Page 62 - Solving Housing Disputes

• a social landlord offers to settle a possession action by inviting the court
to make a conditional suspended possession order, on terms that there
is no order as to costs having not made such an offer in its rent arrears
protocol letter or earlier in the claim; or

• where a local housing authority offers to provide housing in a
homelessness appeal in the County Court on condition there is no order
as to costs.

3.14 In each case, the settlement is in the interests of the client, but the legally aided
solicitor is not remunerated for the work they have done. Sir Rupert accepted
that this created difficulties for solicitors, who were already operating in a harsh
financial environment. The Housing Law Practitioners Association (HLPA)
suggested that in those circumstances, the County Court could deal with the issue
of costs on the papers (in the same way that the Administrative Court does),
which Sir Rupert agreed was a sensible proposal meriting consultation.
Notwithstanding, as far as our Working Party is aware, this consultation never
took place. We recommend that the Ministry of Justice should consult on
whether a publicly funded party should have the right to make a
freestanding application for costs where the dispute has settled in their
favour, in accordance with the Jackson Report recommendation.

Disrepair claims

3.15 Housing providers are under a legal obligation to ensure property is maintained
in a safe state, fit for human habitation and to conduct repairs when needed,
though it is a matter of record that much of the rented stock is in poor condition,
particularly in the private rented sector. 154 Where these obligations or those that
arise under contractual terms of a tenancy or lease are not discharged, tenants

154 “3 in 5 tenants experience disrepair, and of these 1 in 5 do not have the problem completely resolved
within a reasonable amount of time” – Poll and Rodgers note 4 above. That report outlined a litany of
problems within housing, including: that landlords are not meeting obligations on repair that they are
responsible for”’; that “60% of tenants identified disrepair in their home in the last 2 years that was not
caused by them and that their landlord was responsible for fixing”; that “15% said the disrepair was a
major threat to their health and safety”; that “32% of tenants said their house did not have a carbon
monoxide alarm despite requiring one”, affecting c.900,000 homes; that “about a quarter of landlords
failed to make sure there’s a smoke alarm on each floor of all of their properties”; that “[t]he same number
failed to carry out an annual gas safety check or make sure that smoke and carbon monoxide alarms were
working; and that “31% of landlords said they find it difficult to keep up with rules and regulations, 49%
did not know the potential penalty (a fine of up to £5,000) for not checking smoke and carbon monoxide
alarms are in working order on the first day of the tenancy” and “[t]he same proportion didn’t know the
penalty for not carrying out a gas safety check”.
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