HOUSING LAW NEWS
Policy
Issues in Housing Law
Social housing allocation
On Friday 27 March 2015, the Allocation of Housing (Qualification Criteria for Right to Move) (England) Regulations 2015 were laid before Parliament. They will ensure that where a local housing authority uses a local connection requirement as a qualifying condition for allocation of social housing, they must not apply that criterion to social tenants in England who: (1) have reasonable preference because of a need to move to the local authorit's district to avoid hardship; and (2) need to move because the tenant works or has been offered work in the district of the authority and has a genuine intention to take up the offer. The new rules take effect on 20 April 2015. For a copy of the regulations, click here For the explanatory memorandum, click here A new code of statutory guidance has been issued to local housing authorities in England dealing with the new provisions, For a copy, click here.
Anti-social behaviour and housing: new injunctions
The new injunction provisions in Part 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour etc Act 2014 came into force last Monday (23 March 2015). Much confusion followed because the list of the types of injunction application which district judges have jurisdiction to hear had not been updated in time (CPR PD 2B para 8.1). An update is intended in the next general updating of Practice Directions, due shortly but not yet published. Meanwhile, on Wednesday 25 March 2015, the Deputy Head of Civil Justice (Lord Justice Richards) wrote to all the Designated Civil Judges to inform them of the intended change and advised that "I take the view that you can safely proceed in the short interim period" by allocating such cases to district judges. The Chartered Institute of Housing has produced a new briefing - What you need to know about the new ASB Injunction. For a copy, click here For the UK Government announcement which accompanied the introduction of the new injunction provisions, click here For the Legal Aid Agency's latest explanation of the funding arrangements relating to these injunctions, click here For a commentary on the new injunction provisions themselves, click here
Anti-social behaviour and housing: gang injunctions
The changed arrangements for gang injunctions are to be introduced with effect from 1 June 2015. The new definitions are contained in the Serious Crime Act 2015 section 51. For the commencement order for that section, click here From the same date, the Crime and Courts Act 2013 will give a new jurisdiction for the youth court to deal with gang injunction applications against those under 18, instead of the county court or High Court. For the commencement order relating to that Act, click here
Anti-social behaviour and housing: breach of injunctions
A breach of an injunction is a contempt of court. On Thursday 26 March 2015, the Lord Chief Justice issued a new practice direction on the way in which all courts should deal with committal applications. For a copy, click here
Legal aid for housing cases: numbers
Last week, the Ministry of Justice published the Legal Aid Statistics in England & Wales: October to December 2014. The figures show that the volume of legally-aided housing cases halved between April to June 2012 and April to June 2013. In the last quarter, there was a 9% decrease compared to the same quarter the previous year. This decrease was mainly in legal help, which comprises more than 80% of overall housing legal aid volume. Compared to the same quarter last year, the number of housing cases fell from 14,490 to 13,230. For the full statistics, click here
Legal aid for housing cases: judicial review
The Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 came into force on Friday 27 March 2015. They replace the Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2014 which were quashed by the High Court by order of 19 March 2015 in R (Ben Hoare Bell Solicitors & others) v Lord Chancellor. They re-introduce, with modifications, the rules casting the risk of the costs of issuing judicial review proceedings on legal aid lawyers - up to the successful grant of permission. For a copy of the new regulations, click here For the explanatory memorandum, click here For a helpful briefing on the new regulations, click here
Consumer Rights Act 2015
This new Act relate 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 so that anyone looking to rent in the private sector knows what they can expect to pay. It received Royal Assent on Thursday 26 March 2015. For a copy of the Act, click here The provisions dealing with letting agents' fees are sections 83 to 88. For the impact assessment on these measures to increase the transparency of letting agents' fees, click here On Friday 27 March 2015, Citizens Advice published Still let down explaining how some letting agents are still exploiting private renters and what this says about consumer protection. For a copy, click here
Letting agents and lawyers
The Consumer Rights Act's broad definition of 'letting agent' includes members of the legal profession acting in a professional legal capacity on lettings-related work, for example if a landlord instructs a solicitor to draft a tenancy agreement. The Duty of Letting Agents to Publicise Fees etc. (Exclusion) (England) Regulations 2015 come into force on 27 May 2015 and will exclude legal professionals from the requirement to publicise their fees etc when they engage only in legal activity within the meaning of Legal Services Act 2007 section 12 . For the regulations, click here For the explanatory memorandum, click here
Managing agents
On Monday 23 March 2015, the UK Government published its response to the market study into residential property management services carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). For a copy of the response, click here For the accompanying announcement outlining the content of the response, click here
Deregulation Act 2015
This Act contains housing provisions at sections 28 to 48. It received Royal Assent on Thursday 26 March 2015. In summary, its provisions include: (1) retaliatory evictions - tenants in the private rented sector will be protected from being evicted by their landlord simply because they have raised a legitimate complaint about the condition of the property; (2) short-term lets in London - renting out homes on a short-term basis will no longer require planning permission from their council; (3) tenancy deposits - where landlords took a deposit before the introduction of the tenancy deposit protection legislation in 2007 (for a tenancy which rolled over after the end of the initial tenancy and is still in existence) they have in most cases until 23 June 2015 to protect their tenant's deposit or potentially face a penalty. For a copy of the Act, click here
Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015
This Act places a duty on certain public authorities to keep registers of individuals (and groups of individuals) who want to acquire plots of land to bring forward self-build and custom house-building projects. It received Royal Assent on Thursday 26 March 2015. The Act also requires councils to take account of the demand for self and custom build when exercising their planning housing, regeneration and land disposal functions. For a copy of the Act, click here For the outcome of the UK Government's recent consultation on the 'right to self-build', published on Friday 27 March 2015, click here
Housing 2010 to 2015
On Wednesday 26 March 2015, the Secretary of State for Communities made a written statement to Parliament on the Coalition Government's housing record over its five years in office. For the statement, click here
Homelessness 2010 to 2015
On Wednesday 26 March 2015, the Minister for Housing made a written statement to Parliament on the Coalition Government's record on homelessness over its five years in office. For the statement, click here A report published on the same day summarises the work of the cross-government Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness since its inception in 2010. For a copy of that report, click here The final chapter contains a set of call for evidence questions with a deadline for responses of 21 May 2015.
