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HOUSING
LAW NEWS & POLICY ISSUES
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National lockdown: guidance
Following the Prime Minister's
announcement on 4 January 2021 of a new
national lockdown, the Government
published updated guidance clarifying
what people can and cannot do. The
guidance includes the following: “You
can still move home. People outside your
household or support bubble should not
help with moving house unless absolutely
necessary. Estate and letting agents and
removals firms can continue to work. If
you are looking to move, you can go to
property viewings.” For the guidance, click
here.
Covid-19 protections for rough
sleepers and renters
On 8 January 2021 the MHCLG
announced extra support to help protect
rough sleepers and renters from the
effects of Covid-19. An additional £10
million in funding will be made
available to councils in England; they
have been asked to redouble their
efforts to help accommodate all those
currently sleeping rough and ensure they
are swiftly registered with a GP, where
they are not already. The Ministry also
announced that the ban on bailiff
evictions will be extended for at least
six weeks – until at least 21 February
2021 – for all but the most egregious
cases, with measures kept under review.
The extension is effected by the Public
Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from
Eviction) (England) Regulations 2021.
For the announcement, click
here. For the
legislation, click
here. For the response
of the Local Government Association, click
here and
for that of Crisis, click
here. For comment by
Citizens Advice on the extension of the
ban on bailiff enforced evictions, click
here.
Covid-19 and renters in arrears:
Citizens Advice report
On 5 January 2021 Citizens Advice
published research which estimated that
half a million renters remained in
arrears, with the average amount owed
being £730, which would mean around £360
million is owed across the country. The
charity called for:
- A legal ban on bailiff action (see
the above news item) and pause on all
possession proceedings during the
national lockdown in England and in
tiers 2 and above; and
- Targeted financial support for
people in England who have built up
rent arrears. The government should
consider a system of grants and
government-backed loans – comparable
to schemes in Scotland and Wales – to
help people pay back their rent
arrears sustainably and stay in their
homes.
For the report, click
here.
Covid-19 and renters in
arrears: joint statement of property
organisations and charities
On 7 January 2021 the National
Residential Landlords Association, The
Big Issue and Ride Out Recession
Alliance, Shelter, ARLA Propertymark,
the Nationwide Building Society, and
StepChange issued a joint statement
saying:
“Many thousands of private renters and
landlords across the country now face
rent arrears due to the impact of the
pandemic. Ministers have failed to
address the core problem of debts which
have built despite the financial package
put in place so far. Indeed, the
Chancellor confirmed that housing
benefit will not be linked to the cost
of renting for future years. Renters,
landlords and letting agents cannot be
expected simply to muddle through
indefinitely where they face these
financial difficulties. The Government
needs to develop an urgent package to
help renters in paying off arrears built
since March last year. Without further
action, debts will continue to mount,
making it far more difficult to sustain
tenancies and keep renters in their
homes after the pandemic.”
For research on the issue, published by
the NRLA on 22 December 2020, click
here.
Covid-19 and homelessness
On 10 January 2021,
the Observer reported that,
according to figures compiled by the
newspaper, more than 70,000 households
have been made homeless since the start
of the pandemic, with tens of thousands
more threatened with homelessness.
According to the Observer,
207,543 households approached their
local council for help with homelessness
or the threat of homelessness between
the start of April and the end of
November 2020. Of these, 50,561 were
‘owed the prevention duty’, meaning they
were judged to be threatened with
homelessness, while 70,309 were ‘owed
the relief duty’, meaning they were
already homeless. For the report, click
here.
Covid-19: Support for landlords
and tenants
On 10
January 2021 the House of Commons Library
published a briefing paper explaining
measures taken by the Government during
the coronavirus outbreak to assist
households in the rented sector to retain
their homes. The paper covers the
introduction of extended notice periods
and the end of the ban on evictions in
England and Wales from 20 September 2020.
It has been updated in light of the
extended ban on enforcing eviction orders
after 11 January 2021. For the briefing
paper, click
here.
