Following recent changes in the law and guidance, as well as recent media coverage of housing issues, there is a significant rise in housing disrepair claims. Mandy Williams and Nichola Johnston anticipate this trend will continue together with an increase in claims’ complexity. Read more
The London Borough of Hackney has lost a Court of Appeal case over the eligibility for right to buy of a rabbi who occupied a home for only part of the time.
A landlord has successfully appealed to the Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) over whether a property he owns has enough occupants to qualify as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) liable for licensing by Cornwall Council.
A recent bid for judicial review concerned the inconsistency between a council's unpublished guidance and its housing allocations scheme. Jeremy Ogilvie-Harris analyses the outcome.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has urged Luton Borough Council to clear a backlog of 68 benefits appeals that are waiting to be referred to the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First-Tier Tribunal.
The Court of Appeal has ruled against granting a judicial review of Essex County Council over whether a teenager who might have become homeless was entitled to ‘former relevant child’ status.
The Court of Appeal has ruled that it would be disproportionate to allow the London Borough of Sutton to pursue an appeal that had become academic in a housing case.
A special investigation by the Housing Ombudsman into social landlord Hyde has found repeated failings in repairs, complaint handling and how the housing association responded to residents’ enquiries about service charges.
A child with significant and complex needs had to live in an unsuitable home for far longer than necessary because Bromsgrove District Council and Worcestershire County Council made a number of errors when adapting a home to their needs, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Frozen Local Housing Allowance rates have left councils to meet £737.3m in temporary accommodation costs over the past five years that they are unable to claim back from government, the Local Government Association has warned.
A district judge’s decision in a case over licensing of houses in multiple occupation (HMO) used for asylum seekers must stand despite a legal error, the High Court has found.
The Technology and Construction Court has refused to end proceedings in a procurement dispute concerning social landlord Orbit Group, which it has said must make some requested disclosures to claimant Robert Heath Heating (RHH).
The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) has issued a call to all public sector and social landlords in Wales to improve their responses to poor housing and complaints of disrepair, after its latest report found “an apparent lack of proactivity” in identifying and tackling those properties suffering from damp and mould.
The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea is to commission an independent, external review of the culture within the council that will examine questions of discrimination and how residents are treated.
Runnymede Borough Council has successfully prosecuted a landlord who converted a three-bedroom bungalow into a 15-room unlicensed house of multiple occupation (HMO).
The Government is to set target dates for unsafe buildings in England to be fixed as part of a new Remediation Acceleration Plan to be unveiled today (2 December).
The Government is to consult in January 2025 on increasing legal aid fees for those working in the housing and debt sector, the Ministry of Justice has announced.
The London Borough of Havering was wrong to refuse housing to a victim of domestic abuse on the basis that she did not meet its residence requirements, the High Court has found.
The claimant seeking to bring a judicial review challenge over Gwynedd Council's 'Article 4 Direction’ aimed at curbing second homes and short-term holiday lets has applied for a renewal of their application for permission.
Major social landlord Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) has seen its governance rating downgraded to ‘G3’ after an inspection by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) found serious regulatory concerns, with significant improvements needed to the provider’s business planning and its control framework.
All former UK Armed Forces Veterans are to be exempt from any local connection or residency tests for social housing applied by local councils in England, under new regulations that will come into force next month (18 December).
An agreement across all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester has been approved so that victims of domestic abuse can be rehomed in suitable housing in any borough.
The biggest driver for a tenant’s overall satisfaction is their view of their landlord’s repairs service and how well their home is maintained, according to the Regulator of Social Housing.
Sanctuary Housing Association failed to manage its own Tenant Management Company effectively enough to handle an anti-social behaviour (ASB) issue in a case in which a resident reported that they had been threatened with use of a gun.
Eight out of 10 councils have said that current information sharing agreements between agencies cause delays in taking action against perpetrators of anti-social behaviour (ASB), according to a new report.
The Government is to consult on a raft of changes to the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme including extending the length of time someone has to be a tenant before they can buy their home and protecting newly built social homes from sale through exemptions.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has called on the Government to provide it with extra powers to ensure they are fit for purpose and to address what it describes as “accountability gaps”.
A dispute over whether two houses in Nottingham are ‘houses in multiple occupation' (HMO) has turned on the meaning of the word ’discuss’ in the rules of the co-operative that owns them.
In the wake of the Autumn Budget, Shazia Bashir, Jaspreet Dhillon and Rebecca Thibault discuss the challenges and opportunities facing Registered Providers (RPs) in London, particularly concerning the pressing need for social housing in the UK.
Matthew Watts and Sarah Orchard briefly explore the changes being proposed in the Renters’ Rights Bill and consider some of the impacts on the supported housing sector, where flexibility in management of housing stock is often key.
Robert Bowker considers how the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has dealt with fire safety cases where an improvement notice under the Housing Act 2004 has been served and an application for a remediation order under s. 123 of the Building Safety Act 2022 has been made.
Angela Piears considers a First-tier Tribunal (FTT) case about HMO licences: How should the FTT approach the hearing of an HMO licensing appeal? Who can challenge the decision to grant an HMO licence? How should a local authority serve notices on a freehold company?
In this webinar, Angela Piears and Karolina Zielinska consider what to do if you suspect that a tenant has made fraudulent representations about who they are or where they are living, and offer their tips and tricks on preventative measures that can be used to prevent or discourage tenancy fraud from the outset of the landlord-tenant relationship.
Stefan Liberadzki and Andrew Carter introduce our Social Housing Webinar series by discussing the keystone of any unlawful sub-letting case: whether the tenant is no longer using the property as their only or principal home. They review the established case law, explore how the case law is applied in practice, and discuss how best to present the evidence in Court.
Oliver Slater and Steve Gummer provide insight into how local authorities can best make use of the recently announced 'Warm Homes Grant' for their eligible homes.
How do registered providers manage risk in relation to Management Companies providing services to their Estates? Rose Klemperer, Wendy Wilks and Alice Watkins explain.
Recent prosecutions by both the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have brought forth issues which appear to be at the forefront of regulators’ minds. Freya Cassia and Beth Parlane identify developing trends which could help care and housing providers focus on improvements and address these issues.