Homelessness in England: statistics
On Thursday 26 March 2015, the latest homelessness statistics for England were published. They show that 13,650 households were accepted as homeless between 1 October and 31 December 2014, 6% higher than during the same quarter of 2013. On 31 December 2014 there were 61,970 households in temporary accommodation, 9% higher than at the same date in 2013. For the full statistics, click here
Homelessness in England: use of bed and breakfast
The latest statistics (see above) show that 2,040 families with children were in bed and breakfast style accommodation as at 31 December 2014. That is an increase of 31% from 1,560 a year earlier. Of these 2,040 households, 780 (38 %) had been in bed and breakfast style accommodation for more than the legal maximum of six weeks (60 of which were pending review). This is an increase of 55% since the end of the same quarter last year, when the number was 500. For the borough-by- borough breakdown of councils exceeding the six weeks maximum, click here On 9 March 2015, a minister told Parliament that "The Government has been clear that the long term use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families with children is both unacceptable and unlawful." For the full statement, click here
Homelessness in Wales
It looks increasingly likely that the new homelessness regime in Wales will take effect on Monday 27 April 2015. The Housing (Wales) Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2015, enabling local authorities in Wales to contract-out their homelessness functions under the Act, takes effect from that date. For a copy of the regulations, click here The latest statistics on the operation of statutory homelessness services in Wales were published on Wednesday 25 March 2015. For the details, click here
Squatters' rights
A new guide published on Monday 30 March 2015 explains the Land Registry's approach to applications based on adverse possession for (1) first registration of unregistered land and (2) registration as proprietor of registered land where a squatter was in adverse possession for the requisite limitation period so as to have acquired a right to be registered as proprietor before 13 October 2003. It also explains the procedures for making such applications, and the options available to those served with notice of them. For a copy, click here A separate guide deals with adverse possession applications in respect of registered land under the new regime set out in Schedule 6 to the Land Registration Act 2002. For a copy of that, click here
Private renting: new rules on selective licensing (1)
On Friday 27 March 2015 the Selective Licensing of Houses (Additional Conditions) (England) Order 2015 came into force. For an area to be designated by a council as subject to selective licensing, the area must now contain a high proportion of properties in the private rented sector, in relation to the total housing accommodation in that area. Further, one or more of the four additional sets of conditions must be satisfied. These relate to poor property conditions, current or recent experience of large amounts of inward migration, areas which have a high level of deprivation, or areas which have high levels of crime. For a copy of the Order, click here For the explanatory memorandum, click here The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee drew the Order to the special attention of the House of Commons on the grounds that the explanatory material laid in support provided insufficient information to gain a clear understanding about the policy objective and that making the Order may be inappropriate in view of changed circumstances since the enactment of the parent Act. For the committee's report, click here
Private renting: new rules on selective licensing (2)
On Wednesday 1 April 2015, a new General Approval came into force. Local authorities will be required to obtain confirmation from the Secretary of State for any selective licensing scheme which would cover more than 20% of their geographical area or would affect more than 20% of privately rented homes in the local authority area. For a copy of that Approval, click here For a copy of the new guidance issued to local authorities on dealing with the new requirements, click here
Private renting: energy and safety measures (1)
On Thursday 26 March 2015, sections 42 to 53 of the Energy Act 2011 were brought into force. These provisions relate to energy efficiency in the private rented sector in England and Wales. For the commencement order, click here For the Energy Act itself, click here The Association for the Conservation of Energy has published a new research brief, Chilled to Death: The human cost of cold homes. For a copy, click here
Private renting: energy and safety measures (2)
Energy Act 2013 section 150 was brought into force on 11 March 2015 to require the provision by landlords of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. For that commencement order, click here For commentary on this development, click here
Housing Ombudsman
On Wednesday 25 March 2015, the UK Government launched a consultation exercise about proposals to absorb the roles of the Housing Ombudsman and the Local Government Ombudsman into the jurisdiction of a new Public Service Ombudsman for England. For more details see the 'Housing Law Consultations' section below.
