Awaab's Law: How are new powers for The Housing Ombudsman influencing social housing?

The Social Housing Sector is under increasing scrutiny concerning the condition of housing stock, particularly in the context of health and safety.  The Housing Ombudsman is exercising new powers, imposing tougher sanctions and greater financial penalties on landlords who breach their repairing and maintenance obligations.  In the last decade, there has been a significant rise in the number of housing conditions claims brought by social housing tenants. Collectively this costs the sector millions of pounds annually. 

In addition, the Government is shortly expected to set down the regulations referred to within Section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (more commonly known as Awaab’s Law).  This is likely to include requirements on landlords to inspect, report and raise works to address any prescribed hazards within a few weeks of notification.  This will increase pressure on repairs teams further.

Against this backdrop it is essential that landlords have access to expert legal advice, to ensure legal compliance, properly maintained housing stock via a robust repairs and maintenance regime, and offer the strongest possible resistance to claims where appropriate.  Leading national law firm Weightmans is a key strategic adviser to some of the country’s largest social housing providers.  Headed by Partner Sian Evans, Weightmans’ social housing team has 50 case handlers specialising in defending housing conditions claims, helping landlords manage claims and minimise adverse findings, mitigate reputational damage and reduce overall cost.   

Matthew Lake, Partner leading on housing conditions claims, notes that more than one-third of all housing conditions claims Weightmans are instructed on are entirely without merit, and more than 40% are defended at the pre-litigation stage for relatively small sums.  Matthew attributes this success rate to a combination of strong collaboration with clients’  repairs and maintenance teams, and effective use of technology driven solutions for both Weightmans and their clients. 

Weightmans captures significant amounts of claims data  to better understand trends and patterns, including geographical scope, defect types, and the average value of each claim.  This enables Weightmans’ clients to prioritise f repair and maintenance resources to areas most in need, identify training requirements to mitigate the risk of similar future  incidents, and better manage and forecast budgets.

Data collation also enables Weightmans to identify possible fraudulent activity or activity which may breach professional codes of conduct, and when a tenant brings a claim but fails to mention a previous claim. 

Weightmans has also invested heavily in innovation, developing award winning solutions for its clients, most recently winning Technology Venture of the Year at the British Technology Awards.  Product and Innovation Partner Colette Morgan-Ford says “we explore the space where people, process and technology meet to find innovative opportunities and solutions to maximise the client experience.  Some solutions will be driven by plain old legal expertise; others might involve reimagining new ways of doing the same thing in a more process efficient way; it could be harnessing technology to remove several steps; it could be a software tool that supports decision making or enables clients to demonstrate compliance”.  

Working with the Product and Innovation team Matthew Lake has developed a tool designed to assist landlords’ inhouse surveyors comply with Awaab’s Law. Matthew says “We are keen to hear from more landlords within the social housing sector about their concerns and needs in relation to Awaab’s Law and what will assist them in a real life setting.  By listening, we can adapt this tool to optimise its value and enable our clients to efficiently demonstrate their compliance with Awaab’s Law”.

For more information regarding Weightmans and their services contact Matthew Lake or Colette Morgan-Ford.