Page 147 - Solving Housing Disputes

which a benefits issue needed to be resolved. Some landlords illegally
evict tenants with impunity, knowing that there is no likelihood of any
comeback. The answer to illegal eviction, harassment and some other
private landlord complaints is a Tenancy Relations Service. Many local
authorities used to have such a service, but few tenancy relations officers
(TROs) now survive. TROs should be funded by legal aid and attached
to every court.

(g) If no solicitor is available, as court officers TROs would be able to
support the evicted tenant in applying to the judge for an emergency
injunction to compel the landlord to let him/her back in, and would have
a continuing role in supervising the enforcement of the order. Where
claims for disrepair and poor housing conditions are concerned, there is a
need for an independent expert to visit the premises and advise the court
about the nature and cause of the problem and what needs to be done to
remedy it. There is already a cadre of surveyors attached to the Property
Tribunal. That resource needs to be expanded with the addition of more
experts, including environmental health officers, who are specially
trained in the law of unfit housing and disrepair following the Homes
(Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018. It should then be possible for
the court to request a report from a member of this collective, acting as a
single joint expert.

45. One reform which the HDS would include is welcome, namely that reviews
of adverse homelessness decisions under s.202 Housing Act 1996 should be
considered by an independent body rather than by the authority itself, acting
in a quasi-judicial capacity in its own cause. Authorities already have power
to contract out reviews, although when they do so currently, it is to private
review services. Reviews should go to an independent body.

Chapter 4
46. Finally, we note that Chapter 4 contains proposals for wide-ranging reform
under the mantle of the Housing Complaints Resolution Service. These were
not, to our knowledge, the subject of detailed or substantive discussion in the
Working Party. We have not been able to canvass the views of our members
on this issue and are therefore not in a position to support it.

FEBRUARY 2020

141