Lime Legal's
Housing Law Week

General Editor: Jan Luba QC

15 October 2014 Update

HOUSING LAW NEWS

New Housing Laws

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2014 (Commencement No. 1, Transitional and Saving Provisions) Order 2014
Laid on 9 October 2014. It sets dates for bringing into force parts of the 2014 Act, including the fixing of 1 August 2016 as the date on which the right to buy will end in Scotland. For a copy of the Order, 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. The next stage of the bill is the Lords Committee Stage starting on 13 October 2014. For details about the bill and its progress, 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 next stage of the bill is the Lords Committee Stage starting on 21 October 2014. For details about the bill and its progress, click here


 
Policy Issues in Housing Law

Homelessness
Every Health and Wellbeing Board is required to produce a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), identifying health needs in its local area. A new report from Homeless Link and St Mungo’s addresses the importance of including the health issues of homeless people when producing a local JSNA and contains many useful references to data on the links between homelessness and poor health. For a copy of the report, click here.

Right to buy
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has taken new steps to promote the right to buy in England by the creation of a website of resources for council and housing association tenants who may be interested in buying their homes. The website includes a self-calculator of the discount likely to be available. For the new website, click here

Tenancies in social housing
The Chartered Institute of Housing has published a new booklet for social landlords:  How to create sustainable tenancies. For a copy, click here.

‘The Bedroom Tax’
The House of Commons Library has published two useful briefing notes on aspects of the so-called bedroom tax. The first reviews the available research and data on the impact of the measure. For a copy of that, click here 

The second contains an analysis of the voting patterns of parliamentary parties when the measure has been discussed. For a copy of that, click here

On 26 September 2014 the DWP released an Urgent Housing Benefit Bulletin HB U4/2014 about the results of a number of bedroom tax cases that have now been heard by the Upper Tribunal in Scotland. For a copy, click here.

Complaints about housing
The latest annual report of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman shows that the largest category of complaint against Scottish councils (a quarter of the total) relates to housing problems. For a copy of the report, containing examples of such complaints, click here.  

Private renting (1)
Since 1 October 2014 letting agents and managing agents in England have been required to belong to one of three redress schemes. DCLG has now published guidance directed at the defaulting agents who have yet to join a scheme: Lettings Agents and Property Managers: Which Government approved redress scheme do you belong to? For a copy of that guidance, click here

Private renting (2)
From 1 December 2014, landlords in several parts of the Midlands will be required to comply with the provisions of the Immigration Act 2014 relating to prohibited lettings to some migrants. The particular difficulties thrown up when migrants do not carry documentation about their status are reviewed in the new publication Housing and Homelessness of Undocumented Migrants in Europe: Developing Strategies and Good Practices to Ensure Access to Housing and Shelter. For a copy, click here.  

Housing Conditions

The latest report on the standards of social housing in Wales shows that some 12 years after the Welsh Housing Quality Standard was introduced, a third of homes still fail it. For a copy of the report, click here.  

NEW HOUSING LAW CASES

Graves v Capital Home Loans Ltd 

9 October 2014
Mr Graves took out a buy-to-let mortgage, He fell into arrears. The lender appointed receivers and, later, the property was sold leaving a shortfall outstanding. Mr Graves brought proceedings against the lender. His claim was struck-out. A first appeal was dismissed. He brought a second appeal contending that the lender had acted unfairly and in breach of the ‘unfair relationships’ provisions of sections 140A and 140B Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal holding that it would “have to be an exceptional case for the Court to conclude that a mortgagee whose power of sale had become exercisable due to the non-payment of the mortgage instalments was to be treated as having acted unfairly in deciding to realise its security”. For the full judgment, click here



Ajilore v Hackney LBC
8 October 2014
The appellant was a young man with a history of using illegal substances, mental health issues, imprisonment and exclusion from the parental home. He applied as homeless. The council decided that he was not ‘vulnerable’ because his situation was no different from that of the average or ordinary street-homeless person. An appeal was dismissed by the county court. A second appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal. For the judgment, click here.  



R (Nicolson) v Tottenham Magistrates and Haringey LBC
7 October 2014
Following a contested hearing in the Administrative Court, the claimant – a defaulting council tax payer – was granted permission to apply for a judicial review of the award of £125 costs imposed when Haringey Council issued proceedings against him. He contends that the amount did not reflect the council’s actual costs in his case but represented a fixed sum sought and awarded in scores of other such applications made by the same council. For a note of the judgment, click here 

For a news story on the case, click here.  



