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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> The Law Commission >> Renting Homes (Report) [2006] EWLC 297(10) (May 2006) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/other/EWLC/2006/297(10).html Cite as: [2006] EWLC 297(10) |
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10.2 Our thinking about the best way to develop this part of the law has changed dramatically during the consultation process. Initially we suggested that all projects providing an appropriate level of supported accommodation to vulnerable groups should be excluded from our proposed statutory scheme and from the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.[2] We also suggested that the Secretary of State could have a power to hold a list of such projects.
10.4 Responses to these proposals were very critical. We were told that we had failed to appreciate the diversity of supported housing schemes, the extent to which providers were committed to giving occupiers of supported housing the most extensive security possible and the increasing professionalisation in supported housing arising from the Government's Supporting People[3] programme.
THE NEW APPROACH10.6 Our approach[4] now is to provide a legal framework that differentiates between types of supported accommodation. In essence, our scheme establishes three levels of legal protection for supported housing:
(1) agreements excluded from the scheme (very short term accommodation);
(2) agreements included as standard contracts; and
(3) agreements included as secure contracts.DETAILS OF OUR STATUTORY SCHEME
10.10 Supported housing accommodation is defined in clause 234. It is based upon the link between the provision of accommodation and the provision of support services.[5] We also recognise the importance of housing charities' work in this area, and accommodation provided by charities is therefore included in the definition alongside accommodation provided by community landlords. This means that those housing charities that are not also community landlords are able to utilise the legal tools we have designed for the management of supported housing, though they are not obliged to provide accommodation on a secure contract.
Exclusion of short term provision from the statutory scheme10.11 Notwithstanding the general objective of including supported housing in the scheme, the draft Bill excludes supported accommodation from the scope of the scheme when it is intended to be provided for a period of four months or less.[6] This is designed to exclude respite accommodation and accommodation provided whilst a landlord assesses the needs of a client before providing them with longer-term accommodation.
Exclusion of supported housing accommodation from the requirement to enter into secure contracts – the enhanced management period10.13 The scheme also enables supported housing provided by community landlords to be excluded from the general requirement that they provide accommodation under secure contracts.[7] The exclusion is, however, time limited. Initially it lasts for up to two years, and can be extended in particular circumstances that are outlined below. During this period, the landlord will enter into a modified version of the standard contract, known as the supported standard contract.[8] The Bill does not prevent a community landlord offering a client, who has made good progress and demonstrated a capacity to live fully independently, a secure contract before the end of the two-year period.
Tools available to the managers of supported housing10.14 The two-year period is defined in the Bill as the enhanced management period.[9] During the enhanced management period two specific management tools are available: exclusion and mobility.
EXCLUSION10.17 Therefore the Bill provides that it is a fundamental term of the supported standard contract that, during the enhanced management period, the landlord[10] can exclude an occupier without the need for any intervention by the court. This admittedly draconian power is subject to two vital limitations. First, no exclusion can be for more than 48 hours. Second, the landlord or the designated person must reasonably believe that the occupier has acted in a particularly dangerous manner.[11] The landlord must give notice to the contract-holder setting out the reasons why they are required to leave, either when requiring them to leave or as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards.[12]
10.18 The acts which justify a temporary exclusion are:
(1) where the occupier has used violence against anyone on the premises;
(2) where the occupier does something on the premises which creates a risk of significant harm to anyone; or
(3) where the occupier behaves in a way which seriously impedes the ability of another resident of supported accommodation provided by the landlord to benefit from the support provided.[13]
10.19 We recommend (and the Bill provides for this) that this provision cannot be used more than three times in any six-month period.[14] We thought restriction should be included to prevent abuse by the landlord. Three times in six months was the number we arrived at after discussions with providers of social housing, but the Government may see fit to increase or decrease this number. This may be a particular issue on which further public consultation will be needed.
MOBILITY10.21 Often supported housing providers have limited accommodation available, and it is essential that they can put it to the best use. To assist with this, the Bill gives power to landlords to require contract-holders to move within the building.[15] For example, a room near the resident manager's room may be best used to keep an eye on a new arrival. Therefore the manager may need to move occupiers within their premises. The ability to move people can also be a useful tool in maintaining order – moving residents who are in conflict, for instance, may forestall the need for one or both to be removed or evicted.
Extending the enhanced management period10.26 Nevertheless, we recognise that there will be some circumstances when the additional tools or restrictions on rights during the enhanced management period need to be available for longer than two years. Thus the scheme provides that in limited circumstances the landlord can extend the enhanced management period.[16] This requires the service of a notice of extension upon the contract-holder at least eight weeks prior to the expiry of the enhanced management period.
10.27 The landlord must provide reasons for the decision to extend the period.[17] In particular, they must justify the continuing need to have the power, discussed above, to temporarily exclude the particular contract-holder in question.[18]
10.28 Where the landlord is a judicially reviewable body, the occupier can apply to the county court for a review of the decision to extend the enhanced management period.[19]
Note 1 Supported housing is discussed in Part 16 of Renting Homes (2003) Law Com No 284. [Back] Note 2 See paras 9.101 to 9.107 of Renting Homes (1): Status and Security (2002) Law Commission Consultation Paper No 162. [Back] Note 3 Department of Social Security, Supporting People: A New Policy and Funding Framework for Support Services (1998).
[Back] Note 4 We are grateful to those representatives of supported housing who attended a seminar at the Law Commission on 9 July 2002 who helped us design the outline of the scheme which is set out in the Bill. [Back] Note 8 Cls 76 to 78, 94 to 97. [Back] Note 10 Or someone designated by the landlord: cl 78(7). [Back] Note 16 Cl 97. This decision will in certain circumstances be reviewable: see para 10.28. [Back]
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