Sara Stephens and the legal aid working group have prepared a guide for HLPA members on legal aid for housing matters from 1 April 2013, covering scope, guidance and procedure.
The Guide can be found on the new ‘guides’ page in the members area.
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The most recent news from HLPA, including new consultations for members' views. For the full news archive see here.
Also housing law updates from Nearly Legal.
Guide to Housing Legal Aid after LASPO
May 11th, 2013Members’ area password
April 9th, 2013The password for HLPA members to access the members area of the website will be changing on 20 April 2013.
The new password will be emailed to all 2013 members very shortly. Please ensure that the HLPA administrator has email addresses for all people in your organisation included in your membership.
Disrepair – Legal Aid Surveyors’ fees
September 22nd, 2012After a long and sustained effort by HLPA, Shelter, ASA and LAPG, the MoJ has now concluded its review into appropriate hourly rates to pay to surveyors in disrepair cases. As you know, the current rate is £50 per hour.
A review of available data, including data supplied by HLPA, showed that the average hourly rate in London is £125 per hour and out of London is £95 per hour. As all experts’ rates (alongside solicitor and counsel’s rates) were to be codified and reduced by 10%, the new guideline hourly rates for surveyors in housing disrepair cases are:
Outside London – up to £85 per hour
In London – up to £115 per hour
The MoJ have advised that it is unlikely that these rates will be codified in a statutory order before April 2013. Therefore, we will need to make applications for prior authority to instruct surveyor’s at these rates.
The MoJ/LSC are going to issue guidance to caseworkers at the LSC so that they are aware of these new guideline rates. They aim to issue this guidance by 1st October 2012.
The MoJ/LSC are also going to advise us as to how best to make the applications for prior authority and whether this can be included as a standard paragraph in APP1s. Again, they should provide this advice by 1st October.
If you wish to instruct someone for more than these hourly rates you will need to justify this in an application for prior authority as before.
We will update members when the guidance or any further information becomes available.
Allocations Guidance
July 8th, 2012The DCLG has published the new Allocations Code of Guidance for Local Authorities.
The Code of Guidance can be found here [pdf]
Member password
June 1st, 2012The member password for the site has been updated. The new password was circulated to members signed up for 2012 by email on 21 May 2012.
If you have not received the email and are registered for 2012, please contact Chandra_Rao@shelter.org.uk
Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2012 Nominations
April 19th, 2012The 2012 Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year nominations are open.
In this difficult time for legal aid, what better than to celebrate the passion and commitment of those working in legal aid practice? Do you know someone or a practice whose work should be recognised in the LALYs? Then nominate them!
The nomination form is here and more details are here.
The closing date is 27 April 2012
Housing and LASPO
March 4th, 2012The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill enters report stage in the House of Lords from 5 March. Any further amendments to the bill in the Lords must happen at this stage. It is likely that the social welfare provisions, including housing, will be debated from Monday 5 March onwards.
There is one single housing related amendment tabled, although there are others addressing social welfare more broadly. The amendment is at 75-77 of the marshalled list of amendments. The proposed amendment was drafted by Shelter and supported by HLPA, as well as Citizens Advice, Justice for All, the Law Society, the Law Centres Federation, Young Legal Aid Lawyers, the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, the Housing Law Practitioners Association, the Bar Council, the Advice Services Alliance and the Salvation Army.
As drafted, LASPO would mean that benefits work would be out of scope even when involved in defending possession proceedings, thus making a successful resolution of many rent arrears or mortgage possession cases virtually impossible.
This amendment would ensure that, where the loss of the home is threatened due to nonpayment of the rent or mortgage, advice and casework can be provided to address an underlying benefits problem causing or contributing to the arrears.
The full proposed amendment and briefing can be downloaded here.
If you are signed up to the Justice for All “pair up with a peer” scheme please write to them now to ask them to support the HB (and other) amendments. If you’re not with the scheme please contact Lib Dem or cross bench peers to explain why this amendment is so important- you can find out a list of the peers and their parties via this link (select search options as party and group – then search for
lib dem or crossbenchers):
http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/lords/
Please send the Shelter briefing document with any communication with peers.
Court desk limited opening times from April 2012
February 27th, 2012As of April 2012, all Civil and Family Courts will be changing the opening times of the court desks. They will be open only between 11 am and 1 pm.
According to HMCTS:
Court users attending the public counter with routine work that does not require a face to face service provision will be directed to a “drop box” or to the secure court postbox. Work that is considered will fall into this category include:
- -Making a payment
- -Case specific enquiries
- -General enquiries
- -Lodging documents
- -Issuing money claims or other civil applications
- -Issuing divorce proceedings
- -Issuing public or private law proceedings
- -Issuing enforcement proceedings
- -Collecting forms / orders
HMCTS further state that
These arrangements will not affect the courts’ ability to deal throughout the working day with any matters which should be dealt with immediately e.g. injunction applications. We would encourage you to continue to contact the court via e-mail or fax to alert us to any urgent matters so that we can then make the appropriate arrangements.
Urgent applications are defined as an application or document which needs to be issued or seen by a member of the judiciary within 24 hours
It is not clear yet what the arrangments for urgent matters will be. We understand that courts are considering this on an individual basis.
