Page 26 - Solving Housing Disputes

Stage 1 of the tiered approach to dispute resolution would investigate
underlying causes of the housing dispute, contractual and regulatory
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compliance and parties’ motivations. The HDS is not to be confined
by any particular jurisdiction, whether between the civil jurisdictions
which deal with housing disputes, or between judicial and
administrative jurisdictions such as ombudsmen, or between civil and
criminal jurisdictions. Part of the HDS’s ongoing functions would
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include reports on systemic housing issues and reporting to
Parliament.

(b) Holistic and multi-disciplinary – the HDS would be capable of
investigating and addressing the underlying causes of a dispute. An
array of skill sets would exist within the HDS: environmental health
officers, surveyors, investigators, DWP officers, advisors, as well as
social and mental health workers, capable of addressing the
fundamental, underlying reasons for a dispute and all other features
of the housing relationship which call for attention.

(c) Specialist and quality – the HDS would be populated by a multi-
disciplinary skill set with expertise in housing. Remuneration of the
senior level must be commensurate with first-tier services currently
in existence within the housing dispute system.

(d) Ongoing relationships – throughout the tiered approach to dispute
resolution, the HDS would encourage parties to seek resolution of
their dispute without recourse to adversarial methods.

(e) Assistive and protective – the HDS would do all in its power to
appraise participants of their respective rights and obligations within
a housing relationship. Identification of all relevant issues in the

55 This could therefore extend the number of participants in the process to include, e.g. local authorities
or, where the dispute is between an authority and a landlord, tenants.

56 Akin to systemic focus reports currently produced by the Local Government and Social Care
Ombudsman: https://www.lgo.org.uk/information-centre/reports/focus-reports

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