Dear All
A tenant of the Southways housing Trust a single parent living in Withington, great Manchester and a second year student was taken to court by her landlord for rent arrears for possession of her home. The reports are a bit sketchy but it seems there was a problem of the tenant not having been correctly advised by the local benefits service as to her entitlement to housing benefit. Where an official body or professional adviser makes a mistake in giving advice and the recipient suffers a loss as a result, they are liable to make good the loss. This is why advisers have to be covered by
insurance. Because backdating of housing benefit is now limited to 6 months where there is an official error the loss of benefit must be made up by that body as a waiver or ex-gratia payment. (Disability Rights Handbook).
One report refers to the 'bedroom tax' (a reduction in housing benefit) but it is not clear if it applied in this case. If it was it could be very instructive in relation to future cases.
The tenant tried to discuss her case with the landlord before the court hearing but got nowhere. It would seem that Southway housing neglected to explore with tenant what courses of action could
resolve the rent arrears problem. If so this would run foul of the pre-action court protocol ( Justice.go.,uk) in place which must be followed in order to reduce wasted court time. Not to do so can result in
cases being thrown out.
It states that the tenant was subsequently advised by a CAB of her entitlements and this formed a good basis for her defence. However, it states that she did not get legal representation due to changes in legal aid. This is puzzling. Unless I have missed something it is still the case according to the Bar Council (A Guide to Representing yourself in Court) and the CAB (Citizens Advice Guide online) that legal aid is still available for housing possession cases.
In the event she was accompanied by a 'McKenzie friend 'for moral support (they cannot address the court - see Wikipedia). This can work if the tenant can produce a good defence against the landlord's application.
Eventually the landlord backed off at the door of the court and agreed to an adjournment providing the tenant applied for a Discretionary Housing Payment. This will only last for a few
weeks. If it had gone into court a decent Judge should have come to the same conclusion.
Case law handed down from the Supreme Court in 2010 emphasises the requirement that any eviction should be proportionate in relation to the facts of the case. This leaves room for the tenant to marshall a robust case in their defence. How this will work out in relation to bedroom tax or any other unjust benefit cuts remains to be seen.
It was a great help that the local Bedroom Tax Campaign turned out in force on the day of the court hearing.
Shirley Frost
Benefits Justice Campaign
(now redesignated the Bedroom Tax and Benefit Justice Federation)
248 -3937
Note: I am not a lawyer. This is purely my own interpretation base on personal research.