MSB’s Social Housing Highlight – July

Bringing you all the latest updates from the world of Social Housing.

The latest at MSB

It has been an exciting month at MSB, with lots of promotions across the firm! Huge congratulations to Andrew Fairman and Tom Stockton in our Social Housing team, who have been promoted to Associate Solicitors! Read about all of the recent promotions, here.

We’ve also welcomed two brand new brilliant team members. George Chai has joined us as paralegal and Helen Maher is our new legal assistant – we’re sure you’ll be hearing lots from them!

As always, we’ve been keeping our finger on the pulse of all things Social Housing law and the team have written a number of fascinating and helpful blogs on a range of subjects. Abs Lalji wrote an article about positive requirements in ASB Injunctions, Amy Tagoe wrote an article on repairs and Covid-19, Andrew Fairman shared an update on building and fire safety and Andy Moore wrote a piece on the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

The team have also been busy delivering virtual training sessions to keep everyone up to date. Andy and Amy delivered a free training session on Capacity and ASB Injunctions, Andrew and Amy delivered a bespoke training session on compliance, while Phil held a training session for local lettings agents. If you’re interested in learning more about our bespoke training sessions, please email dominiqueownes@msbsolicitors.co.uk.

Housing law news

Building safety
The Building Safety Bill has had its first reading in Parliament. Once this comes into law, likely in early 2022, it will introduce a raft of changes targeted at building safety for higher risk buildings to create a clear pathway on how buildings should be constructed and then managed. From a housing management perspective, residents will have more say on safety matters and a greater onus will be put on engagement. Read the bill and check on its progress, here.

Domestic abuse
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021, which provides a statutory definition of domestic abuse, came into force on 5^th July 2021. For social housing providers, the Act will likely have a significant impact and we would advise considering updating your policies, procedures and tenancy agreements. A link to the act can be found here.

Rent checks
The Government has published updated guidance on the right to rent checks. This takes into account the changes to the rights of EU nationals and it is no longer the case that checks on ID for EU nationals is the same as UK citizens. As of 1st July 2021, EU citizens require immigration status in the UK and will need to prove their status to comply with right to rent regulations. Find the updated guidance, here.

Evictions
Rule 12 of the Civil Procedure Amendment, which comes into force on 7^th August 2021, states that if an eviction doesn’t take place following a notice of eviction which specifies the time and date for the eviction, a further notice of eviction – giving at least seven days’ notice of the new time and date for the eviction – must be delivered before the eviction can proceed.

If you would like more information or need advice on any of these topics, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll be happy to help.

Upcoming events

4^th August 2021
Our next free webinar, ‘Compliance in social housing’ is coming up very soon with Andrew Fairman and Bethany McKeown! Please email dominiqueowens@msbsolicitors.co.uk to book your place.

8^th September 2021
We are hosting another fantastic evening of ‘Sangria & Social Housing’, during the Chartered Institute of Housing’s award-winning annual conference. Join us for an evening of networking, food and drinks at Manchester’s Evuna from 5pm-9pm.
Email dominiqueowens@msbsolicitors.co.uk to be added to the guest list.