Legal Guidance and Research / Experts / Elizabeth England
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Elizabeth England

Employed as a housing case worker in 2015 at award winning legal aid practice Turpin & Miller Solicitors in Oxford, trained and later became head of the housing team. After a series of high-profile cases, she moved to north-west specialist housing firm Pearson & Johnson Solicitors advising and representing local authorities and registered social landlords. Whilst there she obtained Higher Rights and conducted advocacy on behalf of the firm in the range of housing law issues. In 2014 was invited to join London chambers 42 Bedford Row to work with a specialist housing law team. Now represents a range of clients from inner-London borough councils to private clients in the full spectrum of housing law. Elizabeth provides regular training to the London Borough Legal Association. Recent cases include
    Obtaining and enforcing possession orders for landlords
    Defending possession claims for tenants
    Dealing with Human Rights defences
    Dealing with Equality Act defences
    Dealing with unlawful occupiers and squatters
    Unlwaful eviction and harassment
    Disrepair, nuisance and statutory nuisance
    Homelessness reviews and appeals in County Court
    Injunctions to prevent anti-social behaviour and other orders available under he ASB Crime and Policing Act 2014 including committal applications
    Service charge claims
    Leasehold management issues

Practice Area

Panels

  • Consulting Editorial Board
  • Contributing Author

Education

  • Admission to Rolls 2008
  • LPC (College of Law) 2015
  • LLDip (College of Law) 2014
  • BA(Hons) History (Bristol University) 2013
  • Higher Rights of Audience 2012
  • Call to Bar 2014

