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HOUSING
LAW NEWS & POLICY ISSUES
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Fire safety in high rise
residential buildings
On 5 August 2021 the National
Fire Chiefs Council wrote an open letter
to ‘persons responsible’ for high rise
residential buildings to remind them of
their ongoing responsibilities to check
their premises’ fire safety measures
and, in particular, that simultaneous
evacuation measures need to take account
of the ability of residents to
self-evacuate and what assistance those
who cannot do so may require. The
persons responsible were also reminded
to make sure that any smoke control
system, designed to ventilate and
extract smoke during a fire to help
residents escape, operates correctly;
and to ensure a Fire Risk Assessment for
the premises is made. For the full
letter, click
here.
Help to Buy – Wales (Shared
Equity Loan Scheme): April to June
2021
On 5 August 2021 the Welsh Government
published data on the number of homes
purchased in Wales and the value of the
loans received under the Shared Equity
Loan Scheme for April to June 2021. The
data show:
- Between 1 April and 30 June 2021,
511 property purchases were completed
using a Welsh Government shared equity
loan; this brings the total number of
purchases under Help to Buy Wales
since its introduction on 2 January
2014 to 12,480.
- During the quarter, the value of
properties purchased totalled £118.2
million whilst the value of equity
loans totalled £23.3 million.
- At 30 June 2021 there were 667
applications for loans still
outstanding.
- The mean property purchase price
using the scheme during this quarter
was £231,233 with a mean equity loan
value of £45,524.
- Between 1 April and 30 June 2021
there were 29 completed purchases of
leasehold properties, all of which
were flats.
- The majority of homes purchased
through the scheme have been for first
time buyers, accounting for 75 per
cent of all completed purchases to
date.
For the full data, go to wales.gov and
click on the ‘Housing’ section.
‘Support, not Deport’
On 9 August 2021 Homeless Link
announced that to date 112 local
authorities and charities have made the
pledge not to participate in new Home
Office rules concerning rough sleeping.
The pledge is part of the charity
Homeless Link’s ‘Support don’t Deport’
campaign, urging local authorities and
homelessness charities not to make
referrals under new Home Office
immigration rules which make rough
sleeping grounds for refusing or
cancelling someone’s leave to remain.
For more details, click
here.
Regulation of estate agents
On 6 August 2021 the House of Commons
Library published a briefing paper
providing an outline of the current
regulation of estate agents. It also
looks at past market studies and
consultations and considers in detail
recent government proposals to tighten
regulation. For the briefing paper, click
here.
Landlord fined for safety breach
and operating without an HMO licence –
Reading
On 5 August 2021 Reading
Borough Council reported that a landlord
who had been operating without a HMO
licence and failing to maintain safety
standards for his tenants had been fined
over £14,000 as a result of a
prosecution brought by the council.
During visits from the council’s Private
Sector Housing Team between May and July
2019, smoke detectors at a rented
property owned by the defendant were
found to be faulty, and he was found to
be operating without a licence despite
the property being a licensable HMO.
Having pleaded guilty to charges of
operating a licensable HMO without a
licence under section 72(1) of the
Housing Act 2004 and a breach of section
234 of the Housing Act 2004 in respect
of the faulty smoke alarms, the landlord
was ordered to pay fines of £12,390 for
the first offence and £1,675 for the
second. He was also ordered to pay
council costs of £3,000 and pay a victim
surcharge of £170. For the report, click
here.
Rogue landlords
On 3 August 2021 the National
Residential Landlords Association
reported that, according to a survey
conducted by the association, over half
of local authorities in England have not
issued any civil penalties against rogue
or criminal landlords in the last three
years. Forty per cent of those councils
that had issued civil penalties had
issued between just one and five during
that period. In total, fewer than 3,200
civil penalties have been issued over
the last three years by the local
authorities responding to the survey.
This is despite ministers suggesting
during the passage of the legislation to
introduce them that there might be
10,500 rogue landlords in operation. For
the report, click
here.
Leasehold and commonhold reform
On 2 August 2021 the House of Commons
Library published a paper which
considers trends in leasehold ownership,
ongoing problems associated with the
sector, and Government plans for
"seminal two-part reforming legislation
in this Parliament". For the paper, click
here.
Enforcement of possession orders
by county court possession warrants
From 7 August 2021, the Civil Procedure
Rules 1998 r 83.8A, as amended by the
Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 4) Rules
2021, provides that where full execution
of a warrant or writ of possession does
not take place on the date specified on
the notice of eviction, a further notice
of eviction must be delivered to the
premises at least seven days before the
writ or warrant is or is further
executed. For the Amendment Rules, click
here.
