Housing Standards and Tenancy Reform in the PRS

Tuesday 26 November 2019

voco® | St. John’s Solihull,

651 Warwick Road,

Solihull, B91 1AT

A lot has been happening since our last housing conference in October 2018. Housing policy and regulatory reform in relation to housing conditions and tenancy law in the rental sector continue to be a priority for government. The introduction of the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, which makes reference to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System as part of the determination, gives tenants the right to bring a claim for any failure by the landlord to keep the property ‘fit for habitation’.

In October 2018 mandatory licensing was extended to include smaller HMOs, specifying minimum room sizes used for sleeping accommodation and waste management requirements. In January 2019 the findings of a joint report by the CIEH and CIH highlighted the benefits of selective licensing schemes in improving housing conditions and reducing anti-social behaviour. This was followed up in June with the government publishing an independent review on the use and effectiveness of selective licensing which indicates similarly that selective licensing can be effective in delivering positive outcomes.

Also, earlier this year RHE Global was commissioned by the government to identify the extent to which the HHSRS needs to be updated and revised. The findings will be used to help develop a specification for the actual review of the HHSRS. The government has also recently published guidance for local authorities on tackling rogue landlords and a guide on landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities in the PRS.

The collective measures outlined above aim to assist effective regulation and enforcement and better engage and inform landlords and tenants on renting and their responsibilities. For this event in 2019, we have assembled a highly respected panel of speakers. They will be able to give an insight into the range of housing standards and tenancy reforms and the implications for local authority housing enforcement teams.

Topic areas include:

⎯ Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 and implications for local authorities

⎯ Housing policy and regulatory update

⎯ Housing legal updates

⎯ Case studies on:

⎯ Flood protection measures and the HHSRS

⎯ HMO licensing conditions and minimum room sizes

⎯ Private sector housing enforcement policies

⎯ Tackling Harassment adn Illegal Eviction

A number of local authority colleagues will be speaking from first-hand experience, providing a wealth of knowledge and experience of specific cases and the implications these have for housing enforcement. The case studies outlined above will give a real insight into how best to tackle issues facing you and your team.

The conference will be chaired by Dr Stephen Battersby with a speaker panel including:

David Smith, Partner and Head of Operations at Anthony Gold Solicitors

Tamara Sandoul, Policy Manager at CIEH

Ursula Seddon, Principal Housing Services Officer at Fylde Borough Council and formerly of Eden District Council

Andrea Towse, Principal Environmental Health Officer and Ian Sanders at Hull City Council

Aran Hennessy, Principal Environmental Health Officer at Nottingham City Council

Dave Hickling, Chair of the Association of Tenancy Relations Officers and Legal and Policy Officer at Sheffield City Council

The conference is for all practitioners and managers responsible for private sector housing enforcement. It is also suitable for legal professionals, surveyors, policy officers and housing professionals in the social and private rented housing sectors and housing charities that need to keep up to date with the housing practice and the law.

Delegates are invited to pre-tender questions to be answered by the panel by sending them to training@rheglobal.com (there will also be time for some spontaneous ones as well, time allowing . . .).

This event is hosted by RHE, the UK’s leading information provider for Housing professionals applying the HHSRS, delivering:

⎯ RIAMS (www.riams.org) knowledge management with continually updated procedures, forms, notices and information for the HHSRS.

⎯ UK Housing Professionals forum (www.communities.riams.org) providing regular PRS policy updates; expert digests of recent and notable Property Tribunal decisions and the UK’s most popular forum for PRS Enforcement professionals.

⎯ Housing Health (www.housinghealth.com) monthly research digests summarising research and reports with particular relevance to the relationship between housing and health.

The conference is kindly supported by the East Midlands local authority group Decent and Safe Homes (DASH), whose members are tasked with using the HHSRS to tackle poor housing conditions. 

CPD

Certificates of attendance will be awarded to participants as evidence of CPD. This event qualifies for 5 hours of core CPD time.

Cost per person

£220.00 (+VAT) Public Sector – Early bird price £198.00 until Monday 16th September

£245.00 (+VAT) Private Sector – Early bird price £220.00 until Monday 16th September

Includes lunch, refreshments and access to online delegate resources.

A 10% discount is available to all sectors if there is more than one delegate from your organisation attending, provided that all places are booked at the same time