3rd November 2021
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HOUSING LAW NEWS & POLICY ISSUES
 

Rough sleepers
On 29 October 2021 the DLUHC announced a further £66 million of funding to help rough sleepers into safe, warm accommodation and treatment services for drug and alcohol dependency this winter. The funding comprises:

  • Up to £52 million, allocated to more than 60 councils, as a share of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant scheme for specialist support services for rough sleepers and those at risk, including one-to-one support and mentoring;
  • £3.8 million in grants from the Homelessness Transformation Fund for voluntary, faith and community groups to transform shared accommodation into Covid-secure, self-contained accommodation, giving rough sleepers safe places to stay; and
  • £10 million from the Winter Pressures Fund to provide up to 3,500 rough sleepers with emergency accommodation, with areas most in need of support to tackle rough sleeping invited to bid for the funding.

For more details, including the allocation of funding, click here. For comment by the Local Government Association, click here.

Statutory homelessness in England: April to June 2021
On 28 October 2021 the DLUHC published official statistics on statutory homelessness in England. They show that between April to June 2021:

  • 66,040 households were initially assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness and owed a statutory homelessness duty, up 1.0 per cent from April to June 2020.
  • 31,210 households were assessed as being threatened with homelessness, and therefore owed a prevention duty, up 18.4 per cent from the same quarter last year and linked to a 105.0 per cent increase in threatened homelessness due to service of a Section 21 notice to end an Assured Shorthold Tenancy to 3,280 households. This is likely to reflect the removal of most of the restrictions on private rented sector evictions from May 2021
  • 34,830 households were initially assessed as homeless and therefore owed a relief duty, down 10.8 per cent from the same quarter last year, driven by an 18.5 per cent fall in single households owed relief duty. Households with children owed a relief duty increased 27.9 per cent from the same quarter last year to 8,250 households in April to June 2021 – a similar level to April to June 2019.
  • 9,600 households were accepted as owed a main homelessness duty, down 8.0 per cent from April to June 2020. Households with children fell by 15.0 per cent.

On 30 June 2021, 96,600 households were in temporary accommodation, down 1.7 per cent from 30 June 2020, which saw the peak of the impact of Covid -19 on temporary accommodation due to the Everyone In campaign. This decrease is driven by a fall in households with children reducing by 3.5 per cent to 60,490, while single households increased 1.5 per cent. Compared to the previous quarter, the number of households in temporary accommodation has risen 1.4 per cent from March 2021.

For the full statistics, click here. For tables, showing the information organised according to local authority, click here. For comment on the figures by Crisis, click here and for that of Shelter, click here. For a House of Commons Library briefing providing statistics on statutory homelessness in England, explaining local authorities' duties to homeless households and including comment on work to reduce homelessness, click here.

Spending Review and homelessness
The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Spending Review, delivered to Parliament on 27 October 2021, pledged “£639 million resource funding by 2024-25, a cash increase of 85 per cent compared to 2019-20, as part of the government’s commitment to end rough sleeping. This brings total resource funding to £1.9 billion over the Spending Review period”. For the Autumn Budget and Spending Review, click here. The housing section begins at para 2.23 on page 50. For comment by Crisis on this commitment, click here. For the response of Homeless Link, click here. For comment by Shelter, click here.

Rehoming the homeless – Wales
On 27 October 2021 the Welsh Government published guidance for local authorities and partners on “how to plan for the change to faster rehoming of the homeless”. For the guidance, click here.

Rough sleeping – London
On 29 October 2021 the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) revealed that from July to September 2021:

  • 2,918 people slept rough across London, a 13 per cent increase on the previous quarter and 15 per cent drop on the same period last year.
  • 1,361 slept rough for the first time, a 16 per cent rise on the last quarter.
  • 1,615 people had support needs including 1,146 with mental health needs.

For comment by Crisis, click here.

