Landlord and Tenant Advice
We offer advice and assistance to landlords and tenants so that everybody understands the rules and regulations involved.
Supporting and Understanding
We are sympathetic to the housing difficulties that can arise and are here to help and support you.
The Highest Standards
We're here to help those whose landlords have allowed properties to fall into disrepair.
We have the key to success
Our Housing Solicitors have a wealth of knowledge and extensive experience in all manners of housing law matters.
Housing Articles
New Year could herald Help to Buy housing bubble (31 December 2013)
New research by Hometrack has revealed that house prices in three-quarters of postcodes across England and Wales rose by 4.4% in the last year, taking the average price of a home to £206,726. Read more...
New Year could herald Help to Buy housing bubble (31 December 2013)
New research by Hometrack has revealed that house prices in three-quarters of postcodes across England and Wales rose by 4.4% in the last year, taking the average price of a home to £206,726. Read more...
UK recovery “fuelled by housing bubble” (30 December 2013)
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is warning the UK’s economic recovery is built on a property bubble and consumer debt. Read more...
Single mum on benefits racks up £3,000 Christmas debt in payday loans (27 December 2013)
A single mum of two has hit out at payday loan companies after she managed to rack up debts totalling £3,000, despite being on benefits. Read more...
CAB research suggests some councils use aggressive tactics to collect council tax debts (23 December 2013)
The Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) has said that some local authorities allow bailiffs to use more aggressive tactics than others when dealing with non-payment of council tax. Read more...
Bank of England “keeping a close eye” on housing market (23 December 2013)
The government’s Help to Buy housing scheme could be subjected to a cap on the property value limit to help prevent a housing bubble. Read more...
Bristol landlady fined for property neglect (20 December 2013)
A former landlady and ex-council employee from Bristol has been fined and ordered to pay costs after authorities found the property she rented in a state of disrepair last year. Read more...
Couple with health issues driven to the brink by council house in need of urgent repair (19 December 2013)
A couple with chronic health conditions have allegedly been left living in a damp and dangerous house by their local council – despite their pleas to have the house repaired. Read more...
Overseas property investors “funding new homes for UK buyers” (18 December 2013)
As many as one-tenth of new homes built in London are now offered to buyers overseas before UK house hunters. Read more...
Referrals to housing charity double, as rental tenants struggle to find affordable housing in Cornwall (18 December 2013)
Cornish housing charity Chy Lowen has said it has been “inundated” with private sector rental tenants seeking help with credit checks and rental deposits. Read more...
99% rise in number of working people claiming housing benefit in West Midlands (16 December 2013)
A new study by the campaign group Home Truths has found that a sluggish property market and stagnant wages in the West Midlands have caused a surge in the number of people in work claiming Housing Benefit. Read more...
Tenancy fraudster evicted from flat in Tottenham (16 December 2013)
A man from Tottenham has been evicted from his flat after a local housing association found that he had not lived there for up to three years after previously giving a false name to sign up for the property. Read more...
Housing body must apologise and pay 1k to woman overlooked for new home (11 December 2013)
A woman from Wales will receive £1,000 in compensation and an official apology from a local housing association after she was continually overlooked for a new home despite being at the top of the priority list. Read more...
Concerns about housing bubble “increasing” (10 December 2013)
The Bank of England is warning that recent developments in the housing market could forewarn of a housing bubble. Read more...
350 families have benefits cut as government’s benefit reforms bite (10 December 2013)
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has said the government was right to cap benefits to prevent some families receiving more in benefits than the average annual wage. Read more...
Help to Buy scheme “confusing” for Homebuyers (6 December 2013)
A new survey by Rightmove has found that around one-third of 44,000 potential homebuyers questioned felt confused by the government’s Help to Buy scheme. Read more...
Brent Council reviewing case of pregnant foster mother due for eviction (4 December 2013)
Brent Council have agreed to review the case of a pregnant woman who was due to be evicted from her bedsit in a Kilburn hostel. Read more...
Housing associations struggling to let larger properties since reform (2 December 2013)
According to new research published by Community Housing Cymru (CHC), recent housing benefit reforms that have made it difficult for housing associations to let affordable homes could prevent hundreds more from being built on an annual basis. Read more...
Reading council could introduce new social housing rules (29 November 2013)
Reading Borough Council is considering a change to its social housing allocation policy after a ^Let^s Talk Housing^ consultation in the borough drew a range of responses from residents earlier this year. Read more...
TUC urges action to build more homes and stop spiralling rents (28 November 2013)
The TUC has said urgent action is needed to tackle the UK’s affordable housing shortage. Read more...
The TUC has said urgent action is needed to tackle the UK’s affordable housing shortage. (28 November 2013)
Speaking at the Bevan Lecture in London on Wednesday (27/11/13) TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady warned that some government measures were causing “immense hardship” among those unable to afford their own homes and forced into paying high rents. Read more...
