Housing management

Areas of work covered by the team include:

• Advising on different security of tenure – drafting agreements and licences;
• Drafting, reviewing and revising housing management policies, ensuring compliance with the regulatory standards;
• ASB – urgent without notice injunction applications and possession, proceedings, mediation, advising on ASB management and best, most effective approach for specific cases, recognising that there is no ‘one size fits all’;
• Dealing with issues of capacity or disabilities caught by the Equality Act;
• Supporting housing officers through difficult cases where circumstances might be sensitive, or witnesses may need additional support;
• Other tenancy breaches – looking for pragmatic solutions which may not always involve going to Court;
• Mutual exchange, assignment, succession;
• Disrepair – dispute resolution and occasional trials where we consider you have an excellent defence and good prospects of success;

• Injunctions and SPOs for access for gas servicing, inspections etc.
• S82 prosecutions for noise nuisance
• Rent reviews
• Homelessness and allocations
• Unauthorised occupiers, bare trespassers, advice on abandonment; and
• Ombudsman complaints
• Witness and housing officer support for cases going to trial

The team also advises in relation to asset management issues including:

• Shared ownership disputes and recovering possession;
• Asset Management including management and service charge queries, estate rent charges;
• s20 consultations including those caught by EU procurement rules;
• Advising on breaches of lease including bringing forfeiture action; and
• Rent to Home Buy, advising on rents and disputes, recovering possession for breaches or at end of term if option is not exercised.

Training and added value for housing management

We regularly deliver lunch and learn sessions which are bite-size training sessions, with sandwiches, on topics of a client's choice. We can arrange a series of sessions on one topic, or a different topic each time.

We usually deliver two housing management training sessions per year. Sessions can be arranged in your offices at a time to suit you and can be on any housing, property or asset management topic.

Recent examples of training include:

• s21s and the Deregulation Act 2015;
• LGBT issues for social landlords;
• The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime & Policing Act 2014 – the mandatory ground for possession and other remedies;
• Case Management - how to effectively manage an ASB case;
• Preparing a case for court;
• Witnesses - care of witnesses, statement taking;
• Dealing with unauthorised occupiers and trespassers;
• Assignment and succession - the legislation and dealing with potential problems;
• Mutual exchange pitfalls;
• Equality Act and Human Rights issues;
• Arrears recovery/tackling former tenant arrears;
• Attending court - how to prepare, tips for advocacy, case studies;
• Review of policies/procedures following new legislation;
• Tackling service charge arrears – including forfeiture procedure; and
• s20 consultations.