Mar

Housing Court LATEST: all-party reform group sets out how landlords will access justice

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As the housing sector waits to hear if the government will give a national Housing Court the green light, Justice sets out how it should work.

Campaigning
legal group Justice has come up with plans for a more unified and accessible
housing dispute system, as an alternative to the Government’s proposed Housing
Court.

Its
report Solving
Housing Disputes calls
for greater coherence, access to legal advice and information, along with
conciliatory methods to resolve disputes.

A
proposed national Housing Dispute Service (HDS) would be funded by subscription
from housing providers, fusing elements of problem-solving, investigation and mediation
used elsewhere in the justice system.

Two years ago, Ministers unveiled plans for a specialist
Housing Court to speed up the settlement of property disputes between landlords
and tenants.

However, Justice says its dispute service is a credible
alternative. A spokeswoman explains: “We have no indication at this stage as
to whether the Government will proceed with a Housing Court. But in any event,
our proposal for an HDS pilot is as an alternative to a court-based system.”

Last year, the Government also announced plans to create
a housing complaints resolution service – a single point of access
for all housing redress schemes – which would allow homeowners and tenants to have
their complaint directed to the right redress scheme.

Justice’s report suggests ways to improve the current
system, building on this resolution service, including making courts and
tribunals more accessible for resolving disputes, and assisted online services to
help people engage with the system.

Andrea Coomber, director of Justice, says: “The proposal for the HDS comes
within the context of the Government pitching a ‘new deal’ for tenant-landlord
relations. Within that context, we think a new approach to disputes, based on
conciliatory methods, transparency and exploration of underlying problems
should be explored.”

“This is a substantial report which has been well researched and evidenced,” says Sean Hooker, Head of Redress at the Property Redress Scheme.

“I like the approach that combines a radical solution that will stimulate debate and further consideration but also offers practical measures that could help improve the housing complaint landscape within the existing framework”

Read the
report in full.

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