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HOUSING
LAWS IN THE PIPELINE
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The House of Commons and
the House of Lords each rose for its
summer recess on 22 July and will
return on 6 September.
Building Safety Bill
This Government Bill would make
provision about the safety of people in
or about buildings and the standard of
buildings, to amend the Architects Act
1997, and to amend provision about
complaints made to a housing ombudsman.
The Bill was given its first reading on
5 July 2021 and its second reading on 21
July 2021. The Bill has now been sent to
a Public Bill Committee which will
scrutinise the Bill line by line and is
expected to report to the House by 26
October 2021. For the Bill as
introduced, click
here. For the
Government response to the Housing,
Communities and Local Government
Committee's pre-legislative scrutiny of
the Bill, click
here. For a House of
Commons Library briefing about the Bill,
published on 16 July 2021, click
here. To follow
progress of the Bill, click
here.
Leasehold Reform (Ground
Rent) Bill
This Government Bill would make
provision about the rent payable under
long leases of dwellings. First reading
in the House of Lords took place on 12
May 2021. Second reading took place on
24 May 2021. The Bill completed its
committee stage on 14 June 2021 and
report stage on 20 July 2021. The third
reading will take place on a date to be
scheduled. For the Bill as amended at
the report stage, click
here. For a House of
Commons Library briefing concerning the
Bill, published on 6 August 2021, click
here. To follow
progress of the Bill, click
here.
Evictions (Universal Credit)
Bill
This Private Members’ Bill, sponsored by
Chris Stephens, would place a duty on
the Secretary of State to prevent the
evictions of Universal Credit claimants
in rent arrears. It was presented to
Parliament on 21 June 2021 and will
receive its second reading on 28
January 2022.The Bill awaits
publication. To follow progress of the
Bill, click
here.
Housing Standards (Refugees
and Asylum Seekers) Bill
This Private Members’ Bill, sponsored by
Chris Stephens, would make provision for
national minimum standards in
accommodation offered to refugees and
asylum seekers. It was presented to
Parliament on 21 June 2021 and will
receive its second reading on 21
January 2022.The Bill awaits
publication. To follow progress of the
Bill, click
here.
Under-Occupancy Penalty
(Report) Bill
This Private Members’ Bill, sponsored by
Chris Stephens, would require the
Secretary of State to report to
Parliament on the merits of repealing
those provisions of the Welfare Reform
Act 2012 which provide for persons to be
paid reduced rates of housing benefit or
Universal Credit because their
accommodation is deemed to be
under-occupied. It was presented to
Parliament on 21 June 2021 and will
receive its second reading on 14
January 2022.The Bill awaits
publication. To follow progress of the
Bill, click
here.
Asylum Seekers
(Accommodation Eviction Procedures)
Bill
This Private Members’ Bill, sponsored by
Chris Stephens, would make provision for
asylum seekers to challenge the
proportionality of a proposed eviction
from accommodation before an independent
court or tribunal; and establish asylum
seeker accommodation eviction procedures
for public authorities. It was presented
to Parliament on 21 June 2021 and will
receive its second reading on 3
December 2021.The Bill awaits
publication. To follow progress of the
Bill, click
here.
Caravan Sites Bill
This Private Members’ Bill, sponsored by
Sir Christopher Chope, would amend the
requirements for caravan site licence
applications made under the Caravan
Sites and Control of Development Act
1960. It was presented to Parliament on
21 June 2021 and will receive its second
reading on 29 October 2021.The
Bill awaits publication. To follow
progress of the Bill, click
here.
Mobile Homes Act 1983
(Amendment) Bill
This Private Members’ Bill, sponsored by
Sir Christopher Chope, would amend the
Mobile Homes Act 1983. It was presented
to Parliament on 21 June 2021 and will
receive its second reading on 28
January 2022.The Bill awaits
publication. To follow progress of the
Bill, click
here.
Caravan Site Licensing
(Exemptions of Motor Homes) Bill
This Private Members’ Bill, sponsored by
Sir Christopher Chope, would exempt
motor homes from caravan site licensing
requirements. It was presented to
Parliament on 21 June 2021 and will
receive its second reading on 29
October 2021.The Bill awaits
publication. To follow progress of the
Bill, click
here.
Homeless People (Current
Accounts) Bill
This Private Members’ Bill, sponsored by
Peter Bone, would require banks to
provide current accounts for homeless
people seeking work. It was presented to
Parliament on 21 June 2021 and will
receive its second reading on 22
October 2021.The Bill awaits
publication. To follow progress of the
Bill, click
here.