Covid-19 and protection for renters –
Wales
On 8
January 2021 the Welsh Government
introduced legislation to further suspend
evictions (except in cases of anti-social
behaviour or domestic violence) until 31
March 2021. The extension is part of a
wider package of Welsh Government funded
measures to protect tenants and public
health during the crisis which include:
- Investing up to £50 million to
tackle homelessness and to increase
the number of both temporary and
permanent homes;
- Announcing an additional £40 million
Housing Support Grant and £4 million
Homelessness Prevention Grant, both
focused on tackling and preventing
homelessness and providing the support
people need in the draft budget;
- Increased the notice period for
evictions from three to six months;
- Introduced a new low interest,
affordable Tenancy Saver Loan scheme
paid directly to landlords or agents
for tenants in rent arrears because of
Covid-19; and
- Established a private rented sector
helpline run by Citizen Advice Cymru
for tenants struggling with rent,
income or housing benefits.
For the
announcement, click
here.
Covid-19: vaccinations for
homelessness workers
On 5
January 2021 Homeless Link called for
those working with people experiencing
homelessness to be treated as a priority
occupation for Covid-19 vaccination. The
organisation says that just as residents
of care homes are at higher clinical risk
of severe disease, so are those who use
single homeless hostels and other shared
homeless accommodation for rough sleepers.
Consequently, frontline homelessness
workers are also at increased risk of
exposure to Covid-19 and of transmitting
an infection to the susceptible people
they support. The organisation is asking
people to write to their local MP to ask
that they immediately raise this critical
matter with the Minister for Covid Vaccine
Deployment on behalf of their
constituents. For more details, click
here.
Extension of leaseholds
On 7 January 2021 the MHCLG announced that
leaseholders of houses and flats will be
given the right to extend their lease by a
maximum term of 990 years at zero ground
rent. An online calculator will be
introduced to make it simpler for
leaseholders to find out how much it will
cost them to buy their freehold or extend
their lease. Prohibitive costs such as
‘marriage value’ will be abolished and
calculation rates set to ensure this is
fairer, cheaper and more transparent.
Legislation will be brought forward in the
upcoming session of Parliament, to set
future ground rents to zero.
The Government is also now
establishing a Commonhold Council – a
partnership of leasehold groups,
industry and government – that will
prepare homeowners and the market for
the widespread take-up of commonhold.
The announcements follow reports by the
Law Commission on enfranchisement,
commonhold and right to manage published
in July 2020. For the announcement, click
here. For the Law
Commission’s reports, click
here.
£310 million fund to tackle
homelessness
On 21 December 2020 the MHCLG
announced that a further fund of £310
million will be targeted at areas with
high numbers of homeless
people, those at risk of homelessness,
or those living in temporary accommodation
in order to help them to rebuild their
lives. The funding represents a £47
million increase on last year and can be
used to offer financial
support for people to find a new home, to
work with landlords to prevent evictions,
or to provide temporary accommodation to
ensure families have a roof over their
head. For the announcement, click
here.
Domestic Abuse Bill
On 5 January 2021 the Domestic
Abuse Bill received its second reading
in the House of Lords. The committee
stage, at which the bill will be
scrutinised line-by-line, is yet to be
scheduled. For the second reading
debate, click
here. For the bill, as
introduced in the Lords, click
here. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here.
Amendments to civil legal aid
eligibility criteria
On 7
January 2021 the Legal Aid Agency
announced that compensation provided to
claimants of specific compensation schemes
will now be disregarded when assessing
civil legal aid eligibility. The LAA has
implemented the changes made to the
regulations to ensure that claimants of
those specific compensation schemes are
not disadvantaged in applying for legal
aid. The legislation also removes the
existing cap on the amount of mortgage
debt that can be deducted from a
property's value, so that all mortgage
debt will be deducted. This means that
more individuals will pass the financial
eligibility criteria for civil legal aid.
This change will come into effect from 28
January 2021. For details of the schemes
specified, click
here.
‘Better housing is crucial
for our health’: Health Foundation
report
On 28 December 2020 The Health
Foundation published a report stating
that better housing is crucial for the
nation’s health and the Covid-19
recover. The report makes the following
key findings:
- Immediately before the Covid-19
pandemic, one in three households (7.6
million) in England had at least one
major housing problem relating to
overcrowding, affordability or
poor-quality housing.
- Housing problems such as these can
affect health outcomes, including
physical health directly from poor
quality homes, and mental health from
affordability or insecure housing.
- One million households in England
experience more than one housing
problem. Having multiple housing
problems is associated with even worse
health.
