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HOUSING
LAW NEWS & POLICY ISSUES
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Building Safety Bill
On 5 July 2021 the Government
published the Building Safety Bill which
has now commenced its legislative
passage through Parliament. Housing
Law Week will follow its passage
in the Housing Laws in the Pipeline
section (below). The Government says
that the Bill will:
- ensure there are clearly identified
people responsible for safety during
the design, build and occupation of a
high-rise residential building;
- establish a Building Safety
Regulator to hold to account those who
break the rules and are not properly
managing building safety risks,
including taking enforcement action
where needed;
- give residents in these buildings
more routes to raise concerns about
safety, and mechanisms to ensure their
concerns will be heard and taken
seriously;
- extend rights to compensation for
substandard workmanship and
unacceptable defects; and
- drive the culture change needed
across the industry to enable the
design and construction of
high-quality, safe homes in the years
to come.
For the Bill, click
here. For the MHCLG’s
press release announcing its publication,
click
here. For a transition
plan outlining an indicative timeline for
commencing the key provisions of the Bill,
click
here. For draft
regulations relating to the Bill, click
here. For the Government
response to the Housing, Communities and
Local Government Committee's
pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, click
here.
Building Safety Regulator
As noted above, on 5 July 2021
the MHCLG announced that the Building
Safety Bill will provide for the
establishment of a Building Safety
Regulator who will oversee the new
regime introduced by the legislation and
will be responsible for ensuring that
any building safety risks in new and
existing high rise residential buildings
of 18m and above are effectively managed
and resolved, taking cost into account.
For the announcement, click
here.
High rise residntial buildings
with dangerous cladding
On 4 July 2021 the Housing
Secretary, Robert Jenrick, said that the
Building Safety Bill would allow
residents 15 years from the date of a
building’s construction to sue for the
cost of removing dangerous cladding. The
proposal has been criticised on the
basis that a resident of a home built in
2006 could sue this year, but not any
later because of the 15-year limit. The
Guardian reports that residents
in at least 239 buildings will not be
able to take advantage because their
buildings are too old, according to
research by the UK Cladding Action
Group. For the report, click
here.
Lifting of restrictions on
evictions in England and Covid-19
related rent arrears
On 30 June 2021 the Commons
Select Committee on Housing, Communities
and Local Government published a letter
from the Minister for Rough Sleeping and
Housing concerning the lifting of
restrictions on evictions in England and
Covid-19 related rent arrears. The
Minister confirms that it is the
Government’s intention “that notice
periods will return to their pre-Covid
lengths from 1 October 2021” but will be
kept under review. For the letter, click
here.
Encampments and the Police,
Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
On 2 July 2021 the
Parliamentary Human Rights Committee
published a report on Part 4 of the
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts
Bill which relates to the
criminalisation of unauthorised
encampments. The Committee calls on the
Government to:
- reintroduce the statutory duty on
local authorities to make adequate
provision for sites for traveller
communities;
- amend the Bill so that a criminal
offence is only committed where an
adequate authorised site had been made
available by the local authority;
- amend the Bill so that a caravan
cannot be seized if it is a person’s
principal home and they would have
nowhere else to live; and
- ensure the legislation is
sufficiently clear for the police to
enforce its provisions.
For the report, click
here. For comment by
the Chair of the Committee, click
here.
Legal aid: extension of
temporary changes to housing claims
On 1 July 2021 the Legal Aid Agency
announced that it is extending temporary
arrangements for housing claims under
the 2018 standard civil contract.
Changes affecting housing claims
submitted from 13 April 2021 will now
run until 30 September 2021 instead of
30 June as originally intended. The
changes allow providers to make claims
where their actual costs reach the same
value as the fixed £157 fee. These
‘incurred profit costs’ are calculated
in accordance with the relevant hourly
rates set out in the remuneration
regulations. This amendment also means
that claims in respect of disbursements
on these cases may also be submitted.
For more details, click
here.
Regional and local support for
litigants in person
On 1 July 2021 the Ministry of Justice
announced that that the Legal Support
for Litigants in Person (LSLIP) grant is
fully underway, funding 11 projects
across more than 50 organisations at
local, regional and national levels to
help people to identify issues as early
as possible, to prevent them from
getting worse, and to support people
where they do need to attend court. For
the Ministry of Justice's press release,
click
here.
First Homes available for key
workers and first time buyers –
Cannock, Staffordshire
On 3 July 2021 the MHCLG
announced that ten First Homes had been
made available for sale in Cannock,
Staffordshire to support key workers and
first time buyers who struggle to afford
market prices in their area. Further
sites are set to launch across the
country in the coming months. It is
planned that a further 1,500 will join
the market from the end of the year,
with up to 60,000 First Homes projected
to be built across England and Wales by
2029-30. For the announcement, click
here.
