Housing Law and Policy

Overview

This course will focus primarily on substantive issues relating to Housing Law and Policy as it applies to the public and private rental sectors here in the UK.

Specific areas that will be covered include:


Housing Law and Policy Context
• The nature of Housing Law vs Housing Policy.
• Rental v owner-occupied market.

Public v Private Rental: Access and Regulation
• Access to and regulation of the social housing sector (Local Authority Housing, Registered Social Landlords (RSLs)).
• Access to and regulation of the private rental sector.
• Homelessness
• Multiple occupation and overcrowding

Security of Tenure in the Public and Private Rental Sectors: Rights and Responsibilities
• Grounds for possession and eviction in the public rental sector.
• Anti-social behaviour.
• Grounds for possession and eviction in the private rental sector
• Possession claims and human rights.

Learning Objectives

Students will acquire knowledge and understanding of the legal, regulatory and policy landscapes that have shaped and continue to develop the housing sector here in the UK. From the outset, students will be able to discern the key differences in the policies and regulations that apply to the owner-occupied and rental markets. This course will also equip students with knowledge of any regional differences that may apply in these areas between England &Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Further, as this course focuses primarily on the public and private rented sector students will know and understand the statutory provisions and case law that apply in the following key areas:
• Homelessness
• Multiple occupation and overcrowding
• Grounds for possession and eviction in the public and private rental sectors.
• Anti-social behaviour.
• The application of the Human Rights Act 1998 in public sector and lord/tenant possession claims.

Skills

Students will acquire the following skills:

*The ability to identify and locate relevant government policies and key statutory provisions pertaining to substantive issues (outlined above) within the area of Housing Law and Policy using electronic and paper sources.
*Be able to research independently in an area of law not previously studied.
*Plan and undertake research towards assessment which will also develop students’ ICT skills.
*Amalgamate and synthesise information and materials from a variety of different sources.
*Be able to critically analyse the laws and policies that apply in this area by using relevant scholarly literature.
*Formulate comprehensible and well-structured arguments using suggested materials and materials sought beyond the module content.
*Judge critically the merits of a particular argument.
*Oral communication, by way of discussion of key issues in a large group setting.

Assessment

Obtain an overall pass mark of 40% in module assessment.