- While fewer homes are classed as
non-decent compared with 10 years ago,
overcrowding and affordability
problems have increased in recent
years.
- The pandemic has highlighted the
health implications of housing. Poor
housing conditions such as
overcrowding and high density are
associated with greater spread of
Covid-19, and people have had to spend
more time in homes that are
overcrowded, damp or unsafe. The
economic fallout from the pandemic may
lead to an increase in evictions.
- These housing problems have multiple
causes: a focus on increasing supply
to the detriment of other objectives;
sustained reductions in housing
benefits; and a private rented model
which does not meet the needs of
tenants.
- A combination of greater investment
in social housing, more secure private
tenancies, and reversing reductions in
housing benefit support – such as the
cuts to Local Housing Allowance (LHA)
– will be needed to improve the
contribution of housing to health.
For the full report, click
here.
Empty Homes Grant Scheme –
Wales
On 7 January 2021 the Deputy
Minister for Economy and Transport
announced that more than 500
applications have been received to bring
empty homes back in to use through the
Welsh Government’s £10 million Valleys
Taskforce Empty Homes Grant Scheme. For
the announcement, click
here.
Homelessness ‘own initiative’
investigation launched – Wales
On 8
January 2021 the Public Services Ombudsman
for Wales launched an ‘own initiative’
investigation into the administration of
the homelessness review process by local
authorities in Wales. The investigation
will focus on three local authorities:
Cardiff Council, Carmarthenshire County
Council and Wrexham County Borough
Council. The Ombudsman, Nick Bennett, said
he wanted to take the opportunity to use
his new investigation powers to both
support public services and make a ‘real
time’ difference to the people of Wales.
The findings of the investigation will be
published later this year. For more
details of the investigation, click
here.
Rent Smart Wales: NRLA report
On 11 January 2021 the National
Residential Landlords Association
published a report which found that an
‘accountability deficit’ exists within
Rent Smart Wales (RSW), the nation’s
registration and licensing authority for
the private rented sector. The main
conclusions of the report include:
- RSW has an accountability deficit
and lacks transparency.
- There is no regular evaluation of
RSW, hampering improvements to the
regime.
- The absence of a central, guiding
strategy for the private rented sector
(PRS) from the Welsh Government has
contributed to RSW’s shortcomings.
- RSW has not engaged well enough with
landlords, tenants, or local
authorities.
- Landlords are paying in more than
they get out of RSW.
- In meeting its objectives, RSW’s
record has been far from stellar
despite meeting a number of its
targets for participation.
For more details, click
here.
Grenfell Tower Inquiry:
temporary suspension of hearings
On 6 January 2020 the Grenfell
Tower Inquiry announced that, in light
of recent developments and the Prime
Minister’s announcement on 4 January
2020 of a new national lockdown, it has
decided to suspend temporarily oral
hearings. The Panel is keen to maintain
the momentum of the Phase 2 hearings,
and so has made the decision to switch
to remote hearings as soon as possible.
The Panel recognises that the subject of
remote hearings was fully explored with
core participants last spring during the
first 2020 lockdown, and that it was not
in favour of that option for the reasons
given at that time. However, the Panel
has decided it is better to have remote
hearings than no hearings at all while
the current restrictions are in place,
and wishes to emphasise that this is a
temporary measure to be used only for as
long as it is absolutely necessary. For
the full announcement, click
here.
Rogue landlords – London
On 7
January 2021 the London Mayor’s Office
reported that between March and December
2020 the Mayor’s Report a Rogue tool
received 1,443 complaints about landlord
and agents, more than double the 638
reports received during the same period in
2019. The number of reports during the
last three months of 2020 was particularly
high: 546, compared to 193 in the same
period in 2019. Around one in five of the
complaints received in the first three
quarters of the year reported unfair
eviction at a time when evictions for most
renters were banned or could not be
enforced by bailiffs. For the report, click
here.
Severe weather provision for
rough sleepers – London
On 7 January 2021 the Mayor of London,
Sadiq Khan, activated the pan-London
Severe Weather Emergency Protocols
(SWEP) from that date until 11 January
in order to protect homeless people as
temperatures were forecast to fall below
0°C across London during that period.
The activation of SWEP compels councils
across London (in association with
homelessness charities) to open
emergency accommodation for people who
are sleeping rough during the worst
weather conditions. For the
announcement, click
here.
