MSB’s Social Housing Highlight – October 2023
Welcome to MSB’s monthly Social Housing Newsletter!
Bringing you all the latest updates from the world of Social Housing.
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The latest at MSB
Exciting news. Tom Knox is back! He will be joining the team as a consultant and pushing forward our Governance and Regulation team. We have also had a new paralegal, Alicia Manchester, join us in our Manchester office. She is great addition to the team.
Andy Moore was invited to join Resolve ASB as a Co-Presenter at Resolve’s Golden Hour where they discussed the balance of probabilities. Did you also catch Andy on Radio 5 Live discussing the delays in the abolition of S21 notices?
We are delighted to have been shortlisted for an award at the Liverpool Law Society Legal Awards in November. We are in the category of Outstanding Team in Dispute Resolution and Litigation. Fingers crossed! MSB have also been included in The Times Top Law Firms for 2024 an amazing achievement. We also maintained our ranking in Legal 500 with some amazing client testimonials and Louise Murphy has also been named in Chambers and Partners 2023 as up and coming! What a successful month we have had.
We have been out and about a bit this month with Amy Tagoe attending the Women in Property Wine Tasting event with some of our commercial property team. Amy Tagoe, Rachael Payne and Abigail Eaves attended the St Ives Housing Conference. Michelle Summers and Abigail Eaves attended the online Women in Social Housing Event on neurodiversity.
Our free webinar this month was hosted by Andy Moore and Phillip Coburn who discussed Leasehold and Service Charges. We also hosted some bespoke online training sessions for clients. If you are interested in arranging training sessions with the team please contact dominiqueowens@msbsolicitors.co.uk.
We have been celebrating black history month with a bake sale where we raised £519. Rachael Payne has also been raising money for the National Literacy Trust by getting people to guess how many books she owns. Would you believe it was 942 and she raised £229. We also took part in the National Literacy Trust #take10 on World Mental Health Day taking 10 minutes out of our day to read to calm our minds and boost our mood.
We love supporting great causes, so if you have any projects you would like us to get involved with, please contact thomasstockton@msbsolicitors.co.uk.
Our Book Club reads this month are ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho and ‘The Song of Achilles’ by Madeline Miller. Read the latest newsletter here.
Updates and insight
Phillip Coburn summarises two recent possession claims heard by the Court of Appeal.
Rachael Payne highlights the importance of getting it right when it comes to protecting deposits.
Melissa Bosoboe discusses the change in annual rent increases for shared owners.
Housing Law News
Consultation on Energy Efficiency
The Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) have announced they will be launching a consultation on minimum energy efficiency standard by early next year.
Consultation on Awaab’s Law
The DLUHC have launched a consultation on a part of Awaab’s law which will require landlords to provide tenants with information about their rights and complaint processes. The consultation will close on 22nd November 2023. For more information and to respond to the consultation click here.
Fees Consultations
On 5th September 2023 the Regulator launched its consultation on fees charged to RP’s. For more information and to respond to the consultation click here.
Delays in the abolition of S21.
The DLUHC have announced that the abolition of Section 21 will be delayed until court reforms have been implemented.
How to Rent Guide
On 2nd October 2023 the DLUHC published a revised version of the How to Rent guide. For the up to date version see here.
Upcoming events
1st November 2023
Our next free webinar on Abandonment and Torts with Amy Tagoe and Rachael Payne is on 1st November via Zoom. Please email dominiqueowens@msbsolicitors.co.uk to book your place. If you want to be added to our mailing list to receive updates on free training and events, please get in touch.
9th November 2023
Tom Knox and Louise Murphy are hosting a free webinar on Elevating Customer Engagement in Social Housing. Please email dominiqueowens@msbsolicitors.co.uk to book your place.
Case of the month
Daff v Gyalui & Aiach-Kohen [2023] UKUT 134 (LC)
The dangers of failing to comply with a Rent Repayment Order. Michelle Summers summarises the findings in the case.