HLPA is concerned by this move, which seems likely to have a particular impact on vulnerable tenants seeking to make urgent applications in person, for stay of eviction or for an injunction in unlawful eviction cases. HLPA members are urged to respond to any local consultations (for the London Region see below) and to seek clarification on arrangments for urgent matters from Court User groups.
As a further detail, Willesden County Court is dealing with urgent matters on an appointment only basis, so we are told people should phone or email for an appointment time, assuming that there are any available.
There is a consultation form for Court users in the London region. The letter and form can be downloaded here [doc]. The consultation ends 2 March 2012, so an urgent reponse needed.
Membership renewals and deadlines
January 30th, 2012The period for a 10% discount for renewing membership for 2012 has been extended to 29 February 2012. New members or those who are returning to HLPA and were not members in 2011 receive a further 10% discount, 20% overall, if joining before 29 February 2012.
The members password for the website will be changing at the end of February and the new password will be emailed to 2012 members shortly beforehand.
In what is going to be a challenging year, HLPA is working hard to provide members with information, support and training, and also to make HLPA’s voice heard in policy and funding decisions. We hope you can join us.
2012 Membership
January 10th, 2012It 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 this site will be changing at the end of January 2012 and members will be sent the new details
And of course, members get the reduced rate for the forthcoming 2012 Housing Law conference.
Those renewing their membership before 31 January will get a 10% discount on the usual membership rates.
New members and those returning to HLPA after more than a year will get a further 10% discount for applications submitted before 31 January 2010, making a 20% discount on the usual rates.
To apply for membership or to complete the forms for renewal, go to the Join HLPA page.
For the full news archive see here.
Latest Updates from Nearly Legal
Click through for the full post
Shared ownership, Art 8 and A1P1
The entrepreneurialisation of social housing over the last twenty years has led to a diversity in the types of shared ownership. Of course, the standard leasehold type (what in the old days was called DIYSO) predominates, but there are a multitude of other types. In Ker v Optima Community Association [2013] EWCA Civ 579, the Court of Appeal had to deal with one of these other types in Optima’s claim for possession; but in quite odd circumstances for, by the time of the hearing of the appeal, Ms Ker had accepted that the property was unaffordable for her so that she had to give up possession. What was in issue … Read the full post
Benefit Cap Judicial Review underway
A four party judicial review of the Benefit Cap – now under pilot in 4 boroughs and to be rolled out in October – was issued today (Wednesday 22 May). Details are here.
The claimants argue that the Regulations are discriminatory and unreasonable. They also argue that the Secretary of State did not take proper account of the impact of the policy on women, children, the disabled, racial and religious minorities, and carers when formulating the policy.
I have also heard that permission was granted today by Collins J, on the basis that the claims were clearly arguable and urgent.
Meanwhile, judgment is awaited in the bedroom tax Judicial … Read the full post
The meaning of care and attention
SL v Westminster [2013] UKSC 27 is a very important case concerning the meaning of “care and attention” in the context of s.21, National Assitance Act 1948.
We can only apologise for not writing it up sooner. All we can say is that the nearlylegal backlog of cases is threatening to rival the UK Border Agency’s backlog of immigration and asylum cases.
Facts
SL was a failed asylum seeker. He approached Westminster and asked that they provide him with accommodation under s.21, National Assistance Act 1948.
Section 21 provides that an authority is under a duty to provide persons with accommodation if:
1) by reason of age, disability, mental illness … Read the full post
Night Shelters, dwellings and housing benefit
This a late note on OR -v- Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Isle of Anglesey CC [2013] UKUT 065 (AAC) because, bluntly, I had read it quickly at the time and overlooked its broader significance.
The issue was whether OR could receive housing benefit for his stays in a night shelter hostel. The First Tier Tribunal had held that a hostel was a dwelling for the purposes of the housing benefit regulations, because the regulations said it was. However, the First Tier found that OR was not occupying it as his home.
On appeal to the Upper Tribunal, this was found to be wrong. While the regulations … Read the full post
Hotak v Southwark LBC [2013] EWCA Civ 515 concerned a short point on whether an authority was entitled to have regard to the assistance that a homeless person would receive, in the event he became homeless, when determining whether he was vulnerable or not.
The facts of the case were this: Mr Hotak had come to London with his brother. They moved into a flat in Peckham. They were asked to leave the flat and both approached Southwark for assistance (albeit Mr Hotak’s brother at that time was ineligible for assistance and so the application was made in Mr Hotak’s name only).
Southwark accepted that Mr Hotak’s suffered from depression, … Read the full post
Morshead Mansions has been involved in a quite astonishing amount of litigation. Bailii throws up 13 hits (here), cases in the LVT, Lands Tribunal, High Court and Court of Appeal. It’s really must be the most awful burden on all those involved. And now, there is another case to add to the list, Di Marco v Morshead Mansions Ltd [2013] EWHC 1068 (Ch).
Morshead Mansions Ltd is a lessee-owned company. It holds the freehold of (appropriately enough) Morshead Mansions, a block of 104 or so flats. It has two different ways of raising money. The first (and most common) is via the service charge. It seems that, at … Read the full post