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HOUSING
LAWS IN THE PIPELINE
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Fire Safety Bill
This Government bill
would make provision about the
application of the Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order 2005 where a
building contains two or more sets of
domestic premises; and would confer
power to amend that order in future for
the purposes of changing the premises to
which it applies. The bill completed its
final stages in the House of Commons on
7 September 2020. It received its first
reading in the House of Lords on 8
September 2020 and its second reading on
1 October 2020. The committee stage was
completed on 29 October 2020. The report
stage took place on 17 November 2020.
The third reading took place on 24
November 2020. The House of Lords have
returned the Bill to the House of
Commons with amendments. The amendments
will be considered on the floor of the
House on a date to be announced. For the
bill, as amended on report, click
here. To read debates
on all stages of the bill, click
here. For a briefing
note prepared by the Local Government
Association on second reading in the
House of Lords, click
here. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here.
Supported Housing
(Regulation) Bill
This private member's bill, sponsored by
Kerry McCarthy, would regulate supported
housing; make provision about local
authority oversight and the enforcement
of standards of accommodation and
support in supported housing; and
prohibit the placing of children in care
in unregulated accommodation. It
received its first reading on 11
November 2020. The second reading has
been postponed to 22 January
2021. The bill is being
prepared for publication. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here.
Domestic Properties
(Minimum Energy Performance) Bill
This private member’s
bill, sponsored by Sir David Amess,
would require the Secretary of State to
ensure that domestic properties have a
minimum energy performance rating of C
on an Energy Performance Certificate; to
give the Secretary of State powers to
require persons to take action in
pursuance of that duty. The first
reading was on 14 July 2020 and the
second reading has been further
postponed to 22 January 2021.
The bill is being prepared for
publication. To follow progress of the
bill, click
here.
Sublet Property (Offences)
Bill
This private members’ bill,
sponsored by Sir Christopher Chope,
would make the breach of certain rules
relating to sub-letting rented
accommodation a criminal offence and
would make provision for criminal
sanctions in respect of unauthorised
sub-letting. The bill is being prepared
for publication. It received its first
reading on 10 February 2020. The second
reading has been yet further postponed
to 22 January 2021. To
follow progress of the bill, click
here.
Mobile Homes and Park Homes
Bill
This private members’ bill, sponsored by
Sir Christopher Chope, would require the
use of published criteria to determine
whether mobile homes and park homes are
liable for council tax or non-domestic
rates; make provision in relation to the
residential status of such homes; and
amend the Mobile Home Acts. The bill is
being prepared for publication. It
received its first reading in the House
of Commons on 10 February 2020. The
second reading has been yet further
postponed to 5 February 2021.
To follow progress of the bill, click
here.
Mobile Homes Act 1983
(Amendment) Bill
This private members’ bill, sponsored by
Sir Christopher Chope, seeks to amend
the Mobile Homes Act 1983. It received
its first reading in the House of
Commons on 10 February 2020. The second
reading has been yet further postponed
to 15 January 2021. For
the bill as introduced, click
here. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here.
Houses in Multiple
Occupation Bill
This private member’s
bill, sponsored by Ian Levy, would amend
the law relating to the licensing of
houses in multiple occupation and
increase penalties for the contravention
of such licences. The bill received its
first reading on 9 September 2020. The
second reading has been further
postponed to 5 March 2021.
The bill is being prepared for
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. The bill is being
prepared for publication. It received
its first reading in the House of
Commons on 10 February 2020. The second
reading has been postponed to 12
March 2021. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here.
Caravan Sites Bill
This private members’ bill,
sponsored by Sir Christopher Chope,
would amend the Caravan Sites and
Control of Development Act 1960 to
remove planning permission requirements
for caravan site licence applicants. It
received its first reading in the House
of Commons on 10 February 2020. The
second reading has been further
postponed to 15 January 2021.
For the bill as introduced, click
here. 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 would establish asylum seeker
accommodation eviction procedures for
public authorities. The first reading
was on 10 February 2020. The second
reading is scheduled for 5
March 2021. The bill is being
prepared for publication. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here.