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R (On the application of
Kalonga) v The London Borough of
Croydon [2021]
EWHC 2174 (Admin)
Facts
The Claimant was granted a five-year
fixed-term secure tenancy (a "flexible
tenancy") by the Defendant local housing
authority. Whilst problems arose during
the course of the fixed term which
resulted in possession proceedings and
ultimately culminated in the Defendant
being given permission to appeal to the
Supreme Court, the instant case was
separate from those proceedings and
concerned events post-expiry of the
fixed term.
Upon expiry of the fixed term, the
Defendant gave notice to the Claimant
that it did not intend to grant a new
fixed-term tenancy pursuant to s.107D(3)
HA 1985. The Claimant failed to request
a review before the end of the period of
21 days from the date on which the
notice was served pursuant to s.107E(1)
HA 1985. The Claimant subsequently made
a late request for review and contended
the notice did not come to her attention
until after the deadline had expired as
she had been absent from the property
for some weeks.
The Defendant responded to the request
for a review by stating that since the
request had been made outside of the
21-day period, the Defendant had no
power to accede to it. In any event,
even if the Defendant had such a
discretion, it would not have been
exercised it.
Judicial review proceedings
The Claimant issued proceedings for
judicial review of (1) the Defendant’s
decision that it had no power to extend
time under s.107E HA 1985 and (2) even
if it had such power, it would not
review.
On the first issue, the Claimant
contended that the general housing
management powers of local housing
authorities, as set out in s.21 HA 1985,
were broad enough to encompass a power
to conduct a review outside the
time-scale provided for in section
107E(1) HA 1985. The Defendant relied in
particular upon the judgment of the
Court of Appeal in Harris v
Hounslow LBC [2017] EWCA Civ
1476. That case concerned recovery of
property let under a secure tenancy due
to anti-social behaviour pursuant to
s.84A HA 1985. In Harris, the
Court of Appeal held that the authority
did not have a power to consider the
request for a review if it was made
outside the seven-day period and the
local housing authority had no power to
waive compliance with the statutory time
limit.
On the second issue, the Claimant
contended that there was no reason in
legal principle why the strength of the
arguments for a review should not be
taken into account. The Defendant
submitted that the merits of a review
and question of whether an extension of
time for review should be granted were
legally and logically distinct.
Decision
Mr Justice Cavanagh considered that the
Court of Appeal's ruling in Harris
v Hounslow LBC provided the clear
answer to the first issue. Namely, that
a local housing authority has no power
or discretion to accept a request for a
review of their proposal not to grant
another tenancy on the expiry of the
fixed-term of the tenant's existing
flexible tenancy, if that request is
made more than 21 days after the service
of a notice pursuant to s.107D(3)
Housing Act 1985 [at 85].
On the second issue, Mr Justice Cavanagh
considered that if contrary to the
conclusion on the first issue, a local
authority had a discretion whether to
conduct a review even if the application
was out of time, it was not correct, as
a matter of law, that the merits can
never be relevant. Whilst in some cases
the underlying merits will be of little
or no relevance, there may be other
cases in which the underlying merits are
either so strong or so weak, as to be a
matter that the local authority can
properly take into account. This is not
to say that local authorities must in
effect carry out a full-scale review
before they decide whether to extend
time. The focus must be on the reasons
for the delay [at 88].
Summary by Henry
Percy-Raine, barrister,
Trinity
Chambers. For the
judgment, click
here.
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HOUSING
LAW CONSULTATIONS
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Warm Home Discount: better
targeted support from 2022
The Warm Home Discount scheme obliges
participating energy suppliers to
provide rebates to their customers, to
reduce energy bills for low-income and
vulnerable households and tackle fuel
poverty.
This consultation proposes to expand and
reform the scheme in England and Wales
until 2026, in line with the commitments
announced in the Energy White Paper in
2020. The objective of the reforms is to
improve the fuel poverty targeting rate
of the scheme and ensure more fuel poor
households can receive rebates on their
energy bills automatically, through the
use of data matching. The Department for
Business, Energy & Industrial
Strategy would particularly welcome
responses from energy suppliers and
charities and other organisations
focusing on fuel poverty and vulnerable
people.
For the consultation, which closes on 22
August 2021, click
here.
The Building Safety Levy
This consultation seeks views on the
design of a proposed levy on developers
who seek regulatory permission to build
certain high rise residential buildings.
The consultation also seeks evidence of
possible impacts on housing supply and
regeneration, and the housebuilding
industry.
