homes resulting from increases in short-term holiday lets. For the Government’s response and further comments, click here

Meeting housing need – Sheffield area
On 12 December 2016 Local Government Lawyer reported that 30 housing associations, nine local authorities and four arms-length management organisations (ALMOs) in the Sheffield City Region had signed a ‘compact’ setting out their commitment to meeting housing need and creating balanced and sustainable communities in the area. For more details of the compact, click here

Gas safety – North East
A group of North East landlords have come together to share best practice within their organisations with the aim of improving gas safety in a social housing environment and driving up gas safety awareness across North East homes and communities. Gas, asset and compliance managers representing 15 social landlords with more than 200,000 homes, employing over 400 gas engineers, attend quarterly meetings to discuss and share best practice and lessons learnt. For more information about the group, click here

Litigating in the Queen’s Bench Division
On 12 December 2016 HM Courts and Tribunal Service published the Queen’s Bench Guide 2017. The Guide has been prepared for the assistance of all who practise or litigate in the Queen’s Bench Division. This, the fifth edition, incorporates changes to the structure of the Action Department, procedural changes made to the Rules, including Parts 36 (offers to settle) and 52 (appeals), and in other respects. To read the Guide, click here

Local Housing Allowance – Scotland
The Rent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Local Housing Allowance Amendments) Order 2016, which comes into force on 23 January 2017, amends the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Order 1997, the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) (Scotland) Order 1997 and the Rent Officers (Universal Credit Functions) Order 2013 to make changes to the manner in which a local housing allowance is determined. Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the 2016 Order amend the earlier orders to provide that, for dwellings in specified categories in specified broad rental market areas, the local housing allowance is as currently determined but with an uplift of 3% (subject to a maximum local housing allowance). Article 4 also amends the 2013 Order to provide that, when making a housing payment determination in respect of accommodation, a rent officer may have regard to certain local authority areas other than those adjoining the local authority area in which that accommodation is situated. For the 2016 Order, click here

Mobile home sites – Scotland
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 (Commencement No 6 and Transitional Provision) Order 2016 brings into force various provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 (“the Act”). Article 2 and the schedule appoint 1 May 2017 for the commencement of the remaining provisions in Part 5 (mobile home sites with permanent residents) of the Act.  For the 2016 Order, click here

Letting agents – Scotland
The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 (Commencement No 6 and Transitional Provision) Order 2016 also brings into force other provisions of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 (“the Act”). 31 January 2018 is the day appointed for the coming into force of the majority of the provisions in Part 4 (letting agents) of the Act. Section 44 (offence of operating as a letting agent without registration) of the Act will come into force on 31 September 2018 which gives a period of 8 months from the date the register of letting agents is established before that offence provision is in force. Article 3 ensures that the offence provision will not apply if by that date an application has been made but has not been finally determined. For the 2016 Order, click here

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 It received its Second Reading on 28 October 2016; for a record of the debate, click here The Bill entered Committee on 23 November 2016. 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 parliament 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 completed its Committee stage on 18 November 2016; for a record of the debate, click here It will enter its Report stage on a date to be announced. For the Bill as amended in Committee, 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. For the Bill as introduced, click here The Bill is due to have its Second Reading on 16 December 2016. For progress of the Bill, click here For a research briefing from the House of Commons Library providing background on 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

Gibson v Douglas [2016] EWCA Civ 1266
Mr Gibson asserted that he had been unlawfully evicted from a property in the Wirral (“the property”) by Mrs Douglas (the owner occupier of the property) and her son Mr Douglas. Mr Gibson had lived at the property for four or five years. He claimed damages against both Mrs Douglas and Mr Gibson.

The claim was heard by HHJ Wood QC sitting at Liverpool County Court. On the morning of the hearing, Mr Gibson’s claim against Mrs Douglas was compromised on the basis of a nominal payment to Mr Gibson of £5. Mr Gibson’s claims against Mr Douglas comprised a claim for damages for “playing an instrumental role” in evicting him and damages for certain possessions “appropriated or destroyed or in some other way disposed of by Mr Douglas.”

HHJ Wood QC concluded that Mr Gibson was a licensee and not a tenant.  He dismissed the claims, finding that Mr Douglas’s role had been no more than a “conduit for his mother’s wishes” and that he had not played a role such as to entitle Mr Gibson to claim damages from him. In relation to the claim regarding the possessions, the judge pointed out that there was a “woeful lack of evidence” supporting any of the special damages claimed in relation to missing items and any other damage that might attach to a claim of this nature.

Mr Gibson sought permission out of time to appeal to the Court of Appeal.  Lewison LJ gave permission “limited to the question whether a licensee may lawfully be evicted without notice.”