Housing supply: indicators of
new supply – England: January to March
2021
On 30 June 2021 the MHCLG
published indicators on the levels of
and trends in new housing supply in
England. The number of dwellings where,
according to building control figures,
building work has started on site was
46,010 in January to March 2021. This is
a 7 per cent increase when compared to
last quarter and is the highest number
of quarterly starts since January to
March 2007. The number of dwellings
completed, according to building control
figures, was 49,470 in January to March
2021. This is a 4 per cent increase when
compared to last quarter. This is the
highest quarterly completions figure
since the beginning of the seasonally
adjusted series in 2000. For the release
of indicators, click
here. For the MHCLG’s
press release, click
here.
Domestic abuse: Support for
victims and survivors
On 2 July 2021 the House of Commons
Library published a briefing paper
explaining the varied support available
for victims and survivors of domestic
abuse. This includes support from
housing and social security agencies,
and specialist domestic abuse support
services such as Independent Domestic
Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and refuges.
For the paper, click
here.
Homelessness: 430 per cent
increase in B&B spend
On 3 July 2021 the Local Government
Association reported on analysis by it
which shows that councils in England
spent £142 million placing homeless
households in bed and breakfasts in
2019/20, compared with £26.7 million in
2010/11 – a 430 per cent increase.
Currently, there are, says the LGA,
10,510 households in bed and breakfasts,
according to provisional data, compared
with 2,310 a decade ago – more than a
350 per cent increase. The LGA is
calling for the Government to reform
Right to Buy so that councils can retain
100 per cent of receipts, have
flexibility to combine right to receipts
with other Government grants and be able
to set the size of discounts locally.
For more information, click
here.
ARCH/NFA Welfare Reform Survey
2021
On 30 June 2021 ARCH and NFA
published the Welfare Reform Survey
2021, Heads Above Water. It
finds little increase in council housing
debt but detects symptoms of a, so far,
less obvious and worrying pandemic
impact that may soon drive up rent
arrears across the social housing
sector. Income officers from councils
and Almos have reported increased use of
foodbanks, increased fuel poverty,
increased demand for money/debt advice
services and increased demand for
hardship funds. Other surveys in the
private rented sector suggest that a
significant spike in homelessness may be
around the corner if rising rent arrears
in the private rented sector spark
evictions once government support ends.
To read the report, click
here. For comment by
ARCH and NFA, click
here.
Rough sleeping– London
On 30 June 2021 the Combined
Homelessness and Information Network
(CHAIN) published annual statistics for
2020/21, showing levels of rough
sleeping across London between April
2020 and March 2021. The statistics
show:
- A total of 11,018 people were seen
rough sleeping in London during
2020/21. This is a 3 per cent increase
compared to the total of 10,726 people
seen in 2019/20.
- 7,531 people were seen rough
sleeping for the first time this year,
representing 68 per cent of all
people seen sleeping rough. This is a
7 per cent increase on the number of
new rough sleepers in 2019/20.
- New rough sleepers are the group
which has shown the greatest increase
compared to 2019/20.
- There has been a 94 per cent
increase in rough sleeping numbers
since 2011/12 (5,678) to 2020/21
(11,018).
For comment by Crisis, click
here.
Police guide on preventing rough
sleeping published
On 5 July 2021 Crisis and the
National Police Chiefs’ Council
published a joint practical guide on
helping people end their rough sleeping
without enforcement. The guide, which is
being shared with all 43 police forces
in England and Wales, highlights
successful collaborations between police
forces, local authorities and third
sector organisations to tackle the
issue. The diverse range of actions
include:
- Humberside Police’s dedicated
community officer working alongside
local homelessness service providers.
- Welsh homelessness charity The
Wallich training 40 South Wales Police
officers and PCSOs to increase
awareness and understanding of people
sleeping rough.
- In Derby, The Police and Crime
Commissioner’s Office, Public Health
England, Derby Homes and East Midlands
Ambulance Service all working in
partnership with Derby City Mission to
provide a ‘safe space’ which enables
people to access support, day or
night.
- Essex Police and Greater Manchester
Police both developing multi-agency
street engagement hubs.
For the guide, which is available in
long and short form, click
here.
Tenancy Hardship Grant – Wales
On 30 June 2021 Julie James, the Welsh
Government Minister, announced the
availability of the Tenancy Hardship
Grant. The grant will replace the
existing Tenancy Saver Loan scheme and
support private rented sector tenants in
Wales who are in significant rent
arrears as a direct consequence of the
pandemic. Tenants who are not in receipt
of housing related benefits, who have
fallen behind on their payments by eight
weeks or more as a consequence of the
pandemic between 1 March 2020 and 30
June 2021, will be eligible to apply for
a grant. For the announcement and
details of how to apply for the grant,
go to the housing section of the
wales.gov website. For comment by the
National Residential Landlords
Association, click
here.