The powers to create and set the terms
of the levy are set out in the Building
Safety Bill. Subject to the passage of
the Bill through Parliament, this levy
will apply to developments in England
seeking building control approval from
the Building Safety Regulator to start
construction of certain buildings: the
“Gateway 2” stage of the new building
safety regime.
For documents relating to the
consultation, which closes on 15
October 2021, click
here.
Domestic Abuse Act statutory
guidance
On 3 August 2021 the Home Office issued
a consultation seeking views on draft
domestic abuse statutory guidance which
will support the implementation of the
definition of domestic abuse at sections
1 to 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
The key objectives of the guidance are
to:
- provide clear information on what
domestic abuse is in order to assist
with its identification
- provide guidance and support to
frontline professionals, who have
responsibilities for safeguarding and
supporting victims of domestic abuse,
for example through outlining relevant
strategic and operational frameworks
- improve the institutional response
to domestic abuse by conveying best
practice and standards for
commissioning responses.
The consultation seeks the views of,
amongst other professionals, local housing
and homelessness teams, and registered
social landlords. For details of the
consultation, which closes on 14
September 2021, click
here.
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Misc – notice periods,
evictions and an ASBi for illegal
eviction Giles Peaker
Nearly Legal 3 August 2021 – to
read the article, click
here
Joint ventures: The benefits
and implications for RPs and
developers explained Chimi
Shakohoxha, Ryan Campbell and Rita
Saadeh Local Government Lawyer
3 August 2021 – to read the article, click
here
Housing case law -
July/August 2021 Paul
Lloyd, Helen Gascoigne and Tom Bradbury
Local Government Lawyer 3 August
2021 – to read the article, click
here
Raising the accessibility
standards of new homes Sarah
Davis CIH Blog 4 August 2021 –
to read the article, click
here
Possession proceedings and
evictions: recent changes Helen
Tucker Local Government Lawyer
5 August 2021 – to read the article, click
here
Dealing with Adverse Media Devonshires
6 August 2021 – to read the
article, click
here
Universal Credit cut:
Everything you need to know Citizens
Advice 6 August 2021 – to read
the article, click
here
CCTV and breaches of
injunctions Anna
Bennett Local Government Lawyer
8 August 2021 – to read the article, click
here
No power to accept late
review request Giles
Peaker Nearly Legal 8 August
2021 – to read the article, click
here
The Queen (o.a.o Rayner) v
Leeds Magistrates Court: closure
orders, legal aid reviews and
adjournments SW Nearly
Legal 8 August 2021 – to read the
article, click
here
A good home must be a
digitally connected home Ali
Rogan Centre for Ageing Better
9 August 2021 – to read the article, click
here
Housing: recent developments
(July/ August 21) Sam
Madge-Wyld and Jan Luba QC Legal
Action July / August 2021 – to read
the article (subscription required), click
here
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22 August 2021
Deadline for submissions to the
consultation on the Warm Home Discount:
better targeted support from 2022 (see Housing
Law Consultations)
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Advertise
your vacancy to Housing Law Week
Readers
Send
details of the vacancy and a link to
the vacancy on your website to info@limelegal.co.uk
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Featured
Job of the Week
Arun
District Council
Neighbourhood
Housing Officer
The post is
scale 7, salary at £27,741 - £29,577
Arun District Council’s Housing Team is
an extremely busy front-line service
working to prevent homelessness, to
sustain tenancies and to identify
sources of accommodation across all
tenures.
We need high energy, positive, resilient
people to form part of our team to
deliver services for people who are
homeless and who often present with
complex and challenging circumstances.
You will need to demonstrate a passion
for what you do and for the people who
need your help.
In return we offer:
- Up to 30 days paid annual leave plus
paid Bank Holidays (subject to
continuous service) – PLUS Flexi-Time
- Excellent Contributory Pension
Scheme
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Health and Wellbeing initiatives
including free health checks, free eye
tests and an option to pay into a
Simply Health Care plan
- Training and Development
Opportunities
The post will be remote based initially
at home due to Covid-19, with a gradual
return to either the Civic Centre in
Littlehampton or Bognor Regis Town Hall.
You may also be required to work at
other locations in the District. For
further information and an application
form please click
here to
visit our website.
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Housing
Officer
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Hightown
Housing Association
Click
here for
details
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Tenancy
Support Worker x 2
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Housing
Independence Officer
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Housing
First – Enhanced Housing Options Officer
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Housing
Solutions Senior Officer (Assessment)
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Milton
Keynes Council
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here and
scroll for details
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Housing
Finance Manager
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Milton
Keynes Council
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here and
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Housing
Solutions Support Worker (Assessment)
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Milton
Keynes Council
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Private
Sector Housing Team Manager
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Royal
Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
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