6 Contributions by Elizabeth England

Homelessness and Vulnerable Groups in England: Prevention and Relief Duties, Duty to Refer, Assessments/PHPs, Safeguarding, Supported Housing and Suitability under HA 1996, HRA 2017, CA 2014 and Guidance
PRACTICE NOTES
Homelessness and Vulnerable Groups in England: Prevention and Relief Duties, Duty to Refer, Assessments/PHPs, Safeguarding, Supported Housing and Suitability under HA 1996, HRA 2017, CA 2014 and Guidance
This Practice Note considers the specific provisions affecting groups who are especially at risk of homelessness and draws on the Homelessness code of guidance for local authorities (the Homelessness Code). For further detail on vulnerability when evaluating an individual’s priority need for accommodation, see Practice Note: Homelessness—priority need for accommodation... Local authority duties Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996) provides the statutory scheme for determining whether a person is owed a duty by a local housing authority (LHA) if they are homeless, and, where applicable, what that duty entails. See also Practice Note: Homelessness—assisting the homeless post-3 April 2018...
Local Government
Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 (England): prevention and relief duties, assessments and personalised housing plans, interim/main accommodation, deliberate non-co-operation, PRSOs, ending duties and reviews
PRACTICE NOTES
Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 (England): prevention and relief duties, assessments and personalised housing plans, interim/main accommodation, deliberate non-co-operation, PRSOs, ending duties and reviews
Homelessness legislation Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996) forms the main legal framework for preventing homelessness and for assisting people who are threatened with, or already facing, homelessness. The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 (HRA 2017) took effect on 3 April 2018, making major changes to England’s homelessness law. Local housing authorities (LHAs) must have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State when carrying out their homelessness functions. The current statutory guidance was first published in 2018 and is updated on a regular basis. The updated system places obligations on local authorities to act earlier within their areas to stop homelessness arising. It also requires LHAs to offer homelessness services to all those affected, not only those considered to have ‘priority need’. These include: an expanded prevention duty that increases the period during which a household is regarded as threatened with homelessness from 28 to 56 days, requiring LHAs to work with people sooner to prevent homelessness (‘the prevention duty’) a new duty for those already homeless, under which LHAs will support households for 56 days to relieve their homelessness by helping them to secure...
Local Government
Intentional homelessness in England and Wales: statutory tests, 'good faith' defence, causation and settled accommodation, homelessness duties (prevention, relief and s.190/main), special cases, and Welsh intentionality rules
PRACTICE NOTES
Intentional homelessness in England and Wales: statutory tests, 'good faith' defence, causation and settled accommodation, homelessness duties (prevention, relief and s.190/main), special cases, and Welsh intentionality rules
The definition In some situations, a local housing authority (LHA) is obliged to secure accommodation for people who are homeless. A central question, when identifying the scope of any duty owed, is whether the person’s homelessness is intentional. This Practice Note sets out the factors that must be weighed, including if a deliberate act or failure to act by the applicant brought about their homelessness. These considerations must be applied when the authority assesses a case. Intentional homelessness forms part of the statutory tests in homelessness matters under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996) and, in Wales, the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 (H(W)A 2014), and dictates which obligations may arise in a particular case for a homeless applicant. It addresses deliberate conduct or omissions by an applicant that lead to the loss of accommodation. The emphasis is on whether the operative act or omission was deliberate, rather than on any notion that the applicant chose to become homeless. In England, the main housing duty under HA 1996, s 193 only arises where the LHA is satisfied the applicant is not intentionally homeless. In Wales, the statutory framework allows greater flexibility within the scheme...
Local Government
Local authority housing disrepair in England: claims, protocols, ADR/Ombudsman, expert evidence, LTA 1985 fitness, Awaab’s Law timescales, access/decant duties, limitation and damages
PRACTICE NOTES
Local authority housing disrepair in England: claims, protocols, ADR/Ombudsman, expert evidence, LTA 1985 fitness, Awaab’s Law timescales, access/decant duties, limitation and damages
This Practice Note outlines the practical issues that local authority landlords should consider when confronted with a housing disrepair claim in England. It explains the foundation for a repair claim and the practical steps to take when managing a claim, including whether the matter could be addressed through alternative dispute resolution outside the court process. It also covers the Awaab’s Law regime implied term and the new statutory time frames for local authority landlords to investigate and remedy specified emergency and HHRS hazards. The basis for a disrepair claim It is essential to understand the grounds on which a claim can be brought, together with some basic procedural points. Disrepair claims arise principally under contract and statute, and the basis of each is summarised below. Where there is a tenancy agreement, the claim will typically be for breach of contract. A copy of the tenancy agreement should be obtained to check the landlord’s express repairing duties. There are also standard implied terms developed by the courts that: where a landlord undertakes repairs, they must be performed with reasonable skill and care and using appropriate materials a landlord must not derogate
Local Government
Forfeiture: breach of contract damages for future rent
Q&As
Forfeiture: breach of contract damages for future rent
Our Q&A centres on residential leases. In the vast majority of leases for flats, there is a term permitting the landlord to re-enter and recover possession where a covenant has been breached; such provisions are the norm, particularly in the context of long leases (those exceeding 21 years). However, the indication in the question that the tenant is content for the lease to be forfeited suggests the situation concerns a short lease, namely an assured shorthold tenancy (AST). It would be highly unusual for a long-lease holder who has paid a premium comparable to purchasing the freehold to be willing to forfeit that interest. Accordingly, this response proceeds on the footing that the tenant is an AST holder...
Property
Section 21 validity for pre-2015 periodic AST: EPC/GSC required?
Q&As
Section 21 validity for pre-2015 periodic AST: EPC/GSC required?
The changes brought about by the Deregulation Act 2015 Section 21A of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) was introduced by section 38 of the Deregulation Act 2015 (DA 2015), and covers all tenancies created on or after 1 October 2015. Under HA 1988, s 21A, a landlord must satisfy the relevant ‘prescribed requirements’ before a notice can validly be served pursuant to HA 1988, s 21. Those ‘prescribed requirements’ are set out in the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 (Prescribed Requirements Regs 2015), SI 2015/1646. In effect, the new HA 1988, s 21A states that a notice under subsections (1) or (4) of section 21 cannot be given in relation to an assured shorthold tenancy of a dwelling-house in England while the landlord is in breach of a prescribed requirement. It further provides that the matters capable of being prescribed are obligations placed on landlords by any enactment that concern: (a) the state and condition of dwelling-houses and their common parts; (b) the health and safety of those occupying dwelling-houses; or (c) the energy performance of dwelling-houses. The applicable requirements referred to in HA 1988, s 21A are contained within the Prescribed Requirements Regs 2015, SI 2015/1646...
Property Disputes
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