North West Leicestershire District Council v Karen and Kenneth Riley
3 October 2014.
The defendants were among six people prosecuted by the council for having untidy gardens. The council had exercised its powers under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (to serve notice if a piece of land has an adverse effect on the amenity of an area). Notices served were not complied-with. Mr and Mrs Riley’s garden was found to be not only untidy, but also home to a pig.  At Leicester Magistrates’ Court, the couple were each fined £90 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £20 and the council’s costs – making a total of £920. For details of the prosecution, click here



Ealing Council v Muhammad Sohaib Anwar
29 September 2014
The defendant was a private landlord. Without planning permission, he changed the layout of an ordinary house to create a nine bedroom HMO with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. He was served with an enforcement notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to cease use of the property as an HMO, remove one of the kitchens and return the property to its former state as a single-family home.   He later pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to comply with the notice. Isleworth Crown Court made a confiscation order of £31,969 in respect of the benefit of his criminal conduct (the rent received), imposed a £2,500 fine and awarded £7,088.95 costs. For details of the prosecution, click here.  



Scarborough Borough Council v Edward Winter
19 September 2014
The defendant was the landlord of a licensed HMO known as “The Breece”. On 8 September 2014 there were 27 people living at the property. Following a wide range of serious antisocial behaviour over a nine month period, the council served a closure notice under Part1A of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. 18 of the occupiers then left. Scarborough Magistrates’ Court granted the council a three month Closure Order requiring the remaining nine occupants to leave. For more details of the proceedings, click here.

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HOUSING LAW CONSULTATIONS

Renting Homes.
The Welsh Government proposes to implement the Law Commission’s recommendations for simpler types of tenancy across rented housing. It is consulting on an illustrative model contract and supporting guidance. Closing date: 14 October 2014. For a copy of the consultation paper, click here

Data sharing in social housing
. 
The DWP is consulting about arrangements to share data with social landlords about benefit claims by tenants. Closing date: 19 October 2014. For a copy of the consultation paper, click here.  


Right to Move
.
The DCLG is consulting about new provisions for lettings in social housing. For example, do we need a new "reasonable preference" category in England for those moving to take up work? Closing date:  22 October 2014. For a copy of the consultation paper, click here


Travellers.

The DCLG is consulting on new planning restrictions which will affect gypsies and travellers without authorised sites. In addition to the formal consultation paper, there is an easy read version and an equality assessment. Closing date: 23 November 2014. For a copy of the consultation paper, click here  

Consultation on a New Tenancy for the Private Sector
.
The Scottish Government is consulting on new arrangements for security of tenure and/or rent control in the private rented sector. Closing date: 28 December 2014. For a copy of the consultation paper, click here.  

NEW HOUSING LAW ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS

The new Anti-social Behaviour Act 2014 – what it means for landlords and tenants: Part 2 [2014] 18 Landlord & Tenant Review 165

Tenancy deposits again
[2014] 18 Landlord & Tenant Review 191

Housing and homelessness update [2014] 25 September. Local Government Lawyer. To read the article, click here.  

Ordinary Residence: homeless children
[2014] 2 October. Local Government Lawyer. To read the article, click here

Regenerating Southwark: urban renewal prompts social cleansing fears
. Dave Hill [2014] 7 October. The Guardian. To read the article, click here

Passport patrol for renting a home
.
Dawn Foster [2014] 10 October. Inside Housing. To read the article, click here

The legal year ahead (Housing law)
.  [2014] 10 October. Inside Housing. To read the article, click here

Who’s who in Housing law
.
 [2014] 10 October. Inside Housing. To read the article, click here. 

THE OCTOBER HOUSING LAW DIARY

14 October  Lime Legal’s Housing Allocations Conference. Click here to buy the conference notes
14 October End of ‘Renting homes’ consultation (see Consultations above)
15 October Lime Legal’s Housing & Anti-social Behaviour Conference. Click here to buy the conference notes
19 October End of ‘data-sharing’ consultation (see Consultations above)
20 October New tools and powers under Anti-social Behaviour Act 2014 due to come into force in England (see New Housing Laws above)
21 October Supreme Court to hear a case about damages for unlawful eviction by a local authority. Click here
21 October Lords Committee Stage starts of the Deregulation Bill (see Housing Laws in the Pipeline above)
22 October End of ‘right to move’ consultation (see Consultations above)

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