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Straightforward Publishing - Roger Sproston

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120 pages

English

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A Guide to Housing Law, Revised edition, is a comprehensive guide to Housing Law in the United Kingdom covering all four countries of the UK. Each country has developed their own distinctive laws, particularly in regard to the growth of the private sector and the increasing inaccessibility to home ownership. In short, Housing Law is developing in response to the lack of equality in housing and affordability. This book highlights the changes in law and the approaches of the different countries to the current day. The book is updated to 2019 and is accessible to all levels of readership.

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Publié par	Straightforward Publishing
Date de parution	25 février 2019
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781847169518
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

A GUIDE TO HOUSING LAW
Roger Sproston BA MSc
Emerald Guides
Revised edition Roger Sproston 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical or mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data. A Catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-84716-886-3 ePUB ISBN: 978-1-84716-951-8 Kindle ISBN: 978-1-84716-958-7
Editor: Roger Sproston
Printed by 4 Edge www.4edge.co.uk
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained within this book is correct at the time of going to press, the author and publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions contained in this book.
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1. Housing in Context
Chapter 2. Landlord and Tenant Law Generally
PRIVATE TENANTS AND THE LAW
Chapter 3. Private Tenants Finding a Property
Chapter 4. Assured Tenants
Chapter 5. Joint Tenancies
Chapter 6. The Right to Quiet Enjoyment of A Home
Chapter 7. Landlord and tenants Repairing Obligations
Chapter 8. Taking Back Possession of a Property
Chapter 9. Private Tenancies in Scotland
PUBLIC SECTOR TENANTS
Chapter 10. Public Sector Tenancies
RELATIONSHIP BREAKDOWN AND HOUSING RIGHTS
Chapter 11. Relationship Breakdown and Housing Rights-rights to occupy the home
OWNER OCCUPIERS AND THE LAW
Chapter 12. The Law and Owner Occupiers-Commonhold, Freehold and Leasehold
Chapter 13. Obligations of freeholder and Leaseholder
Chapter 14. Service Charges and the Law
Chapter 15. Buying a Freehold and extending a Lease
GENERAL
Chapter 16. The Law and Mobile Homes
Chapter 17. Agricultural tenancies
Index
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INTRODUCTION
This revised edition of A Guide to Housing Law, updated to 2019, is a comprehensive overview of housing law and the rights of occupiers across three main tenures, Private sector tenants, Public sector tenants and Owner occupiers. There is also a general section covering park homes, houseboats and agricultural tenants. Private sector tenancies in Scotland are also covered.
However, if the reader requires more in-depth information concerning owner occupation in Scotland go to: scotland.shelter.org.uk :
For Northern Ireland, advice about private tenants rights and owner occupation can be obtained from www.housingadviceni.org .
Housing is very complex and affects all people at some point in their lives. Housing law is ever changing and knowledge of it is usually outside the scope of the layperson. There is the problem now of housing, whether owner occupied or rented, being unaffordable, particularly in London and the South East. The whole free-for-all in the Housing Market is now coming to an end. Government is tightening up the private sector with increasing legislation and regulations designed to curb the activities of lettings agents (Tenants Fees Bill Due to become law on 1st June 2019, which also affects tenants deposits) and landlords (Rules affecting Houses in Multiple Occupation from October 1st 2018), rules around private lettings and energy performance and also the introduction of new redress schemes for both tenants and owner occupiers. Local authorities too have been given increased powers to regulate private sector lettings in their areas.
Form October 1st 2018, the changes introduced by the Deregulation Act 2015 have been extended. These changes first came into effect on 1 October 2015 but only for tenancies which started or were renewed for new fixed terms after that date ( new tenancies ). Therefore there has been a transition period for tenancies which pre-dated 1 October 2015 ( old tenancies ). This transition period ends on 1 October 2018 and from that date the Deregulation Act changes will apply to all ASTs.
Correspondingly, there is the increasing problem of homelessness and what to do at this traumatic time. How do local authorities work and what are their obligations towards the individual? What is the role of housing associations and housing co-operatives and how can one gain access to this type of property, particularly now with the government intent on reducing the availability of social housing? In an attempt to grapple with the problem of homelessness the government has introduced the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, which became fully operative in April 2018.
Leaseholders have been in the news, with extortionate ground rents and the government has banned the sale of new build leasehold property. This is because property developers have been completing schemes and then selling on the freehold to companies who are able to profit from the outsize ground rents which in many cases render a property impossible to sell in the future. The Government has also announced that the UK is to get a new housing complaints resolution service so that both home owners and tenants know where to go when things go wrong, it has been announced. For the first time ever, private landlords will be legally required to join a housing redress scheme and (the current) Secretary of State for Housing James Brokenshire said that it will boost protection for millions of tenants across the country.
According to Brokenshire it will potentially help millions by providing a straight forward way of getting help when faced with unresolved disputes about problems with their home, such as repairs and maintenance.
Under the new service dissatisfied home owners and tenants will have simple and quick access to help when things go wrong with the service covering everything from broken boilers to cracks in walls.
And to protect the interests of home-owners who buy new build homes, the Government has also reiterated its commitment to establishing a New Homes Ombudsman which will champion home buyers, protect their interests and hold developers to account.
Legislation will be brought forward at the earliest possible opportunity to require all new developers to belong to the Ombudsman, Brokenshire confirmed, giving home buyers the confidence that when they get the keys to a new home they are getting the quality of build they expect.
Developers will also have to belong to the new body by 2021 if they wish to participate in the Government s landmark Help to Buy scheme.
The Housing Complaints Resolution Service will be developed with a new Redress Reform Working Group made up of representatives from across the sector, working with industry and consumers.
One other move to protect leaseholders is that reforms have been proposed by the law commission which advocate that homeowners with long leases on flats, who already have the Right-To Manage (RTM) their flats is suggesting changes to make the system easier and more accessible and also more certain. These include enabling leasehold houses, as well as flats, to qualify for RTM, permitting multi-block RTM on estates and removing restrictions on buildings which have more than 25 per cent commercial space.
Finally, what happens if a person is subject to domestic violence and flees home? What are the obligations of local authorities and housing associations at this time? What happens if a relationship breaks down, what are the rights and obligations of the respective parties at a time like this? Also, what are the rights of people in nontraditional forms of housing such as park homes?
A Guide to Housing Law covers all the main areas in relation to housing and will to be of assistance to individuals who are interested in housing and corresponding rights, as well as those who study housing law.
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Chapter 1
HOUSING IN CONTEXT

