The exercise of judicial discretion in rent arrears cases - Sheffield ...

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Housing benefit Linked to these general problems which may lead to arrears, is the specific issue of housing benefit. Over 60% of tenants of social landlords were claiming housing benefit in 2002/03 (ODPM, 2004). A number of studies have pointed to the fact that rent arrears may be attributable to delays and problems in housing benefit administration. In particular delays in processing (Pawson et al, 2005, Audit Commission, 2002, Raynsford Dallison, 1992), the recovery of overpayments (following a move into work by the tenant) (Pawson et al, 2005, Evans, 2003), the complexity of the housing benefit system (Pawson et al, 2005, Blandy et al 2002, and Ford and Seavers, 1998), and communication difficulties between the landlord and the housing benefit department (Pawson et al, 2005, Blandy et al, 2002, and Ford and Seavers, 1998) may all contribute to the accumulation of arrears. The impact of housing benefit (HB) on decisions to move towards possession are clear from Pawson et al (2005, pp. 67 - 68): “…the vast majority of landlords responding in the postal survey (over 83 per cent of LAs [local authorities] and 95 per cent of HAs [housing associations]) reported that they sometimes issued NSPs where HB claims remained outstanding. Similarly, 60 per cent of LAs and 79 per cent of HAs would, in some cases, enter a case in court even where there was an unresolved HB application. Case study evidence shows that the commonest scenario where a Notice will be served on a tenant awaiting settlement of a Housing Benefit claim is where it is considered that the delay results from the tenant’s own failure to provide requested information (e.g. identification documents required under the HB verification regime). By and large, housing associations appeared more likely than local authorities to issue Notices where HB claims remained outstanding for reasons other than those described above. In at least two case study HAs there was an explicit policy of using Notices to pressurise Housing Benefit Departments to prioritise specific cases (in breach of Housing Corporation advice (Housing Corporation, 2004)). It was, however, apparent that in some areas HB officers routinely advised HAs to initiate court action to trigger ‘fast track’ processing of cases. The rent arrears procedure manual of one case study HA explicitly advised officers to serve Notices on all tenants whose arrears exceeded a given threshold value, making clear that such action was to be taken irrespective of the tenant’s HB status ‘to protect the association’s interest’. The extent to which the tenants affected were made aware that Notices issued to influence HB casework prioritisation did not represent any genuine intention to pursue legal action was not clear.” The impact of housing benefit issues on the decisions of district judges is something which we have sought to explore in this study and is considered in Chapter 7. 13
Levels of arrears Although the reasons for arrears have generally not changed over time, the level of arrears has. Most notably Pawson et al (2005) record that between 1997 and 2002 the value of rent arrears owed by current tenants of local authorities rose by 20 per cent from £335 million to £403 million, although the total fell back in 2003 to £349 million. By contrast, they note, the proportion of social sector tenants in arrears has generally been static or falling, implying that the average debt per debtor must have increased. Indeed their figures indicate that the average value of arrears per debtor rose from £249 in 1997 to £349 in 2003 – an increase of 42 per cent. Responses of social landlords to arrears Pawson et al (2005) report a number of responses by social landlords to the increasing level of arrears amongst tenants. While some responses, such as better assistance to tenants at commencement of the tenancy and the use of incentive schemes, do not affect the court process, some will do so indirectly and others directly. For example landlords report a greater use of forms of welfare benefits advice and debt counselling, which may both reduce the incidence of cases going to court and also impact on a judge’s decision as to whether it is reasonable to grant possession. In general most landlords had a threshold of arrears which triggered consideration (or issue) of NSPs. There was some evidence of a shortening of periods before which an NSP would be issued which may reduce the time (and potentially the level of arrears) at which cases come to court. A very common response by social landlords has been a move to more specialist officers to deal with rent arrears. Of particular note in the context of this study is the increasing employment of specialist rent arrears “court officers”. Pawson et al (2005, p. 24) note that the aim of creation of such posts is to facilitate the development of: “(a) specialist knowledge of legal procedures, and (b) a rapport with county court judges with objective of enhancing the credibility of the landlord’s evidence.” In this study we have sought to examine the “relationship” between landlords and county court judges – see further Chapter 5. 14
Page 1 and 2: The exercise of judicial discretion
Page 3 and 4: The Research Unit, Department for C
Page 6 and 7: Contents Executive summary i Chapte
Page 8 and 9: Executive summary The research ques
Page 10 and 11: the shift to housing officers appea
Page 12: Conclusions A wide and diverse rang
Page 15 and 16: on the role of judges under the exi
Page 17 and 18: Northern 1 court hears over 1500 ho
Page 19 and 20: significance to a particular respon
Page 21 and 22: The application may be adjourned; t
Page 23 and 24: such forms are completed in less th
Page 25: In November 2001, the Legal Service
Page 29 and 30: Table 2: Rent levels from ODPM stat
Page 31 and 32: Table 5: Changes in outcomes of ini
Page 33 and 34: Table 6: Impact of participation on
Page 35 and 36: The focus group participants consid
Page 37 and 38: consideration in this chapter, the
Page 39 and 40: Neither of the judges seemed to con
Page 41 and 42: chambers, where the possession list
Page 43 and 44: Most of the district judges felt th
Page 45 and 46: The views of the claimants’ group
Page 47 and 48: Qualitative and quantitative data f
Page 49 and 50: anything to say, and wants to stay
Page 51 and 52: Table 7: Sources of training and up
Page 53 and 54: sought with what they know the judg
Page 55 and 56: Chapter 5: Judges and landlords Int
Page 57 and 58: Chart 7: Orders granted by requests
Page 59 and 60: some unevenness in the impact of re
Page 61 and 62: Thus it can be seen that the type o
Page 63 and 64: District judges differed on how muc
Page 65 and 66: There were three other, more genera
Page 67 and 68: Conclusions In this chapter, we hav
Page 69 and 70: Chapter 6: Judges and tenants Intro
Page 71 and 72: approach he was more confident in t
Page 73 and 74: “I think in terms of exercising d
Page 75 and 76: Family make up The broad powers of
Page 77 and 78:
are trying to deal with the particu
Page 79 and 80:
“I wouldn’t dream of making an
Page 81 and 82:
interpreter. Similarly, many of the
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Judges are human too - personal rea
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understand the proceedings, a great
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What must be emphasised is that whi
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also the most common explanation gi
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anomalous case of West Country cour
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District judges’ knowledge. Some
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Two of the judges interviewed felt
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DJ: I’d be inclining towards the
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how he dealt with the housing benef
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Chapter 8: Particular decisions: gr
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Table 10: Outcomes in Ground 8 case
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Others were, however, prepared to g
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It is perhaps not surprising that,
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the basis of the original possessio
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Chart 13: Impact of family make up
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The advice to the tenant was often
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Chapter 9: Conclusions Where the la
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shows that the vast majority of tho
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important determining factors is th
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Thus it is likely that that even th
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110
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Lawrence J (1995) “Sentencing pro
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give a typology of the characterist
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In analysing cases percentages have
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Appendix 2 - Research instruments 1
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What factors would you ascribe thos
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20. Typically, how would you descri
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with a duty desk representative who
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DCA Research Series No. 6/05 The ex
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