Government spending on legal help in housing disrepair cases has more than halved since controversial cuts to legal aid were introduced in 2013, new figures from the Ministry of Justice reveal. However, changes to what used to be a ‘cost neutral’ scheme for the government have drastically curtailed tenants’ access to justice, solicitors have told the Gazette.
Figures provided in a parliamentary written response this month show that spending for housing legal aid fell from £43,958,966 in 2012-13 to £20,361,111 in 2021-22. Spending for disrepair cases similarly plummeted: £3,932,667 in 2012-13 to £1,158,933 in 2021-22.
The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act limited the scope of legal aid to cases where there is a serious risk to health or safety. Damages arising from a disrepair claim were removed from scope.
Simon Mullings, co-chair of the Housing Law Practitioners Association, said: 'These figures correlate with disrepair cases under legal aid going off a cliff just after 2013. It is no surprise that since then we have become aware that landlords of all kinds have taken their eye off the ball in relation to disrepair and housing conditions, and important legislation passed by parliament has hitherto gone mostly unused.
‘The changes to legal aid brought about by LASPO have drastically curtailed tenants’ access to the law and their rights and the housing stock of England and Wales is poorer as a result, as well as ordinary peoples’ lives. We have seen the tragic human cost of poor housing conditions.'
Rosaleen Kilbane, a founding partner of Birmingham-based The Community Law Partnership, said legal aid for housing disrepair pre-LASPO was like an interest-free loan: ‘If you lost it was written off, but if you won you paid it back – but you paid it back out of the costs you got from the landlord.’
Kilbane sees no reason why legal aid for housing disrepair cannot be fully restored given the scheme was ‘cost neutral’ for the government. ‘They could do something that would make a massive difference to people’s lives and it wouldn’t cost them anything.’
A spokesperson for the ministry said: ‘Last year we invested £813m to make sure civil legal aid gets to those who need it most. On top of this, we’re investing an additional £10m each year to support people facing possession proceedings and are reviewing the sector to ensure the system is sustainable well into the future.’
A housing disrepair online tool launched with the Department of Levelling up, Housing and Communities has been used by 34,439 people so far. The tool provides a ‘guided pathway’ to identifying the issues and help tenants in the private rented sector understand their rights, responsibilities and next steps, the ministry said.
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