Page 20 - Solving Housing Disputes

HDS. At its widest, housing disputes may arise in relation to any law,
regulation or code applicable to residential occupation. On that approach, it
would include the following:

(i) property law, conveyancing, planning, compulsory purchase and
compensation, matrimonial/domestic cohabitation law, neighbour
disputes (boundary or otherwise), contract and tort as well as what is
now a very substantial body of statutory and case law developed
under the rubric housing law;

(ii) the statutory and case law which is widely recognised as comprising
housing law, which includes security of tenure, terms and payment in
relation to rented (including leaseholder) and mortgaged housing
(including mobile homes and houseboats), enfranchisement
(including right to buy) and extension of leases, harassment and
eviction, anti-social behaviour, homelessness and allocations,
improvement grants, management provisions, the regulation of social
landlords, as well as the traditional areas of action in relation to
unsatisfactory housing (individual and area, including houses in
multiple occupation and selective licensing), the development of
housing by local authorities, housing-related compensation, housing
welfare benefits and the various housing maladministration
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jurisdictions.

2.12 Realistically, the HDS would be likely to focus on some of the latter areas for
the foreseeable future and largely disregard the former - save, of course, for
landlord and tenant law itself. However, the argument in favour of the HDS
could as easily be addressed to, for example, disputes about charges and
conditions when new homes are sold for the first time and all types of dispute
between neighbours. We would, however, expect to include neighbour
disputes where one of the parties is a tenant. It is unnecessary - and would be
wrong - to reach any longer-term views as to ambit of the HDS at this stage:
it will be informed by the pilot and continuing experience, and will be
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determined by the proposed Housing Disputes Engagement Group (HDEG).

39 Cited at note 41 below. For example, the FTT (PC) holds around 140 separate jurisdictions.

40 See para 2.73.

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