Grenfell Tower Inquiry update
On 30 June 2021 the Inquiry published
its latest monthly update on its work.
The update provides a digest of: limited
attendance hearings; disclosure figures;
Core Participant figures; support
arrangements during limited attendance
hearings; and contact information. For
the update, click
here.
Housing Ombudsman: casebook of
350 individual decisions published
On 5 July 2021 the Housing Ombudsman
published a casebook of 350 individual
decisions since March 2021. The
decisions are intended to provide an
ever-expanding resource to promote
learning, fairness and accountability in
the sector and demonstrate the
difference complaints can make for
individual residents and wider benefit.
For the casebook, click
here. For an
explanation of what the casebook covers,
click
here.
Rented housing laws "not fit for
purpose": NRLA
On 5 July 2021 the National Residential
Landlords Association published the
results of analysis showing that by the
time the Building Safety Bill is given
Royal Assent, the number of statutory
provisions applying to the sector in
England will have risen by 40 per cent
over the last decade to 168 pieces of
legislation. This includes the Landlord
and Tenant Act 1730 and the Distress for
Rent Act 1737. The NRLA is warning that
far from the private rented sector being
under-regulated, the sheer number of
laws means councils are unable to
enforce them properly. For more
information, click
here.
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HOUSING
LAWS IN THE PIPELINE
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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 will receive its second
reading on a date to be scheduled. 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. 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. The
Bill will now proceed to the report
stage which is yet to be scheduled. For
the Bill as introduced, 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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Patel v London Borough of
Hackney [2021]
EWCA Civ 897 (21 June 2021)
The appellant, Mr Patel, challenged a
review decision by the Council that he
had become intentionally homeless and
was not, therefore, owed more than the
limited housing duty prescribed by
s.190(2) HA 1996.
Facts
In October 2008, Mr Patel was granted a
tenancy of a privately owned flat. He
lived there with his wife and children
until June 2018 when he was evicted
under an outright possession order based
on rent arrears.
Shortly before the warrant for
possession was executed on 25 June 2018,
he had made a homelessness application
and was placed in interim accommodation
pending a s.184 determination of his
application.
The Council issued its s.184 decision on
2nd May 2019, finding that although he
was eligible for assistance, he had
become homeless intentionally because of
his failure to pay the rent due. This
had the consequence that the Council’s
full duty under s.193 HA 1996 did not
apply and rather it was limited to
securing accommodation for such period
as would give him a reasonable
opportunity of securing accommodation
and the giving of advice and assistance
(s.190(1), (2) HA 1996). In the s.184
decision letter, the Council
decision-maker stated that Mr Patel had
underestimated the family’s expenditure
and an additional £32 per week was added
to reflect payments for ‘white goods’.
In the circumstances, it was concluded
that the accommodation had been
affordable to the family.
Mr Patel sought a review of that
decision under s.202 HA 1996 and
submitted a revised list of income and
expenditure. The review officer sent a
letter in response pursuant to r.7(2) of
the Homelessness (Review Procedures etc)
Regulations 2018 indicating that he was
minded to uphold the s.184 decision. The
review officer excluded the housing
officer’s allowance of £32 per week for
‘white goods’ as this was not considered
to be an ‘essential expense’ and
calculated an approximate surplus of £3
from Mr Patel’s weekly expenditure set
against his income. The review officer,
therefore, concluded that with careful
budgeting the accommodation was
affordable.
Mr Patel submitted further
representations in response, arguing it
was the original housing officer who had
added the figure for white goods
although he wished to adopt the amount
put forward.
The Council issued its review decision
in response which upheld the s.184
decision. The review officer disregarded
the expenditure for ‘white goods’, which
was not considered to be an ‘essential
expense’ and it was considered that
there is sufficient flexibility in Mr
Patel’s weekly expenditure to cater for
such eventualities.
The Court of Appeal
In Mr Patel’s appeal, part of the
argument focused on what was meant by
‘other reasonable living expenses’ in
Article 2 of the Homelessness
(Suitability of Accommodation) Order
1996 and consequently whether the review
officer was wrong to have excluded the
£32 allowed for white goods in its
entirety on the basis this was not
regarded as an essential expense. The
Court of Appeal did not consider that
there was an inconsistency between the
wording of ‘reasonable’ living expenses
(as per Article 2) and ‘essential’
expenses in paragraph 17.46 of the 2018
Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local
Authorities. Rather it was considered
that paragraph 17.46 was no more than an
elaboration of what level of expenditure
it would be reasonable to take into
account in deciding whether the
accommodation was affordable [at 13].