By the time of the appeal hearing it was accepted by the parties that Mr Gibson was a licensee and not a tenant and that it was an “excluded licence” for the purposes of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 (“the Act”) so that Mr Gibson had not been entitled to the statutory notice under the Act. 

Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division, gave the leading judgment of the Court of Appeal, dismissing the appeal. The President drew attention to HHJ Wood QC’s finding that the physical removal had been effected by the police and that Mr Douglas had not played any part in the eviction such as to entitle Mr Gibson to damages against him.   The President took the view that there was no evidence to indicate that Mr Douglas had done anything during the eviction which was capable of him being a joint tortfeasor nor on the evidence did his acting as a “conduit for his mother’s wishes” make him such.

In relation to the question of the period of notice to which a licensee was entitled, the President considered it to be clear law that where the relevant notice period had not been specified by the licence itself, a licensee was entitled, following revocation of a licence to “whatever in all the circumstances is a reasonable time to remove himself and his possessions.”  The period of notice depended on the circumstances. The President [para 21] sets out further observations on what would be reasonable in various circumstances. The court did not need to decide in this case what notice would have been reasonable but Munby P indicated that in such a case he could “well imagine that it might typically be a period measured in weeks rather than months or years.”  Further than that, the President was not prepared to go. For the full judgment click here.

Birmingham CC v Pardoe [2016] EWHC 3119 (QB), 5 December 2016
The High Court has held that s.21(7) of the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 (“the Act”), does not prevent a court which is hearing an application for an injunction under Part 1 of the Act from having regard to conduct which took place more than 6 months prior to the commencement of the Act in relation to the questions of whether anti-social behaviour within the meaning of the Act has been established and whether it is just and convenient to grant an injunction.

By section 1 of the Act, a court may grant an injunction if two conditions are satisfied:
(i) the court is satisfied, on the balance or probabilities, that the respondent has engaged or threatened to engage in anti-social behaviour (s.1(2)); and

(ii) the court considers it just and convenient to grant the injunction for the purpose of preventing the respondent from engaging in anti-social behaviour (s.1(3)).

Section 21 is headed “Saving and transitional provision”. Subsection (7) provides:
“In deciding whether to grant an injunction under section 1 a court may take account of conduct occurring up to six months before the commencement day.”

The commencement day for Part 1 of the Act was 23 March 2015, so the relevant date for the purposes of s.21(7) is 23 September 2014.

Factual Background
The respondent local authority (“Birmingham”) issued a claim for an injunction against the defendants, whom it alleged to have engaged in anti-social behaviour over many years involving the targeting of elderly and vulnerable persons and charging them excessive sums for building works which were unnecessary and/or shoddy. A schedule of incidents containing 49 allegations against one or more of the defendants was served. Interim orders having been obtained, the county court considered as a preliminary issue an application by the defendants to exclude allegations 1-27 inclusive on the basis that they were alleged to have taken place prior to 23 September 2014 so that the court was precluded from considering them at all, because of s.21(7).

The Judge dismissed the defendants’ claim based on s.21(7), holding that that subsection should not be construed to mean that the court could not consider any incident alleged to have taken place prior to 23 September 2014, as that would lead to absurd and unworkable results. He concluded that while the court could not consider such “pre-period” conduct when addressing the first condition (whether qualifying conduct had been committed) it could and should pre-period conduct in relation to whether is it just and convenient to grant an injunction.
The First Defendant appealed; the authority filed a respondent’s notice, arguing that the Judge should have held that pre-period conduct could also be considered in relation to the first condition – e.g. it may be relevant to prove that qualifying behaviour had taken place or to rebut a defence.

Decision on appeal
Holroyde J dismissed the appeal. The judge below had been correct to hold that the literal interpretation of the subsection proposed by the defendant would lead to absurd results. Section 21(7) was a transitional provision. Parliament could not have intended, by the use of such a provision, to impose so severe a limitation on the evidence the court could consider, especially given that the effect of the transitional provision would change as time passed from the commencement of the Act. It was difficult to think that Parliament intended that there would be different approaches to the relevance of past events depending on whether an application under the Act was made in 2015 or in 2020. The Court had adequate general case management powers to prevent the litigation of stale or irrelevant matters.

The judge below had been wrong, however, to hold, that pre-period conduct could only be relevant to the second condition. While the absence of any qualifying conduct after 23 September 2014 would deprive the court of jurisdiction to make an order, evidence of pre-period conduct may be relevant to proving qualifying conduct such as by way of similar fact evidence to prove identity, or to rebut a defence e.g. of accident or innocent error.

Summary by Jonathan Manning of Arden Chambers who appeared for Birmingham City Council. For the full judgment click here.