Forces Help to Buy Scheme quarterly statistics
On 28 October 2021 the Ministry of Defence published statistics on the number of applications and payments made under the Forces Help to Buy Scheme (FHTB) since its launch in April 2014. Since the Scheme began:

  • 60,378 First Stage FHTB applications have been received.
  • 29,922 of these applications have proceeded to the Second Stage.
  • Payment has been made to around 25,956 applicants, totalling over £395 million, an average of approximately £15,240 per claim.
  • At least 95 per cent of payments, as at 30 September 2021, have already resulted in a purchased property or extension.

For the full statistics, click here.

Legal aid: Standard Civil Contract (Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme) 2013
On 29 October 2021 the Legal Aid Agency published updated contract documents for providers delivering Housing Possession Court Duty Schemes. For the documents, including a table of amendments, click here.

Grenfell Tower Inquiry update
On 26 October 2021 the Grenfell Tower Inquiry published an update on its work. The update contains: a revised provisional timetable; arrangements for Module 6; monthly community drop-in sessions; disclosure figures; Core Participant figures; support arrangements during hearings; and contact information. For the update, click here.

Estate management partnership fined £120,000 for fatal gas safety breaches
On 27 October 2021 the Health and Safety Executive reported that Burghill Farms, a partnership trading as Dalhousie Estates, and Mr Piers Le Cheminant have been fined following an incident where one of the occupants of a holiday cottage was found collapsed in a bathroom heated by a portable cabinet propane gas heater. He later died from carbon monoxide poisoning (though failings by the accused could not be proven to be causally connected to the death). Burghill Farms pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 36(2)(a) of The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 and Section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £120,000. Piers le Cheminant pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 35 of The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, and Section 33(1)(c) the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. He was fined £2,000. Speaking after the hearing, HSE principal inspector Niall Miller said: “Landlords have a duty to maintain gas heaters in a safe condition, which in the context of movable gas appliances includes maintaining an appropriate operating environment.” For a full report, click here.

Damp and mould: Housing Ombudsman urges zero tolerance
On 26 October 2021 the Housing Ombudsman published a Spotlight report which urges social landlords to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to damp and mould. The report – Spotlight on damp and mould – It’s not lifestyle – examined 410 complaints investigated concerning 142 landlords over a two-year period, with maladministration found in 56 per cent, rising to 64 per cent for complaint handling alone. The report draws not only on casework but more than 500 responses to the call for evidence issued earlier this year. This failure rate was often the result of inaction, excessive delays or poor communication. For the report, click here. For the Housing Ombudsman’s October newsletter, click here.

Social housing sector stock and rents statistics show impact of pandemic: RSH
On 26 October 2021 the Regulator of Social Housing published its annual social housing sector stock and rents statistics as at 31 March 2021. The Regulator states that returns from all registered providers of social housing show that the sector provides 4.4 million homes across England with around a 25,000 net increase in social homes in the year. The number of Affordable Rent and low-cost home ownership homes increased, while the number of social rent homes fell. General needs (social rent) homes still make up the majority of the social housing sector at 77 per cent of all stock, with supported housing at 13 per cent and low cost home ownership at 7 per cent. For the report, click here. For the associated press release, click here.

Purpose-built village for rough sleepers planned in Manchester
On 1 November 2021 the Guardian reported: “[p]lans are under way to build the UK’s largest village for rough sleepers in one of Manchester’s most desirable neighbourhoods. Embassy Village will provide homes for 40 men in purpose-built pods underneath 10 railway arches in the Castlefield district, where one-bedroom flats regularly sell for £250,000.” For the report, click here.

Judicial Review and Courts Bill
On 26 October 2021 the Judicial Review and Courts Bill was debated in the House of Commons at second reading and has now been sent to a Public Bill Committee which will scrutinise the Bill line by line. It is expected to report to the House by Tuesday 23 November 2021. For the Bill, as introduced, click here.