Oxford Green Party argues against right to buy scheme (27 November 2013)
The right to buy scheme is not working and “should be scrapped” in Oxford according to Green Party councillor Sam Hollick after the latest figures showed that there are now thousands of people on the housing register in the city. Read more...
End of mortgage rescue scheme could leave London homeowners “homeless” (26 November 2013)
The premature end of a scheme to help homeowners cope with debt and mortgage arrears could result in thousands of homeowners in London having their homes repossessed. Read more...
Buckinghamshire council updates social housing policy (25 November 2013)
Plans for a fair way to allocate social housing in the Aylesbury Vale area of Buckinghamshire have been given the green light by local councillors after the waiting list for district housing topped 4,500 earlier this month. Read more...
Mental health issues linked to debt, says new report (21 November 2013)
A new report by think tank the Centre for Social Justice has found that personal debt in the UK almost equals the country’s entire output. Read more...
Shelter braced for homeless crisis this Christmas (21 November 2013)
Homeless charity Shelter is predicting a huge rise in the number of people who will become homeless this winter – and especially in the run up to Christmas and New Year. Read more...
Welsh Assembly Housing Bill seeks to address housing inequalities in Wales (19 November 2013)
The Welsh Assembly has published a new Housing Bill to tackle rogue landlords who fail to maintain properties and charge high rents for poor quality housing. Read more...
Oxford charity reports rise in homeless young adults (13 November 2013)
A local youth homelessness charity in Oxfordshire has reported higher levels of homelessness among young adults in the year to April 2013. Read more...
Housing shortages force councils to relocate families away from London (13 November 2013)
Housing shortages in the private sector and benefit caps have forced an increasing number of families to move from central London according to new figures released by Inside Housing magazine. Read more...
Bedroom tax claims new victims, as three-bed maisonettes are deemed “unaffordable” (11 November 2013)
Some three-bedroom maisonettes will have to be demolished because housing providers say the bedroom tax means tenants can no longer afford to rent them. Read more...
Immigration and visa checks ‘could put landlords in physical danger’ (30 October 2013)
Landlords could face physical danger by being asked to check the immigration status of their tenants, MPs have been told. Read more...
Social Housing & Repossessions: Early Action Required. By Erol Izzet (7 August 2013)
If you are of working age and live in social housing your ability to meet your rent will be made much harder in 2013. This will, in all likelihood, make the risk of losing your home much greater. This is against a backdrop of already rising possession claims being issued at county court by landlords and orders for possession obtained. Read more...
Tenancy Deposit Law Updated following Superstrike Ltd v Rodrigues [2013] (16 June 2013)
Until 2007 there was no legislation in the UK dealing with the issue of tenancy deposits. However, this changed with the implementation of the Housing Act 2004, subsequently amended by the Localism Act 2011, which commenced on 6 April 2012. Read more...
Tackling Homelessness & Challenging Decisions. By Erol Izzet (13 June 2013)
The latest national statistics on statutory homelessness were released by the government on 6th June 2013 which shows that during the financial year of 2012/13, 53,540 households were accepted by local authorities as being owed, what is known as the main homelessness duty. This is a 6% increase from 50,290 in 2011/12. Acceptance of this duty means that the local authority must ensure that suitable accommodation is made available to you. Read more...
The ‘Benefits Cap’ Explained: What you can do about it. By Daniel Anderson (13 May 2013)
The coalition government has made a number of changes to the benefits system and perhaps the most drastic change is the so-called “Benefits Cap”. The Benefits Cap is aimed at limiting the total amount of benefits that some households can receive and is based on the premise that those who are in work will never be worse off than those who remain solely on benefits. Read more...
The newly introduced Housing Benefit ‘Bedroom Tax’ explained and why legal advice may be needed (29 April 2013)
There has been much publicity recently surrounding the Housing Benefit “Bedroom Tax” which was recently introduced. From 6 April 2013 the amount of Housing Benefit a social rented tenant (i.e. those in Local Authority or Housing Association properties) of working age can receive will be reduced in cases of deemed under-occupancy. Read more...
Guidance for Unmarried couples and Beneficial Interest in land (22 March 2013)
The law for cohabiting partners is altogether different to the law that applies on dissolution of a marriage or civil partnership. As Baroness Hale pointed out in Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17 at [43]-[44] the adjustment of shares or ownership in jointly owned family property for married or civil partnership couples have been: Read more...
How should a Local Housing Authority respond to a Homelessness application from a person from whom they had previously received such an application (17 March 2013)
Despite a previous application for homelessness assistance, which has led to a discharge of duty, an applicant can nevertheless make a further application if there have been changes in their circumstances since the earlier/first application as known to the local authority. Read more...