Renting and owner occupation
Residential property in the United Kingdom is divided into three broad sectors, owner occupation, private renting and the public sector. The latter is becoming very scarce indeed and the government and the public sector are working together, at long last, to address the shortage.
Currently, buying a home in many areas is still only an option for those who can afford the prices, find a deposit and get a mortgage. We are in a market where the majority of first time buyers are still excluded from buying a home, particularly in the southern areas of the UK. The pattern changes as you move from the south-east to the Midlands and the North, with getting on to the housing ladder and finding more affordable rent still a possibility.
There are distinct advantages to buying a property, if you can. They are as follows:
When buying you will have a wider choice of property and areas, obviously depending on the price range you can afford.
You will have more control over your home than when renting.
You can only normally lose your home if you do not keep up your mortgage repayments.
In the longer term, it can be cheaper than renting and over the years you will build up equity in the property until you eventually own it.
There are disadvantages to owning, as follows:
The costs in the early years are usually higher than renting a property, particularly from a local authority or housing association, although usually lower than the private sector.
There is an initial high cost to buying a house, whereas this is not the case with rented property.
As an owner-occupier you will be responsible for all repairs and maintenance which can be expensive.
There is very limited help with your housing costs if your income drops.
Renting property
Obviously, the ideal landlord from whom to rent is a local authority or a housing association. The advantages of this are:
Costs are usually lower than the private sector and rents are regulated. However, rents are steadily climbing in the public sector. If your income drops you are usually eligible for housing benefit although there have been significant changes to benefit entitlement in the last few years. Most of the repairs and maintenance will be carried out by the landlord, from rental income.