Smart Law Resource Housing Law Housing Law Lesson

Smart. Law Resource Housing Law ●

Housing Law Lesson Objectives • Know some different types of living arrangements • Understand some of the rights of private tenants • Be able to discuss social housing policy © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law Finding a Home e t a v i Pr y c n a Ten Squatting Lodging Buy Out ing righ t Get ting Mor tga a ge How many different ways can you find a home? Hous Asso ing ciatio n Council Housing Share d O wners ip h s n a i hip d Guar Staying with Family or Friends Are you unfamiliar with any of these ideas? © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law “Home” What is a “home”? How important do you think a person’s home is? What impact can someone’s home have on their life? © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law Private Tenancy property Private tenancy is a way to rent a _______. The _____ (the person living tenant in the property) pays ______ money to the owner of the property, who is known rent landlord as the ______. tenancy agreement to The landlord and tenant use a legal document called a __________ agree the terms and conditions on which the property is rented. deposit At the start of the tenancy, the tenant pays a _____ which is kept safely until they move out. In certain circumstances, the landlord can use this money to pay for damage caused by the tenant or any unpaid bills the tenant owes. Let’s have a look at a tenancy agreement together. . . Word bank property deposit tenancy agreement rent © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360 tenant landlord

Housing Law Was the tenancy agreement fair? TENANCY AGREEMENT Term: The agreement is valid from 1 st September 2015 to 31 st August 2016. Rent: The tenant will pay £ 455 per month. Rent will be paid in advance by standing order or cheque. The landlord reserves the right to increase the rent by up to £ 50 each year. This right to raise the rent every year is ambiguous. Rent is paid each month, so it is unclear if the landlord can raise the rent by £ 50 per month over this whole year, or £ 50 per year each time. If the rent could be raised by £ 50 per month, the tenant could pay up to £ 1055 for her last month’s rent! © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law Was the tenancy agreement fair? TENANCY AGREEMENT Conditions of tenancy: The tenant is responsible for keeping the premises clean and in good working order. This requires the tenant to keep the interior of the property in ‘good working order’, but in fact the upkeep of some parts of the interior is almost always the landlord’s responsibility. This includes the structure of the building and essential services such as heating appliances, sinks, toilets, water supplies, gas supplies and electricity supplies. © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law Was the tenancy agreement fair? TENANCY AGREEMENT Conditions of tenancy: The tenant must not spend money on repairs without the landlord’s written permission, except when acting reasonably to carry out emergency repairs for which the landlord is liable. ‘Emergency repairs’ is open to interpretation. The landlord and tenant may not agree on what counts as an emergency. Are leaking pipes an emergency? What about faulty windows? Or a broken toilet? © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law Was the tenancy agreement fair? TENANCY AGREEMENT Parties Premises Term Rent Deposit Conditions of tenancy What’s missing? It could be argued that the agreement has a number of things missing which make it very unfair and quite one-sided. The agreement fails to list any of the landlord’s responsibilities, for example: • Maintaining the external and internal structure of the property; • Maintaining and cleaning common areas; • Ensuring furnishings are fit for their purpose; • Agreed notice periods to end the tenancy. © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law Taking sides You will be working in pairs for this activity. One of you will be the landlord and the other will be the tenant. Read through the scenario. In character, you need to agree on what has happened and work out what needs to happen next. Use the prompt questions on your dispute cards to help you. What should happen next? Time to face the judge! © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law Resolving Housing Disputes Some pairs now have the chance to present their arguments to a neutral judge. Did you agree with the judge? Why/why not? © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law Social Housing - Social housing is a special type of housing which is rented to people on low incomes at an affordable rate. It is often provided by councils or not-for-profit organisations such as housing associations. - Social housing provides affordable housing for people who might not otherwise be Let’s have a look at the rules able to afford somewhere secure for them and their families to stay. - around who can and cannot The government pays subsidies to keep rents low and affordable. This means that have social housing… the taxpayer contributes to the costs of social housing. - Social housing is in massive demand. There simply aren’t enough social houses to cope with the demand, so many people that want social housing can’t get it. There are nearly 1. 8 million households in England on waiting lists. © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law Who needs a home? Read your Social Housing Allocation Guidelines. Then, look at your case studies. Should they all be able to get social housing? If not, who shouldn’t? Why? Use the prompt questions on your character cards to help you. What if there were only two homes available? Who would get them? © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law The answers… Probably entitled to social housing: Emily is pregnant and unintentionally homeless. Jaya is mentally ill so may be in priority need. She is also likely to be unintentionally homeless if she has been thrown out of her home. Probably not entitled to social housing: Esther’s family would lose the right to social housing because of the boys’ behaviour (even if the boys were not to live with her in the next house!). One family member’s actions can have a dramatic effect on the lives of those they live with. Esther’s trouble-free past is not taken into account. The Council doesn’t have to house Claire as she is an asylum seeker. Accommodation may be provided by the Home Office. Tim doesn’t have a right to a home in the long term because his failure to pay his rent is his own fault. But he has a priority need because he has children, so the local authority has a duty to provide him and his family with a home for a short time. © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360

Housing Law Plenary • Is it important that people know about housing law issues? Why/why not? • What would you do if you were experiencing a dispute with a landlord? • Why do so many people want social housing? Tweet us the most interesting thing you learnt today! @Smart. Law. CF using the hashtag #Smart. Law or leave a comment on our Facebook page, Smart. Law – Citizenship Foundation © Citizenship Foundation 2016 • Charity Reg. No. 801360