Social housing reforms can’t be separate to improving tenant access to legal aid

Social housing tenants may not benefit from a raft of improvements proposed by the government in the wake of the Grenfell Towers tragedy if no provisions are made to increase access to legal aid.

Law Society of England and Wales president David Greene said:

“These proposals have been much anticipated and the proposals for better landlord accountability and a strengthened regulatory regime are extremely welcome.

“However, there is no mention of improvements to the availability of legal aid to accompany these improvements. The additional rights that go with them may have very little meaning if people are unable to access them – in many cases, tenants will need legal advice which they can ill afford without legal aid.

“Making advice services available through a housing ombudsman is no replacement for specialist legal advice.”

The 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy prompted the government to examine its social housing system and how it treats residents.

In 2018, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) triggered a consultation looking at how regulation of social housing can be improved leading to the White Paper published this week.

David Greene added:

“We are very pleased the MHCLG has made recommendations to improve the current circumstances of social housing tenants.

“The suggested changes are broad and include legislative adjustments so tenants will be kept better informed about their rights and landlord obligations and create consistent and strong regulation.

“Plans to create better alignment between the safety requirements of social housing and the private rented sector have also been put forward, with a consultation on safety requirements around smoke and carbon monoxide alarms being published. A consultation on electrical safety will also follow.

“Such parity is a vital part of shifting attitudes to social housing tenants. There should be no difference between protections offered to social housing tenants and those in the private rented sector.”

Kindly shared by The Law Society of England and Wales