Page 106 - Solving Housing Disputes

Structured guidance

4.16 An expanded HCRS should be responsive to the needs of both represented and
non-represented parties in housing disputes. For those who have representation,
flagged during an initiating process through a tick-box, the HCRS could be an
online landing page. From this page, represented parties could identify the
correct jurisdiction for their dispute, and be directed straight to the section of the
HCRS featuring the digital claim form of the fora they have chosen. For these
represented parties and their practitioners, the intention is to offer a
straightforward, user-friendly portal, that offers digital filing to any of the dispute
resolution providers behind the “doorway”. For urgent applications, the portal
should feature an “urgent track” joined up to court services, where parties can
digitally file and be before a judge later that day. We recommend the HCRS
portal feature a track for urgent applications.

4.17 For those who lack representation or have a dispute in a redress scheme where
legal representation is rarely used (such as the Housing Ombudsman), tailored
guidance and structured questioning through the HCRS could take people to the
correct dispute resolution pathway. There are several existing processes which
could be drawn upon. Resolver, an online platform for consumer complaints,
features successive “decision trees” which, combined with contextual rights
guides, help to increase the accuracy of a consumer’s decision about who to
complain to and how. 304 The British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal is
accessible to a user only after a user has completed the “Solutions Explorer”,
which provides them with information, draft documentation (such as a letter to
send to the respondent), and information on where to find further advice. 305 As
part of the Reform Programme, the Ministry of Justice is currently exploring the

304 https://www.resolver.co.uk/ The initiation of a claim through Resolver allows a consumer to select
the provider against whom they have their complaint, before tailored guidance and structured pathways
assist the consumer in articulating their issues. See also JUSTICE note 43 above.

305 https://civilresolutionbc.ca/how-the-crt-works/ HMCTS is currently piloting a “signposting” tool for
disrepair claims, which features a staged walk-through with menu options for those users with a disrepair
claim, as well as signposting to housing advice provision at various junctures. In the current iteration of
the service, in the first instance, the signposting tool flags whether someone is at a point of emergency
(i.e. homeless or at risk of serious harm) and if so, signposts the user to the Shelter urgent helpline. If the
matter is not urgent, a user is then asked if they caused the problem, how to know if they caused the
problem and then an option pathway at that point (fix the damage yourself or ask the landlord to).

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