Right to Buy (1)
On Friday 27 March 2015, the Minister of Housing announced the distribution of the new Right to Buy Social Mobility Fund for England which is designed to help council tenants with the Right to Buy to buy a different home on the open market. The aim is to help those tenants looking to move for work, to be nearer to family, or those whose properties are difficult to mortgage. £18.48 million has been distributed to 42 of the 55 councils that bid for funds. For the list of successful bidders, click here For the ministerial announcement, click here
Right to buy (2)
Maximum Right to Buy discounts currently stand at £77,000 outside London and £102,700 inside London. From 6 April 2015 these discounts will increase by the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation to £77,900 outside London and £103,900 in London. Measures in the Deregulation Act 2015 (see above) will increase the number of tenants eligible for the Right to Buy. Previously, a tenant would have to live in social housing for five years before qualifying. This has been reduced to three years.
Regulating construction and conversion of houses
On Friday 27 March 2015, the UK Government announced a new approach to the setting of technical housing standards in England. This was accompanied by the publication of a new set of national technical standards (the 'building regulations'). For details of the new arrangements (given effect by the Deregulation Act 2015 - see above), click here For the new Building Regulations &c. (Amendment) Regulations 2015 themselves, click here For the explanatory circular, click here For the official letter explaining the changes, click here
Long leaseholds
On Thursday 26 March 2015, the UK Government published a discussion paper on including information about the right for residential leaseholders to seek redress against their property manager (from the Government-approved redress scheme to which their manager belongs), as part of the currently prescribed Summaries of Rights and Obligations which are sent to leaseholders with demands for service charges and administration charges. For more details, see 'Housing Law Consultations' below.
Shared ownership
On Friday 27 March 2015, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Homes and Communities Agency published a summary of the responses they had received regarding proposals to streamline the resale of shared ownership properties through changes to the Homes and Communities Agency guidance and to the shared ownership model leases. For a copy of that outcome of the consultation exercise, click here
Accommodation for Asylum Seekers
The House of Commons Library has produced a new free briefing on the facts, figures and policies relating to the provision of accommodation (and support) for asylum seekers. For a copy, click here
Guarantees for housing associations
On Saturday 28 March 2015, the UK Government published a new outline of the rules for the affordable housing debt guarantee. The housing guarantees support the building of new affordable homes and enable registered providers to raise debt with a government guarantee, where they commit to delivering additional new build affordable homes. For a copy of the new rules, click here
Digging to danger
The shortage of housing in London has stimulated a burst of excavation work to produce or convert basements for use as accommodation. On 11 and 12 March 2015, Health and Safety Executive inspectors visited 127 sites across Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington &Chelsea and parts of Westminster. Almost half of domestic basement projects inspected failed safety checks. Enforcement action was taken at 62 of the sites - an overall rate of 48% - with 44 Prohibition Notices served requiring dangerous practices to stop with immediate effect, 12 Improvement Notices served requiring safety improvements to be made and 63 Notifications of Contravention served identifying material breaches. At two projects, conditions were so dangerous that inspectors were forced to close the sites immediately. For more details, click here
Welfare benefit overpayments
The Social Security (Overpayments and Recovery) Amendment Regulations 2015 come into force on 6 April 2015 and increase the maximum rate of recovery from Income Support, Incomer-Related Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Related Employment Support Allowance and State Pension Credit, where benefit overpayments have resulted in a finding or acceptance of guilt for an offence, or an administrative penalty as an alternative to prosecution has been accepted in respect of an overpayment. The maximum rate of deduction from benefits increases from £18.25pw to £29.24. For the regulations, click here For the explanatory memorandum, click here
Building for Rent
On Tuesday 24 March 2015, the UK Government published new guidance for councils outlining practical options as to how local authorities could support the development of private rented sector homes in their areas. For a copy of that guidance, click here
Housing in England
On Tuesday 24 March 2015, the English Housing Survey published its latest newsletter about the on-going national survey of people's housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England. For a copy of that newsletter, click here
Standards in rented housing
On Friday 27 March 2015, the House of Commons library published a new briefing note that explains how the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System works. For a copy, click here
Social housing: involving tenants
A new report - Success, Satisfaction & Scrutiny: The Business Benefits of Resident Involvement - provides the latest analysis of the benefits of strategies for social landlords to involve tenants in the management of their homes. For a copy, click here
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