Housing Law

Roger Sproston

Description

A Guide to Housing Law, Revised edition, is a comprehensive guide to Housing Law in the United Kingdom covering all four countries of the UK. Each country has developed their own distinctive laws, particularly in regard to the growth of the private sector and the increasing inaccessibility to home ownership. In short, Housing Law is developing in response to the lack of equality in housing and affordability. This book highlights the changes in law and the approaches of the different countries to the current day. The book is updated to 2021 and is accessible to all levels of readership.

Informations

• Publié par: Straightforward Publishing
• Date de parution: 25 février 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781913776909
• Langue: English

Extrait

AN EMERALD GUIDE TO HOUSING LAW
Roger Sproston
Emerald Guides www.straightforwardco.co.uk
Revised edition Roger Sproston 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical or mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data. A Catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-913776-02-2 ePUB: 978-1-913776-90-9 Kindle ISBN: 978-1-913776-81-7
Cover Design by BW Studio Derby
Printed by 4 Edge www.4edge.co.uk
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained within this book is correct at the time of going to press, the author and publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions contained in this book.
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1. Housing in Context
Chapter 2. Landlord and Tenant Law Generally
PRIVATE TENANTS AND THE LAW
Chapter 3. Private Tenants Finding a Property
Chapter 4. Assured Tenants
Chapter 5. Joint Tenancies
Chapter 6. The Right to Quiet Enjoyment of A Home
Chapter 7. Landlord and tenants Repairing Obligations
Chapter 8. Taking Back Possession of a Property
Chapter 9. Private Tenancies in Scotland
PUBLIC SECTOR TENANTS
Chapter 10. Public Sector Tenancies
RELATIONSHIP BREAKDOWN AND HOUSING RIGHTS
Chapter 11. Relationship Breakdown and Housing Rights-rights to occupy the home
OWNER OCCUPIERS AND THE LAW
Chapter 12. The Law and Owner Occupiers-Commonhold, Freehold and Leasehold
Chapter 13. Obligations of freeholder and Leaseholder
Chapter 14. Service Charges and the Law
Chapter 15. Buying a Freehold and extending a Lease
GENERAL
Chapter 16. The Law and Mobile Homes
Chapter 17. residential moorings
Chapter 18. Agricultural tenancies
Chapter 19. Housing Advice Generally
Index
****
INTRODUCTION
This revised edition of A Guide to Housing Law, updated to 2021 , is a comprehensive overview of housing law and the rights of occupiers across three main tenures, Private sector tenants, Public sector tenants and Owner occupiers. There is also a general section covering park homes, houseboats and agricultural tenants. Private sector tenancies in Scotland are also covered.
However, if the reader requires more in-depth information concerning owner occupation in Scotland go to:
scotland.shelter.org.uk:
For Northern Ireland, advice about private tenants rights and owner occupation can be obtained from www.housingadviceni.org .
Coronavirus temporary law changes
At the time of writing, we are in the middle of the coronavirus epidemic, and quite apart from the effect on the general public, housing is affected across the board. The government has warned landlords that they are still legally obligated to carry out urgent health and safety repairs. However, it clarified that non-urgent repairs should be done at a later date, as agreed between tenants and landlords.
The government issued the following the guidance: Landlords remain legally obligated to ensure properties meet the required standard - urgent, essential health and safety repairs should be made. An agreement for non-urgent repairs to be done later should be made between tenants and landlords. Local authorities are also encouraged to take a pragmatic, risk-based approach to enforcement.
The government said it is committed to supporting landlords as well as tenants. The statement added: We have also agreed with lenders that they will ensure support is available where it is needed for landlords. Landlords will also be protected by a three-month mortgage payment holiday where they have buy-to-let mortgages.
Landlords have been warned to take note of the upcoming Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard regulation coming into force on 1 April 2020. The changes mean properties where tenancies pre-date April 2018 have to have an Energy Performance Rating above E. When initially introduced in April 2018, all properties marketed for let were legally required to have an EPC (energy performance certificate) rating of E or above before the commencement of any new tenancies. However, the legislation will shortly be extended to also cover properties where current tenancies pre-date April 2018. Landlord regulatory requirements have not been relaxed during the coronavirus outbreak and financial penalties for non-compliance remain enforceable, with a potential fine of up to 5,000 per infraction.
The government stated Landlords should make every effort to ensure they are meeting at least the new minimum standards despite the logistical challenges imposed by the outbreak. It is vital to maintain open channels of communication with tenants to ensure that they are not vulnerable or self-isolating before proceeding with any essential work.