In the present case, it was considered
that the review officer’s assessment
that there was ‘sufficient flexibility’
in the budget to cater for such
occasional expenditure demonstrated a
recognition that such expenditure might
be a necessary and reasonable living
expense albeit an occasional one [at
33]. However, given that even on the
review officer’s calculations the weekly
rent had been overstated and the
shopping allowance had been increased,
the assessment that there was
‘sufficient flexibility’ in the budget
to cater for such occasional expenditure
was a conclusion that was properly open
to the officer and therefore did not
disclose any error of law. Accordingly,
the appeal was dismissed.
Summary by Henry
Percy-Raine, barrister,
Trinity
Chambers. For the
judgment, click
here.
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HOUSING
LAW CONSULTATIONS
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Domestic abuse support within
safe accommodation: statutory guidance
and regulations consultation
In this consultation, the MHCLG
seeks views on the draft statutory
guidance and the following draft
statutory instruments:
- The Domestic Abuse Support (Relevant
Accommodation) Regulations 2021
- The Domestic Abuse (Local Authority
Strategies) Regulations 2021
On 29 April the Domestic Abuse Act 2021
received Royal Assent. The Act includes
within Part 4 (sections 57-61) new
duties on tier 1 local authorities in
England relating to the provision of
support for victims and their children
residing within relevant safe
accommodation and a duty on tier 2
authorities to co-operate with tier 1
authorities.
The Act also places a requirement to
consult on the statutory guidance and
two regulations. Under section 60 of
Part 4 of the Act, the Secretary of
State is required to consult on and
issue statutory guidance to assist local
authorities in exercising their new
functions. Once finalised, local
authorities will need to have regard to
the guidance in exercising their
functions.
For the consultation documents, click
here. The consultation
closes on 27 July 2021.
Personal Emergency Evacuation
Plans
Following the Fire Safety Consultation,
which ran from 20 July to 12 October
2020, the Home Office is seeking views
on new proposals to implement the
Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 1
recommendations on Personal Emergency
Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) in high-rise
residential buildings. This consultation
supports delivery of two of the Grenfell
Tower Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations
and is part of the government’s package
of reforms to improve building and fire
safety in all regulated premises where
people live, stay or work.
For a full package of documents to
support this consultation, which closes
on 19 July 2021, click
here.
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.
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HOUSING
LAW ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS
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New ‘Right to Rent’ rules
for EU citizens: A disaster waiting
to happen Cecil Sagoe
Shelter Blog 28 June 2021 – to
read the article, click
here
The New Model for Shared
Ownership Lease: A decade of repair
costs for Landlords Devonshires
Solicitors 29 June 2021 – to read
the article, click
here
How can I help someone
sleeping rough in hot weather?
Fiona Colley Homeless Link 29
June 2021 – to read the article, click
here
Renters in Redvales: rent
increase win Liz
Norris Shelter Blog 2 July
2021 – to read the article, click
here
If you’re not too hot, we’re
evicting you Giles
Peaker Nearly Legal 2 July
2021 – to read the article, click
here
Can mediation solve the
housing possessions backlog? Catherine
Urquhart Local Government Lawyer 2
July 2021 – to read the article, click
here
Breathing Space for Wales?
Extension of possession notices,
restarting of eviction warrants and
a new Hardship Grant Mike
Norman Nearly Legal 4 July
2021 – to read the article, click
here
The use of positive
requirements in ASB Injunctions:
‘Make me’ Abs Lalji MSB
Solicitors July 2021 – to read
the article, click
here
Gypsy and Traveller: case
note – Barking and Dagenham LBC and
others v Persons Unknown and others
Chris Johnson, Marc
Willers QC, Owen Greenhall and Tessa
Buchanan Legal Action July /
August 2021 – to read the article
(subscription required), click
here
HB and UC housing costs:
update 2021 (Jul/Aug 21) Bethan
Harris, Desmond Rutledge and Kevin
Gannon Legal Action July /
August 2021 – to read the article
(subscription required), click
here
Housing: anonymity orders
(Jul/Aug 21) Sioned
Wyn Roberts Legal Action July /
August 2021 – to read the article
(subscription required), 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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19 July 2021
Closing date for responses to the
consultation on Personal Emergency
Evacuation Plans (see Housing Law
Consultations)
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27 July 2021
Closing date for responses to the
consultation on Domestic abuse support
within safe accommodation: statutory
guidance and regulations consultation
(see Housing Law Consultations)
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