Vagrancy (Repeal) Bill
This private members’ bill, sponsored by
Layla Moran, would repeal the Vagrancy
Act 1824. It received its first reading
in the House of Commons on 18 March
2020. The second reading has been
further postponed to 26 March
2021. For the bill as
introduced, click
here. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here.
Renting Homes (Amendment)
(Wales) Bill
This Welsh Government bill seeks to
amend the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016
to provide greater security for people
who rent their homes in Wales. This will
particularly affect those who live in
the private rented sector and occupy
their homes under a ‘standard occupation
contract’, the equivalent to the current
assured shorthold tenancy, after the
2016 Act comes into force. This
additional security will primarily be
achieved by extending the minimum notice
period for issuing a section 173 notice
under the 2016 Act (the equivalent of
the current section 21 notice under the
Housing Act 1988) from two months to six
months. Landlords will also be prevented
from issuing such a notice until at
least six months from the date of
occupancy. Further provisions will also
ensure that landlords are unable to
issue rolling ‘speculative’ notices on a
‘just in case’ basis. The bill was
introduced in the Senedd on 10 February
2020. The Stage 1 motion to agree the
general principles of the Bill was
agreed in Plenary on 13 October 2020.
Stage 2 began on 14 October 2020. Stage
2 consideration took place in Committee
on 27 November 2020. Stage 3 commenced
on 30 November 2020. Amendments may now
be tabled to the Bill (as amended at
Stage 2). For the bill as amended at
Stage 2, all other documents relating to
it, and to follow progress on the bill,
click
here.
Domestic Premises (Energy
Performance) Bill
This private member’s bill, sponsored by
Lord Foster of Bath, would require the
Secretary of State to ensure that
domestic properties have a minimum
energy performance rating of C on an
Energy Performance Certificate; to make
provision regarding performance and
insulation of new heating systems in
existing properties. The first reading
was on 8 January 2020 and the second
reading on 7 February 2020. The
committee stage will commence on a date
to be appointed. For the bill, as
introduced, click
here. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here.
Rented Homes Bill
This private member’s bill, sponsored by
Baroness Grender, would amend the
Housing Act 1988 to abolish assured
shorthold tenancies; and to extend the
grounds upon which landlords of
residential housing may recover
possession. First reading took place on
22 January 2020. The second reading will
be on a date to be announced. For the
bill, as introduced, click
here. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here.
Telecommunications
Infrastructure (Leasehold Property)
Bill
This Government bill would amend the
electronic communications code set out
in Schedule 3A to the Communications Act
2003; by doing so, it would address one
stated policy barrier: making it easier
for telecoms companies to access
multi-dwelling buildings (such as blocks
of flats) where a tenant has requested a
new connection, but the landlord has not
responded to requests for access rights.
The bill received its first reading in
the House of Commons on 8 January 2020
and its second reading on 22 January
2020. For the second reading debate, click
here. The committee
stage was completed on 11 February 2020.
For the committee debate, click
here. The third reading
in the House of Commons was on 10 March
2020; for the debate, click
here. First reading in
the House of Lords was on 11 March 2020.
The second reading was on 22 April 2020.
The committee stage was completed on 2
June 2020 and the report stage on 29
June 2020. The third reading will be on
a date to be announced. For the bill, as
amended on report, click
here. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here. For a briefing,
prepared by the House of Commons Library
after second reading in the House of
Commons, click
here.
Evictions (Universal Credit
Claimants) Bill
This private members’ bill, sponsored by
Chris Stephens, seeks to place a duty on
the Secretary of State to prevent the
evictions of Universal Credit claimants
in rent arrears. The bill is being
prepared for publication. It received
its first reading in the House of
Commons on 10 February 2020. The second
reading has been further postponed to 29
January 2021. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here.
Housing Act 2004
(Amendment) Bill
This private members’ bill, sponsored by
Sir Christopher Chope, seeks to amend
Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004 to
provide that any selective licensing
scheme for residential accommodation
extends to social housing. The bill is
being prepared for publication. It
received its first reading on 10
February 2020. The second reading has
been further postponed to 15
January 2021. To follow
progress of the bill, click
here.
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Nur & Anor, R (On the
Application Of) v Birmingham City
Council [2020]
EWHC 3526 (Admin) (19 December 2020)
The case considers the application for
judicial review brought by the Claimants
regarding Birmingham City Council’s
housing allocation policy.