The ban on bailiff-enforced evictions for private renters has been extended in England and Wales. This will be until February 21 at least according to current Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick; the ban will be reviewed at that date.
Landlords or agents acting on their behalf will still be able to enforce possession orders if tenants are more than six months in arrears irrespective of when the arrears accrued and therefore no longer have to pre-date Covid; however, these will go to court but cannot be enforced by bailiffs. The exceptions to the ban still apply as before - in the relatively small number of cases of domestic violence and anti-social behaviour, for example, bailiff-enforced evictions can take place.
The government has also announced a further initiative for the private rental sector. A statement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says:
A new mediation pilot will further support landlords and renters who face court procedures and potential eviction from next month (February). It will offer mediation as part of the possession process to try and help landlords and tenants to reach a mutual agreement and keep people in their homes.
Helping to resolve disputes through mediation will enable courts to prioritise urgent cases, supporting landlords and tenants to resolve issues quickly without the need for a formal hearing. The mediation pilot will work within the existing court arrangements in England and Wales.
Housing is very complex and affects all people at some point in their lives. Housing law is ever changing and knowledge of it is usually outside the scope of the layperson. There is the problem now of housing, whether owner occupied or rented, being unaffordable, particularly in London and the South East. The whole free-for-all in the Housing Market is now coming to an end. Government is tightening up the private sector with increasing legislation and regulations designed to curb the activities of lettings agents (Tenants Fees Bill Due to become law on 1st June 2019, which also affects tenants deposits) and landlords (Rules affecting Houses in Multiple Occupation from October 1st 2018), rules around private lettings and energy performance and also the introduction of new redress schemes for both tenants and owner occupiers. Local authorities too have been given increased powers to regulate private sector lettings in their areas.
From October 1st 2018, the changes introduced by the Deregulation Act 2015 have been extended. These changes first came into effect on 1 October 2015 but only for tenancies which started or were renewed for new fixed terms after that date ( new tenancies ). Therefore there has been a transition period for tenancies which predated 1 October 2015 ( old tenancies ). This transition period ended on 1 October 2018 and from that date the Deregulation Act changes apply to all ASTs.
Correspondingly, there is the increasing problem of homelessness and what to do at this traumatic time. How do local authorities work and what are their obligations towards the individual? What is the role of housing associations and housing co-operatives and how can one gain access to this type of property, particularly now with the government intent on reducing the availability of social housing? In an attempt to grapple with the problem of homelessness the government has introduced the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, which became fully operative in April 2018.
Leaseholders have been in the news, with extortionate ground rents and the government has banned the sale of new build leasehold property. This is because property developers have been completing schemes and then selling on the freehold to companies who are able to profit from the outsize ground rents which in many cases render a property impossible to sell in the future. The Government has also announced that the UK is to get a new housing complaints resolution service so that both home owners and tenants know where to go when things go wrong, it has been announced.
For the first time ever, private landlords will be legally required to join a housing redress scheme and (the current) Secretary of State for Housing James Brokenshire said that it will boost protection for millions of tenants across the country.
According to Brokenshire it will potentially help millions by providing a straight forward way of getting help when faced with unresolved disputes about problems with their home, such as repairs and maintenance.
Under the new service dissatisfied home owners and tenants will have simple and quick access to help when things go wrong with the service covering everything from broken boilers to cracks in walls.
And to protect the interests of home-owners who buy new build homes, the Government has also reiterated its commitment to establishing a New Homes Ombudsman which will champion home buyers, protect their interests and hold developers to account.
Legislation will be brought forward at the earliest possible opportunity to require all new developers to belong to the Ombudsman, Brokenshire confirmed, giving home buyers the confide