Housing Associations Practicing Unfair Posseassions Says CAB
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The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) revealed that despite the Government’s rent arrears pre-action protocol appears to be bedding down well, some housing associations are continuing to choose to seek possession for rent arrears using the mandatory Ground 8 under the 1988 Housing Act.
The rent arrears protocol was first launched in October 2006, defining the steps landlords must take before resorting to court action. Broadly this has had a positive effect and Citizens Advice has found that most social landlords will only take possession action for rent arrears as a last resort.
However, some housing associations do not follow the protocol and still seek possession for rent arrears using the mandatory Ground 8. As a result some CAB clients have been threatened with homelessness in circumstances where this might have been avoided if discretionary grounds had been used. Citizens Advice does not believe that the use of Ground 8 by housing associations is consistent with the Government’s wider homelessness prevention agenda.
Citizens Advice Chief Executive David Harker said: “There really is unfinished business here. A minority of housing associations – and I stress it is a minority – are still using Ground 8 to recover rent arrears. This is unhelpful, inconsistent and often unfair.
As our report Unfinished business shows, the time has come to discontinue the use of Ground 8 by housing associations and we are therefore pleased that the Department for Communities and Local Government has set up a stakeholder group to look at the problem.
We hope this will result in early action to end this practice.”
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