This article, the first in a series for public matters looking at housing law issues in a regeneration context, seeks to outline some of the key consultation requirements that should be in a local authorities’ contemplation when they are looking to regenerate, and additional considerations in London.
This article is taken from May's public matters newsletter. Click here to view more articles from this issue.
One of the great challenges faced by a local authority in carrying out regeneration is to make sure existing tenants are properly consulted. Get this wrong and the consequences are severe, if not fatal.
This article, the first in a series for public matters looking at housing law issues in a regeneration context, seeks to outline some of the key consultation requirements that should be in a local authorities’ contemplation when they are looking to regenerate, and additional considerations in London.
There are of course a host of factors under-pinning a successful tenant consultation exercise, the legal requirements being, in some respects, of least importance. Meeting statutory requirements is one thing, but it won’t cure a badly conceived consultation process delivering the wrong messages in the wrong way.
Section 32 of the Housing Act 1985 provides that a local housing authority may dispose of land held for housing purposes, but requires the consent (general or specific) of the Secretary of State before doing so. No consent is required for a letting on a secure or introductory tenancy (Section 32(2), 1985 Act). Due to Section 44, a disposal without the requisite consent is void, save as excepted. The Secretary of State has issued a series of general consents for these purposes:
It is important to note that if, as part of the regeneration project, any disposals are to take place pursuant to Section 32 which result in a secure or introductory tenant of the authority becoming the tenant of a private sector landlord, the consultation requirements in Schedule 3A of the 1985 Act will apply. The Secretary of State will not entertain an application for consent if this schedule applies unless the authority certifies that the consultation requirements have been complied with and copies of the notices issued by the authority are provided. The process for consultation is as follows:
Joint venture vehicles between local authorities and private sector developers are becoming increasingly popular as a way of pressing ahead with regeneration in light of local authority budget constraints. However, it is worth noting that the use of a joint venture arrangement might itself give rise to a requirement to consult local residents.
It was one of the grounds discussed in the case of Peters v Haringey [2018] EWHC 192 (Admin) where the court stated that the duty to consult under Section 3 of the Local Government Act 1999 was not simply confined to cases of outsourcing, but covers ‘arrangements’ - and a joint venture vehicle was an ‘arrangement’. Therefore, before the decision to enter into the joint venture scheme is made, a statutory duty to consult arose. The judgment itself is not clear on when the duty arises but we would suggest it should be considered at a formative stage, being as soon as the high level structure of the proposed joint venture is known, and no later than the beginning of the procurement process for a private sector partner.
The guide, published in February 2018, outlines specific ‘suggestions’ in relation to tenant consultation when undertaking regeneration within London. The principle target being large scale estate renewal schemes. Whilst it is not a legal requirement to comply with the guide, it is a requirement if the regeneration scheme is being supported by mayoral funding from City Hall, and generally we would suggest the guidance should be followed within London. The guidance can be read in full here.
It is noteworthy that the first ballot held (by Metropolitan Thames Valley for a scheme in Barnet) was successful; over 75 % voting in favour on a 66% ‘turnout’. The general view being that ballots should result in a positive outcome, provided the scheme is well developed, properly explained, and reflects tenant views.
If you are looking into options for regeneration in your local area and would like to chat through any questions or queries, please feel free to contact one of our experts who will be more than happy to help.
Law firm Browne Jacobson has collaborated with Wiltshire Council and Christ Church Business School on the launch event of The Council Company Best Practice and Innovation Network, a platform which brings together academic experts and senior local authority leaders, allowing them to share best practice in relation to council companies.
In the Autumn Statement delivered on 17 November, rises to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates were announced, to take effect from 1 April 2023.
Announced in September but scrapped on 17 November the investment zone proposals were very short lived. The proposal has now morphed into the proposal for a smaller number of clustered zones earmarked for investment.
Settlement agreements are commonplace in an employment context and are ordinarily used to provide the parties to the agreement with certainty following the conclusion of an employment relationship.
On 2 November 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in the much awaiting case of Hillside Parks Ltd v Snowdonia National Park Authority [2022] UKSC 30. The Court’s judgment suggests that the long established practice of using drop-in applications is in fact much more restricted than previously thought. This judgment therefore has significant implications for both the developers and local planning authorities.
In ‘failure to remove’ claims, the claimant alleges abuse in the family home and asserts that the local authority should have known about the abuse and/or that they should have removed the claimant from the family home and into care earlier.
Across the UK, homelessness is an urgent crisis, and one that is set to grow amid the rising cost of living. Local authorities are at the forefront of responding to this crisis, but with a lack of properties that are suitable for social housing across the UK, vulnerable individuals and families are often housed in temporary accommodation.
Updates include UK Shared Prosperity Fund, contracts, Subsidy Control Bill, data controller liability, Government Covid-19 procurement and Highway Code revisions.
The complex and rather nebulous transitional subsidy control regime set out in the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement and the UK’s wider international commitments has made it difficult for public authorities and those working with them to proceed with certainty where subsidies are involved.
Investment zones have been introduced by the Conservative party to get the United Kingdom (UK) ‘working, building and growing’. They are to be designated sites which provide time-limited tax incentives, streamlined planning rules and wider support for local growth to encourage investment and accelerate the development of housing and infrastructure that the UK needs to drive economic growth. Processes and requirements that slow down development will be stripped back with the intention of attracting new investment.
Created at the end of the Brexit transition period, Retained EU Law is a category of domestic law that consists of EU-derived legislation retained in our domestic legal framework by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This was never intended to be a permanent arrangement as parliament promised to deal with retained EU law through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (the “Bill”).
It is clear that the digital landscape, often termed cyberspace, is a man-made environment, in which human behaviour dominates and where technology both influences and aids our role in it — through the internet, telecoms and networked computer systems, which are often interdependent. The extent to which any organisation is potentially vulnerable to cyber-attack depends on how well these elements are aligned.
Three months on from the commencement of the new statutory Integrated Care Systems (ICS) Anja Beriro and Gerrard Hanratty reflect on the main themes and issues that have come from the new relationship between local government and health.
The Procurement Bill (the Bill) has now been with us for about four months, during which time there have been a huge number of amendments proposed in the House of Lords (circa 320). Lately, there has been less mention of it — unsurprising, really, given everything else going on in politics recently — but here’s a summary of some of the key issues and themes so far.
Browne Jacobson has been named as a supplier on Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) Public Sector Legal Services Framework on Lot 1a – full-service provision (England and Wales) and Lot 2a – general service provision (England and Wales).
Browne Jacobson has been ranked as a Top Tier law firm in 25 key practice areas in Legal 500 UK 2023, the independent directory of comparative law firm performance. The firm also continues to underpin its status as one of the leading law firms in the East Midlands region with 16 Tier 1 rankings.