Regulations and policy supporting the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016
The Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 creates the new private residential tenancy which will replace current assured and short assured tenancies. The purpose of the new tenancy is to improve security of tenure for tenants balanced with appropriate safeguards for landlords, lenders and investors. This consultation seeks views on the secondary legislation and further policy to support the new tenancy. The policy proposals outlined in this document are complimentary to the provisions in the 2016 Act. For the consultation document, click here To respond online, click here The consultation closes on 25 December 2016.

Fee-charging scheme for the regulation of private registered providers of social housing
The Homes and Communities Agency has published a statutory consultation on introducing a fee-charging scheme for the regulation of private registered providers of social housing. The consultation follows a discussion paper in 2014 setting out initial proposals and the 2015 Spending Review. The statutory consultation sets out the following anticipated fee charges: an annual fee of £5 per unit for all registered providers with 1,000 or more units of social housing; a fixed fee of £300 for providers with fewer than 1,000 social housing units; and a one-off fixed rate fee of £2,500 for successful new registrations with the regulator. For the consultation documents, click here The consultation closes on 9 January 2017.

Social housing regulation: using a Legislative Reform Order to establish the regulator as a stand-alone body
The Tailored Review of the Homes and Communities Agency recommends the separation of the social housing regulator into a new standalone non-departmental public body, to address the potential conflict of interest that arises from the Agency’s current configuration. The aim of the consultation is to set out the proposed legislative changes to the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 to implement the separation of the social housing regulator to reflect the principles of better regulation, especially transparency and accountability. This measure will not change how registered providers are regulated; the regulatory framework and regulatory powers will not alter as a result of the Review. Views are invited on all aspects of the consultation paper, with a specific focus on eligibility against criteria for using a Legislative Reform Order. For the consultation document click here. To respond to the consultation click here. The consultation closes on 27 January 2017.

Proposals to seek reversal of the reclassification of registered social housing providers in Northern Ireland
This consultation is on the proposals of the Department for Communities to amend current housing legislation and policy so as to facilitate a reversal of the recent ONS decision to classify registered social housing providers in Northern Ireland as public sector bodies. For the consultation document, click here The consultation closes on 8 February 2017.

Funding for supported housing
On 21 November 2016 the DCLG and DWP launched a consultation seeking views on the government’s plans for a new housing costs funding model for supported housing as well as views on how funding for emergency and short term placements should work. It covers the following areas: devolved top-up funding to local authorities in England; and funding for emergency and short term supported housing placements across Great Britain. At the same time the government has published an evidence review of supported accommodation in Great Britain which seeks to provide a helpful insight into the estimated scale, scope and cost of the sector which respondents may find useful in responding to the consultation. For the consultation, click here For the evidence review, click here The consultation closes on 13 February 2017.

Consultation on extending coverage of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to registered social landlords
The consultation sets out proposals to extend coverage of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) to registered social landlords (RSLs). Extending coverage of FOISA would give the same 'access to information' rights to tenants of RSLs as local authority housing tenants currently have. RSLs would have a statutory responsibility to reply to information requests within set timescales. Under FOISA, if an applicant is dissatisfied with how an authority responds they can ultimately appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner who is the independent regulator of the legislation. For the consultation document, click here. To respond online, click here.  The consultation closes on 23 February 2017.

Whatever happened to anti-social behaviour? Craig Johnstone [2016] LSE European Politics and Policy blog 7 December. To read this article, click here

A long and winding road, yet there is still further to go… Alice Richardson [2016] Legal Action Housing Law 7 December. To read this article, click here

The rent gap: what is the local housing allowance? Dawn Foster [2016] The Guardian 7 December. To read this article, click here

Right to Rent: Tenants are footing the bill in fees Heather Spurr [2016] Shelter Blog 7 December. To read this article, click here

Private renter poverty has doubled in a decade – so where’s Labour? Julia Rampen [2016] New Statesman 7 December. To read this article, click here

Don’t try this at home [Gibson v Douglas & Anor [2016] EWCA Civ 1266] Giles Peaker [2016] Nearly Legal 8 December. To read this article, click here

Rather too certain to be uncertain [Leeds City Council v Broadley [2016] EWCA Civ 1213] Giles Peaker [2016] Nearly Legal 8 December. To read this article, click here

Homelessness and inequalities Steve Battersby [2016] UK Housing Professionals Forum 9 December. To read this article, click here

Housing benefit, exempt housing and 'unreasonably high' rent Jonathan Manning and Sarah Salmon [2016] Local Government Lawyer 9 December. To read this article, click here

The housing poverty trap means work doesn't pay Dawn Foster [2016] The Guardian 9 December. To read this article, click here

16 December 2016        
Second reading of Crown Tenancies Bill (see Housing Laws in the Pipeline)

25 December 2016        
Consultation closes on Regulations and policy supporting the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 (see Housing Law Consultations)

9 January 2017        
Consultation closes on fee-charging scheme for the regulation of private registered providers of social housing (see Housing Law Consultations)

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