The facts
Mrs Nur lived with three adult
daughters. She acted as a full-time carer
for Zakiya (the second Claimant), who had
been assessed as needing modifications to
her home, including a level shower. Mrs
Nur and her daughters made a housing
application to Birmingham Council (the
Council) in 2011. The family then became
homeless in 2018 and were temporarily
housed in a property which did not meet
Zakiya’s needs.
The court was shown records for 2019
indicating that Mrs Nur had come to the
top of the priority list for housing,
but her bids were ‘skipped’. This
included a bid on a three-bed property
with adaptations.
The Council had skipped her application
in line with their Housing Allocations
Scheme 2017 para 8.1 which set out
“preference for houses with two or more
bedrooms will be allocated to families
with dependent children”. However, this
had been superseded by 2018 guidance
which read: “Properties with adaptations
will be allocated to persons with a
physical or sensory disability”.
In July 2020, Mrs Nur bid for another
three-bed house with adaptations and
again her application was skipped in
preference for a family with dependent
children. The Council explained in
correspondence that they first looked
for families with dependent children and
only if there were none, would they look
then at whether there was a customer
with a disability [21].
In September 2020, the Council agreed to
make an exception to its existing policy
by letting a property to Mrs Nur in
order to avoid costly litigation.
The legislation
Section 166A(1) of the Housing Act 1996
requires every local authority to have an
Allocation Scheme. Section 166A(14)
provides: “A local housing authority in
England shall not allocate housing
accommodation except in accordance with
their scheme”.
Section 149 of the Equality Act imposes
a public sector equality duty (PSED)
which requires those exercising public
functions to have due regard to the need
to the need to eliminate discrimination,
advance equality of opportunity and
foster good relations.
The application
Mrs Nur brought an application for
judicial review on the grounds that:
1. The Council acted
unlawfully in contravening its own
allocation scheme and thus breached the
duty under section 166A of the Housing
Act 1996;
2. The allocation scheme was
unlawful in prioritising families with
dependent children over those with
disabilities because:
a. It constituted unlawful
indirect discrimination against families
with household members who were
disabled;
b. It breached the PSED; and
c. It failed to comply with the
duty under section 29 of the Equality
Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments
for persons with disabilities;
3. The allocation scheme was
unlawful on the grounds of unfairness;
and
4. The allocation scheme was
irrational.
In breach of CPR 54.8, the Council
failed to serve an acknowledgement of
service or provide summary grounds to
explain its position to the court.
In reliance upon their having allocated
a property to Mrs Nur, the Council
contacted the Claimant seeking
agreement. David Lock QC, sitting as a
deputy judge of the High Court, found
that this indicated “a fundamental
misunderstanding of the differences
between private and public law
litigation” as it failed to recognise
that the case was brought to review
legality affecting many, not just the
individual [33].
The Council made an application five
days before the hearing to serve
detailed grounds resistance and
evidence, in reliance upon CPR 54.14.
The court found that it was not entitled
to rely upon rule 54.14 as it had not
served an acknowledgement of service
[39].
The hearing
The court was highly critical of the
Council’s handling of the proceedings;
this was not tempered by the court’s
acknowledgement of the disruption caused
by the coronavirus pandemic [2].
The court was also critical of the
nature of the evidence the Council had
sought to serve, as in spite of the
alleged breach of PSED: “the evidence
did not disclose the equalities analysis
prepared by the Council in advance of
the adoption of the Allocation Scheme”
[42]. It also failed to address the
practicalities of the operation of its
policy as it did not address the
likelihood of those with disabilities
securing a property with the rule in
operation [43-45].
The court highlighted the importance of
councillors being aware of their duties
to disabled people, as set out in R
(Chavda) v London Borough of Harrow
[2007] EWHC 3064 (Admin) (2007) 11 CCLR
187.The court also referred to the
decision in R (Brown) v Secretary
of State for Work and Pensions [2008]
EWHC 3158 (Admin) which sets out the
need to have regard to this duty at the
time any new policy is being considered.
In the present case it found that to
comply with PSED the potentially
discriminatory effect of the allocations
policy upon disabled people should have
been highlighted to decision makers and
specifically considered. Further, the
duty of candour requires the Council to
make proper disclosure so that the
decision-making process can be examined
by both the Claimant and the court [49].
