7 pm 18 January 2012
The Localism Act
Speakers:
David Smith: Anthony Gold Solicitors
David Watkinson: Garden Court Chambers
From 7 pm at Portland Hall, University of Westminster, 4 Little Titchfield Street, London W1W 7UW
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The Housing Law Practitioners Association was set up to provide a forum for practitioners working in the housing field to share knowledge and information.
Membership is open to all those who use housing law for the benefit of the homeless, tenants, and other occupiers of housing. Current members include solicitors, barristers, advice workers, independent environmental health officers and other housing specialists.
HLPA news and events
Contacts
General and membership enquiries: Admin
Press and professional enquiries: Giles Peaker
2012 Membership
It is time for HLPA memberships to be renewed for 2012.
We have a full programme of meetings for the year with expert speakers, details of which will be put up shortly. The next meeting is on 18 January 2012, examining the new provisions of the Localism Act.
HLPA will also be running a series of seminars for training in specifics of practice.
In addition, for those who could not make it to the 2011 conference, the speakers papers from the workshop session will soon be available on the members area of this site for a few months. The members’ password for [... read more]
Allocation Code of Guidance consultation
The DCLG are consulting on a new draft Code of Guidance to Local Authorities on Allocation Policies.
The consultation can be found here.
The closing date is 30 March 2012.
HLPA will be making a response. Any views from members are welcome.
Nearly Legal has a comment on the draft Code here.
The Housing Law Conference 2011
Registration is now open for the Housing Law Conference 2011 via the following link:
www.profbriefings.co.uk/hlc2011
Highlights of the conference include keynote addresses from the following speakers:
Sir Stephen Sedley, recently retired from the Court of Appeal where he sat from 1999-2011 and well known for the important role he has played in the development of human rights law in England and Wales, as well as his long practice in the areas of public law and judicial review.
Andrew Arden QC, head of Arden Chambers and author and editor of [... read more]
A new mandatory power of possession for Anti-Social Behaviour
The DCLG Consultation on ‘A new mandatory power of possession for Anti-Social Behaviour’, including the new proposals to remove the locality condition added immediately after the riots, closes on 7 November 2011.
David Watkinson is preparing HLPA’s response, He has produced a summary to assist members in their own submissions. The summary also contains requests for further information from members. The summary can be downloaded here.
Please send any responses to the requests for information included in the summary to David Watkinson, davidw@gclaw.co.uk by 4/11/2011 or latest 7/11/2011.
Yorkshire HLPA Meeting 9 November 2011
The Yorkshire Housing Law Practitioners Association has its next meeting on 9 November 2011
6.30 pm at: BPP Law School Leeds Whitehall 2, Whitehall Quays, Leeds, LS1 4HR
Phillip Barber, Barrister
“Housing Benefit and Local Housing Allowance – where we are and where we’re going.”
Private Practice/Barristers/ILEX £5 NFP/Trainees – £2 Students – Free
The flyer can be downloaded here
Location details are here.
HLPA response to consultation on directions to the Social Housing Regulator
HLPA has responded to the DCLG consultation “Implementing social housing reform:directions to the Social Housing Regulator”
The consultation concerned the Social Housing Regulator, replacing the TSA, and the directions that should be given to Local Authorities and Social Housing providers, including guidance on the minimum length of the proposed new ‘flexible tenancies’.
HLPA’s response can be downloaded here.
Open Letter on the Misrepresentation of Squatting
Many HLPA members signed the open letter on the misrepresentation of squatting circulated last week. HLPA as an organisation also signed, by the Executive Committee. Many non-HLPA members also signed.
In total there were 158 individual signatures and that of HLPA as an organisation, which shows a considerable strength of feeling on the issue.
The letter was sent to all major newspapers and news organisations on 26 September 2011.
The Guardian published both an edited version of the letter and an article on the issues raised in the paper edition of 26 September. The letter in full, with signature list, was published on [... read more]
Squatting Consultation paper
As previously noted, the MOJ released a Consultation Paper entitled ‘Options for dealing with squatting’. The purpose of the consultation is to gather more information about the extent of problems caused by squatters, and to invite views on whether existing criminal and civil mechanisms need to be strengthened to deal with them.
We would really welcome input from HLPA members in relation to this. David Watkinson has prepared a summary of the proposals, with requests for further information. This can be downloaded here. Summary and request for information If there is an area of the consultation you feel particularly strongly about/have [... read more]