Publications

In March, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Rough Sleeping, Eddie Hughes, launched a new package of measures aimed at strengthening the regulation of exempt accommodation providers.

It’s been a busy few months for the Housing Ombudsman, with several new publications and reports following on from the introduction of the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code (the Code) in July 2020.

As part of a number of measures published at the end of March to improve the regulation of social housing, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has confirmed plans to establish a new resident panel titled the “Social Housing Quality Resident Panel” as a means of enhancing tenant engagement.

Sample draft clauses and explanatory notes of the long-awaited Social Housing (Regulation) Bill were published at the end of March. Whilst the draft legislation is not the full Social Housing (Regulation) Bill, its publication provides the sector with an insight into the legislative changes proposed.

Welcome to the first edition of our new quarterly D-Brief, focussing on governance and regulatory issues pertinent to registered providers of social housing (RPs)!

In September 2020, amendments were made to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Regulations 2013 which enabled Deferred Debt Agreements (DDAs) to be entered into.  

Recent research shows that the number of employment tribunal claims related to workplace banter has increased in the last year. This means that more employers are relying on conduct being ‘banter’ as a defence to discrimination and harassment claims and this article explains the context in which such a defence might be used.

The background briefing notes accompanying Wednesday's Queen’s Speech made a clear statement that the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill will ensure tenants of private registered providers of social housing (PRPs) will be able to request information from their landlord in a similar way to how the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) works for tenants of local authority landlords.

On Tuesday 10 May 2022 the Queen’s Speech set out the Government’s proposed legislative changes for the forthcoming year. As ever, the housing sector was not immune from strident change and proposed reform - from extending regulatory oversight for social housing providers, the abolition of section 21 through to leasehold reform - there is plenty to keep us busy over the next parliamentary session!

Devonshires Housing Management and Property Litigation Building Blocks Webinar programme is back due to popular demand! These webinars are aimed at those at the beginning of their careers in tenancy and leasehold management and are suitable for anyone wanting to learn the basics of housing law and how it relates to their day to day job.

One of the key themes of the Levelling Up White Paper (Published in February 2022) concerns addressing the unmet need for social housing.  The White Paper acknowledges that the lack of supply of social housing is leaving people paying higher rents in the private market unable to save for their own homes.

In this article we look at the current rules for the procurement of health and social care services in the UK, and the proposals for reform following the passing of the Health and Care Act 2022 and our exit from the European Union.