The court did not proceed to determine
the discrimination claims brought by the
Claimant as it recognised that doing so
would have far reaching consequences for
residents of Birmingham. The court did
determine ground 1 of the appeal as this
went only to these individual
circumstances. It gave further
directions regarding the outstanding
grounds.
Judgment on Ground 1
The parties accepted that, following the
decision in Tesco Stores Limited v
Dundee City Council [2012] PTSR
983, the true meaning of the Council’s
policy was a matter for the court, based
on a proper construction of the words used
in the policy, and not a matter for
decision by council officers.
The court found that the 2018 policy
was clear that properties with
adaptations WILL be allocated to those
with disabilities. The court found that
the Council had misunderstood the effect
of its own policy because properties
with adaptations were preferentially
being allocated to families with
children. Accordingly, the Council had
acted unlawfully because it failed to
comply with its duty under section
166A(14) of the Housing Act 1996.
Summary by Parissa
Najah, barrister, Trinity
Chambers. For the
judgment, click
here.
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HOUSING
LAW ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS
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PSED, breach and
‘subsequent compliance’
Giles Peaker Nearly Legal 2
January 2021 – to read the article, click
here
Housing case law update -
December 2020 Christopher
Skinner, Sarah Christy and Ian Larkins Local
Government Lawyer 4 January 2021 –
to read the article, click
here
Local authorities and the
Charter for Social Housing Residents
Scott Dorling Local
Government Lawyer 5 January 2021
– to read the article, click
here
New year, same arrears: How
the pandemic is leaving private
renters with unmanageable debt Citizens
Advice 5 January 2021 – to read
the article, click
here
Prescribed information
and signing as a company –
erratum/update Giles
Peaker Nearly Legal 7 January
2021 – to read the article, click
here
Leasehold reform in prospect –
part 1 Giles Peaker Nearly
Legal 7 January 2021 – to read the
article, click
here
Leasehold Reform Update –
the news leaseholders have been
waiting to hear William
Bethune Trowers and Hamlins 7
January 2021 – to read the article, click
here
Is there a link between youth
homelessness and youth offending? Tara
Self Centrepoint Blog 9 January
2021 – to read the article, click
here
Ping Pong and fire safety
J Nearly Legal 10
January 2021 – to read the article, click
here
In the first lockdown, England
proved it could end homelessness. Why
not now? Francisco
Garcia Guardian
10 January 2021 – to read
the article, click
here
Supporting housing and
care – the new subsidy control
system Paul McDermott
and Victoria Thornton Trowers and
Hamlins 11 January 2021 – to read
the article, click
here
The Dying Homeless Project Miranda
Keast Homeless Link 11 January
2021 – to read the article, click
here
Is This Goodbye To Ground
Rents? – The Latest Government
Update on Leasehold Reform Charlotte
Sawyer and James Gostling Devonshires
11 January 2021 – to read the article, click
here
Gypsy and Traveller: Update
(December 20) Tessa
Buchanan, Chris Johnson, Dr Angus Murdoch
and Marc Willers QC Legal Action
December 2020 / January 2021– to read the
article (subscription required), click
here
Housing: recent
developments Sam
Madge-Wyld and Jan Luba QC Legal
Action December 2020 / January
2021 ‒ to read the article (subscription
required), click
here
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15 January 2021
Postponed second reading of
Mobile Homes Act 1983 (Amendment) Bill
(see Housing Laws in the Pipeline)
15 January 2021
Postponed second reading of Caravan
Sites Bill (see Housing Laws in the
Pipeline)
15 January 2021
Postponed second reading of
Housing Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill (see Housing
Laws in the Pipeline)
22 January 2021
Postponed second reading of Domestic
Properties (Minimum Energy Performance)
Bill (see Housing Laws in the
Pipeline)
22 January 2021
Postponed second reading of Sublet
Property (Offences) Bill (see Housing
Laws in the Pipeline)
28 January 2020
Changes to civil legal aid
eligibility come into effect (see Housing
Law News and Policy Issues)
29 January 2021
Postponed second reading of
Evictions (Universal Credit Claimants)
Bill (see Housing Laws in the
Pipeline)
5 February 2021
Postponed second reading of Mobile
Homes and Park Homes Bill (see Housing
Laws in the Pipeline)
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