The Law Commission

PART VI

HOUSING AND ADMINISTRATIVE JUSTICE

TEAM MEMBERS^[1]

Government Legal Service

Richard Percival (Team Manager)

Christina Hughes

(Team Manager: Publication of Local Authority Reports)

Helen Carr, Charlotte Crilly,
Elizabeth McElhinney, Matthew Waddington, Raymond Youngs

Research Assistants

Tim Baldwin, Helen Brimacombe, Iain Steele

Professor Martin Partington CBE

(Commissioner)

Change of Name

6.1     At the end of the period covered by this report it was decided to change the Housing and Administrative Justice team into the Public Law team. We felt that, with preparations for the Law Commission's Ninth Programme of work being started, the name of the team should be somewhat less specific. This has not altered the focus of our current work, but gives some additional flexibility in the determination of future projects in the field of public and administrative law. 

Housing Law Reform

6.2     The major project on the reform of housing law has remained the central feature of the team's work. Since we last reported, we have digested the very considerable number of responses we received to our two Consultation Papers on the reform of housing law. In the light of these responses, we determined the policy which should underpin our final recommendations. We also prepared the instructions to Parliamentary Counsel for the drafting of the Housing Bill which will be the end-product of our work. 
6.3     Given the magnitude of the task we were undertaking, it became clear that the Final Report and Bill would not be complete during 2003. However we were also aware that there was considerable interest both in Government and in the wider housing world in the recommendations we were planning to make. We therefore decided to publish a report setting out our recommendations. 

Renting Homes

6.4     The report, Renting Homes, appeared in November 2003. It builds on the approach to the reform of housing law which we proposed in the original consultation papers. The key features of the recommendations are: 

Flexibility, allowing much greater freedom for the providers of rented housing in both the public and private sectors to work together in the provision of rented accommodation; and

The consumer approach, with a clear statement of the rights and obligations of both landlords and occupiers set out in the occupation agreement.

6.5     In addition to our recommendations on the general scheme, we have also been undertaking more detailed work on the appropriate regime for those who provide supported housing to those often in the most dire need of housing accommodation. We were assisted in this by advice from a group of practitioners with particular experience of the problems relating to the provision of supported housing. Their names are set out in Report No 284 Renting Homes, at Appendix B. We are most grateful for their assistance. 
6.6     We have also been undertaking further work on the possible structure and content of the model agreements which are an important feature of our proposals, and which we hope will be widely used by landlords in both the public and private sectors of the rented homes market. 
6.7     Following on the proactive programme of consultation undertaken by the Team following publication of the Consultation Papers, Martin Partington and members of the team have accepted many invitations to talk to meetings around the country about the recommendations in Renting Homes. 

Future Work

6.8     It was always envisaged that our work on the law of housing tenure would only be the first stage in a comprehensive review of housing law. In Renting Homes we indicated the areas of further work which we thought should follow on the completion of this stage of the project. These related to how good behaviour, by both landlords and occupiers, could be encouraged (and bad behaviour discouraged). In addition, we thought further work needed doing on the resolution and adjudication of housing disputes. We have been discussing with Government how both of these projects might be taken forward. 
6.9     By the end of this reporting period, considerable progress has been made on agreement that there should be a further project on the resolution of housing disputes. Final details of this have not been settled at the time of writing, but we hope public announcements will be made in the near future. Discussions on a project on appropriate regulatory frameworks for the promotion of responsible landlordism and occupier behaviour are still under discussion. 

Land, Valuation and Housing Tribunals

6.10     This project was referred to us in November 2002. Following on the publication of Sir Andrew Leggatt's review of tribunals, published in 2001, we were asked to consider how existing tribunals dealing with a number of issues relating to land, property and valuation matters might, in accordance with the spirit and intent of Sir Andrew's approach, be made more coherent. 
6.11     Last year we reported on the consultation process which we undertook in relation to this project. We received many constructive and helpful suggestions in response to ideas we had set out in our Consultation Paper, which resulted in important and significant changes to the options we had initially proposed. 
6.12     Our final report, Land, Valuation and Housing Tribunals: The Future was published in September 2003. In essence we recommended that rationalisation of the current system of tribunals could be achieved by the creation of a single Property and Valuation Tribunal, which would take on work currently handled by Valuation Tribunals, Residential Property Tribunal Service tribunals, and Agricultural Lands Tribunals. In addition there would be a Reformed Lands Tribunal which would retain the current functions of the Lands Tribunal, take in the work of the Commons Commissioner and the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry, and act as the appeal body for appeals arising from the Property and Valuation Tribunal. 
6.13     The project dealt with a particular aspect of a wider reform of tribunals being considered by Government as a result of the Leggatt Report. To date we have yet to receive a formal response to our recommendations. We expect a White Paper on the future of the tribunals system to be published in the summer of 2004. 

Publication of Local Authority Reports

6.14     Our work on reform of the law relating to the publication of the reports of ad hoc inquiries set up by local authorities to investigate failures in the provision of their services has continued. It has not proved possible to publish our Final Report and Bill in this reporting year. The project will be completed and published in the summer of 2004. A fuller account will appear in next year's Annual Report. 
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Note 1    Including lawyers who were at the Commission for part of the period.     [Back]