Families Threaten Council With Legal Action Over Allocation Policy

A group of families is preparing to take a London council to court as they claim the authority’s housing allocation policy discriminates against homeless people.  The families, some of which claim to have been in temporary accommodation for more than 10 years, said the amount of time they have been left waiting for permanent accommodation in the borough of Camden is “indefensible”.

Camden Council denied that its policy is discriminatory and said it has met its statutory duty in all the families’ cases. However, the solicitor who is representing the families, said that the council’s allocation policy means many homeless families that are placed in temporary accommodation are “more or less stuck there indefinitely”. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/families-threaten-council-with-legal-action-over-allocation-policy--62973?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

MPs Back Legal Action Against Rogue Landlords

New rights for tenants to sue landlords if they do not properly maintain their properties have been approved by MPs. The Commons has passed a bill requiring homes in the private and social rented sector to be fit for human habitation and enabling tenants to take legal action if basic standards are not met. Housing minister Heather Wheeler said a "stubborn, hardcore minority" of rogue landlords were being put on notice. They should "improve their properties or leave the business", she said. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45990245

Government Supports New Measures To Improve The Safety Of Tenants

Secretary of State for Housing Sajid Javid has confirmed government support for new legislation that will help ensure rented homes are safe and give tenants the right to take legal action when landlords fail in their duties.  The government has already introduced a range of powers for local authorities enabling them to crack down on the minority of landlords who rent out unsafe or substandard accommodation. From April this year councils will also be able to issue banning orders to kick the worst offenders out of the business. Government will support further measures proposed by Karen Buck MP in a Private Member’s Bill to protect tenants in both the social and private rented sectors. Read more on the Gov UK website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-supports-new-measures-to-improve-the-safety-of-tenants

JCWI To Challenge Home Office Over Right-To-Rent

The Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) has written to the Home Office to call for a halt to the rollout of the scheme of the Government’s Right-to-Rent scheme awaiting a full evaluation of its impact in England. The Joint Council is threatening to take legal action if the Government continues to implement the policy, which is yet to expand beyond England. Saira Grant, Chief Executive of JCWI, said: “In the face of clear evidence of discrimination under Right-to-Rent, the Government must show it is not acting illegally before it presses ahead with a rollout to the rest of the UK.”Read more on the NLA website.

Landlord Facing Legal Action

A buy-to-let tycoon who banned Indian and Pakistani tenants from renting his homes "because of the curry smell" is facing legal action. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has applied for an injunction against Fergus Wilson. In his latest letting criteria, the Kent landlord has also banned zero-hour workers, single parents and "battered wives". Mr Wilson has defended his lettings policy on economic grounds. EHRC chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath said it had applied for an injunction at Central London County Court. Read more on the BBC.

Thousands Left Homeless By Shortage Of Legal Aid Lawyers

Thousands of people are being made homeless every year because they cannot find lawyers to help them resist eviction, charities are warning. Even though legal aid is available to help anyone in danger of losing their home, there has been an 18% decline in the number of challenges brought, at a time of record repossessions in the private rental market. The latest figures, highlighted by the Legal Action Group (LAG) and the homeless charity Shelter, reinforce warnings by the Law Society that “advice deserts”, where few, if any, lawyers are left in practice who are capable of dealing with legal aid housing cases, are emerging across England and Wales. Read more on the Observer website.

MPs To Vote To Let Tenants Sue Negligent Landlords

Private renters living in squalid conditions could get the ability to sue their landlord if MPs approve a private member’s Bill. Westminster North MP Karen Buck will introduce the Bill for its Second Reading in the Commons. If passed, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill would resurrect a law from 1885 which has been rendered obsolete by nearly sixty years of rent inflation. Tenants already have the right to a home that is fit for human habitation, but only if the rent is less than £52 per annum (or £80 in London) – limits last revised in 1957.  Both the Law Commission in 1996 and the Court of Appeal in 1997 called for the archaic rent limits to be scrapped, but successive governments have failed to act. Read more on 24dash.

Legal Action Threat against Government over Welfare Changes and Right to Buy

Cambridge City Council could lead a coalition of councils and housing associations in taking legal action against the Government's budget plans amid claims its policies are "a political exercise in social cleansing". There has been unanimous condemnation of the Tory's budget changes and proposals to extend right to buy to housing associations. Councillors of all colours backed plans to send letters to MPs Daniel Zeichner and Heidi Allen urging them to do all they can in Parliament to fight the cause of city housing tenants. But council leader Cllr Lewis Herbert and executive councillor for housing Cllr Kevin Price said the council was considering far more serious action over changes to the likes of housing benefit and social rents. Read more on the Cambridge News website.