HOUSING LAWS IN THE PIPELINE
 

Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill
This Government Bill would make provision about the rent payable under long leases of dwellings. The Bill completed its House of Lords stages on 14 September 2021 and was presented to the House of Commons on 15 September 2021. The Bill is expected to have its second reading debate on a date to be announced. For the Bill as brought from the House of Lords, click here. For a House of Commons Library briefing concerning the Bill, published on 22 September 2021, click here. To follow progress of the Bill, click here.

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 Public Bill Committee completed its scrutiny on 26 October 2021. The Bill is now due to have its report stage and third reading on a date to be announced. For the Bill as amended in Committee, 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.

Fire and Building Safety (Public Inquiry) Bill
This Bill, sponsored by Daisy Cooper, would establish an independent public inquiry into the Government’s response to concerns about fire and building safety. It was introduced to Parliament on Tuesday 6 July 2021 under the Ten Minute Rule. Second reading has been rescheduled to 18 March 2022. For the Bill, as introduced, 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 its second reading has been postponed to 19 November 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 its second reading has been postponed to 26 November 2021.The Bill awaits publication. To follow progress of the Bill, click here.

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HOUSING LAW CONSULTATIONS
 

Housing Ombudsman’s consultation on three year plan
The Housing Ombudsman has launched a consultation on its Corporate Plan for 2022-25. Set within the context of an unprecedented increase in the volume of casework and major change in the social housing sector, the plan reinforces the changing role and importance of complaint handling.  The Housing Ombudsman has experienced significant increases in demand with a 139 per cent increase in enquiries and complaints in the year to date compared with 2020-21, plus a 65 per cent increase in cases for formal investigation. Externally, the implementation of the Social Housing White Paper and future policy changes to improve access to complaints are likely to sustain increasing volumes of casework. 

The Corporate Plan aims to respond to this increase in complaints and it sets out ways the Ombudsman will work with the sector to promote fairness through investigations, strengthen complaint handling, encourage learning to improve services and potentially prevent complaints. 

Built around values of fairness, learning, openness and excellence, the key elements of the plan are to:

  • Increase awareness of the Ombudsman’s role, together with improving access to our service for those facing barriers.
  • Extend fairness through high-quality, inquisitorial and impartial investigations to establish if there was service failure with robust remedies and undertake thematic inquiries into systemic issues.
  • Use proactive interventions to improve landlords’ complaint handling and support earlier, local resolution for the benefit of all residents.
  • Establish a Centre for Learning to promote complaint handling excellence among social landlords by using insight from our casework, data and intelligence.

For the consultation, which closes on 12 November 2021, click here.  

HOUSING LAW ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS
 

Increased infections, declining temperatures and stretched resources; a national ambivalence around emergency provision this winter Jo Prestidge Homeless Link 25 October 2021 – to read the article, click here

Designing homes for everyone Jacquel Runnals Centre for Ageing Better 27 October 2021 – to read the article, click here

For a lasting solution to the housing emergency, the Conservative party should learn from its past Chris Wood Shelter Blog 28 October 2021 – to read the article, click here

Mortgagee protection clauses Sharon Kirkham and Chris Drabble Local Government Lawyer 29 October 2021 – to read the article, click here

Affordable housing investment to lead the way out of the crisis? John Perry CIH Blog 29 October 2021 – to read the article, click here

Rent Repayment applications – time limits for substituting parties Giles Peaker Nearly Legal 31 October 2021 – to read the article click here

Waiver and determining breach of lease Giles Peaker Nearly Legal 31 October 2021 – to read the article click here

Housing: recent developments (November 21) Jan Luba QC and Sam Madge-Wyld Legal Action – to read the article (subscription required), click here

HOUSING LAW DIARY
 

12 November 2021                               
Deadline for submissions to the Housing Ombudsman’s consultation on three year plan (see Housing Law Consultations)

19 November 2021                               
Postponed second reading of Caravan Sites Bill (see Housing Laws in the Pipeline)

26 November 2021                               
Postponed second reading of Homeless People (Current Accounts) Bill (see Housing Laws in the Pipeline)

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