Page 52 - Solving Housing Disputes

Cost

2.77 We acknowledge that the proposal for a national HDS is ambitious. It is a
proposal for a new, first-tier dispute resolution service for housing which, if
successful against evaluative outcomes through the pilot stage, we would want
to see rolled out across England and Wales. The HDS will require
infrastructure, real estate, digital capability and most importantly a highly
skilled cadre of specialist, multi-disciplinary HDS officers, including some at
the level of First-tier and District Judges. Such a service, rightly, will cost.

2.78 However, there are likely also to be significant long-term savings from such
a service. The consolidation of pre-existing redress schemes into one service,
the reduction in court and tribunal time, migrating local authority social
services and housing functions as well as the homelessness review to the HDS
will produce savings and efficiencies. There are also broader societal savings
to be made from offering a system that focuses on early, targeted interventions
in people’s housing problems. We would expect the HDS’s holistic approach
to housing disputes to promote longer tenancies and relationships in the rented
sector, reduce landlord costs wasted through changing tenants, address the
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underlying problems in homelessness and alleviate pressures caused by
housing problems that manifest in the courts, the NHS and on local
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authorities.

2.79 Currently, redress providers such as the Housing and Property Ombudsmen,
Property Redress and tenancy deposit schemes, are funded by housing
providers, who pay for the scheme in various ways, whether through a
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subscription fee or unit-based cost. A significant portion of those who own
and rent a property do not yet pay into a redress scheme, though Government

120 The costs of voids, advertisements, lettings agents, fresh regulatory compliance at the commencement
of tenancy, some extent of works and new deposit arrangements.

121 Social services costs, the provision of homelessness assistance and the cost associated with urgent
accommodation for families facing homelessness, see note 9 above.

122 For example, the Housing Ombudsman, which holds jurisdiction over complaints against social
housing providers, charges a subscription fee of £2.16 per home, on over 5 million households, see the
Business Plan 2020-21 for the HOS at https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/2019/10/25/housing-
ombudsman-launches-consultations-for-improved-service/ We understand from the Redress Reform
Working Group that the intention is to increase the fees payable by housing providers to provide for an
increased quality of redress provider.

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