Great Places Housing Group asked for the legal support needed to place people in permanent accommodation.

Homelessness is a major challenge for cities up and down the UK. But how should it be addressed? What’s the most effective way to end the vicious cycle that often causes people to be back on the streets?

In 2019, Greater Manchester trialled a new three-year pilot programme to provide permanent accommodation for people with multiple and complex needs who had experienced long-term recurrent periods of homelessness.

With this funding, our client Great Places Housing Group (Great Places) was chosen as the lead provider of the Greater Manchester Housing First partnership who, together with their delivery partners, have supported over 344 people with multiple and complex issues into homes of their own. We supported Great Places by putting together sub-contracts with the delivery partners, and a collaboration agreement drawing together all the parties working with Great Places to deliver the programme.

Negotiating agreements  

Following the successful pilot, Greater Manchester Combined Authority secured further funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to extend the programme into years four, five and six.

As we had supported on the original pilot, Great Places asked us to help negotiate the extension agreement for them and draft the agreements to be entered into between Great Places and their ten delivery partners. 

Safe and secure homes

Securing this additional funding has meant the Greater Manchester Housing First partnership can provide ongoing support for the individuals who are already housed, re-house remaining individuals and take new referrals.

Although the first stage of the pilot focused on helping individuals off the streets, this second stage prioritises their ongoing recovery and reintegration into the community with an emphasis on helping people create networks in their area so they can start the next chapter of their lives.

The numbers

• 344 people cumulatively rehoused
• 234 people rehoused for 6+ months
• 79% tenancy sustainment
• 325 people on the programme

(Stats taken from Greater Manchester Housing First)

Improving lives

Our team was perfectly placed to support Great Places due to our expert understanding of funding for local authorities and housing, and the related grant contracts.

We’re proud to have worked on this life-changing project as we can see the benefit it will have on our local community. It overlaps with the work we do for our health and social care clients who depend on programmes like this.

“In keeping with all our purpose-led commercial work, we are delighted that our input has helped the success of a programme which will benefit many vulnerable individuals and improve lives.”
Mark Cook, partner, Anthony Collins

“Thanks to the legal support of Anthony Collins it enabled Great Places to take on the role of the lead provider for the Greater Manchester Housing First partnership and hold the head contract with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Their help also supported us to work as a partnership developing the required contracting arrangements that has enabled us to work together and help so many homeless people into homes of their own across the region.”
Emily Cole, programme lead, Great Places

Helping the NHF balance the needs of current tenants and maintain affordable homes.

The recent leaps in inflation created huge challenges in the social rented housing sector. Nowhere more so than for shared owners in 200,000 homes part owned with housing associations, whose rents are linked to inflation, which by the end of 2022 was over 11%. On the one hand, government was keen to protect all social housing tenants facing very high, one-off rent increases. On the other, housing associations could see their ability to maintain homes for future tenants badly affected if rental income dropped too low.

Anthony Collins supported the National Housing Federation (NHF) to find a way to balance the needs of current tenants with those of future generations.

Rent cap a threat to financial viability

In August 2022, the Government published a consultation paper to cap housing association 2023 rent increases to 5%. Their own assessment was this would reduce housing association income by £4.9bn over three years for 2.8m homes. For many housing associations, this represented a serious threat to their future financial viability.

And that was before September’s mini-budget which only exacerbated the situation.

While no one wanted to put further pressure on households already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, having no money to invest in housing would put the burden of high energy costs on future tenants further down the line.

A flexible approach protected current and future tenants

Our advice to the NHF identified how housing associations could make a ‘voluntary offer’ to government to cap rent increases at 7% for 200,000 shared owners across the country. At the same time, the government took a similar approach to cap social housing rents at 7%, rather than 5%, which improved the situation by £1.7bn for housing associations nationally.

This compromise struck a balance between protecting existing tenants and leaseholders from very high, one-off rent increases in 2023 and enabling future investment to help tenants to have warm, safe and affordable homes in the future.

“This really was a team effort. Our advice had implications on long-term funding and banking arrangements, vires and charitability, lease variations, estoppel and regulatory guidance. So, as well as our housing management team, we drew on expertise from our funding, property, corporate litigation and governance teams to help make a difference.”
Peter Hubbard, senior partner, Anthony Collins

We have used our combined expertise to help housing providers protect their residents.

The tragedy of Grenfell Tower is something none of us will forget. So how do we prevent a similar incident?

In the years since Grenfell, regulations in this area have had a massive overhaul, leaving social housing providers with complex legislation to navigate and actions to take.

The bigger picture

Since Grenfell, there has been a significant increase in a sector-wide commitment to improving building safety. As part of this shift in attitude, a whole raft of new legislation has been created to address different issues in this area.

For example, the Building Safety Act 2022 imposes a new approach to high-risk properties during the development phase and once they are occupied. Traditionally, assessing building safety risks was siloed, with areas like gas, electric and fire risk scrutinised separately. However, this Act will mean buildings need to be assessed for safety as a whole. The Act also restricts charges for remedial works to service charge payers, either in their entirety or to limit costs charged.

Creating a workbook

What housing providers need to do as a result of this new legislation is complicated, and there is a complex roadmap they need to follow. Over the last couple of years, we have created a workbook, checklists, advice notes and flowcharts to clearly guide our clients through their obligations. These are the result of the combined expertise of our teams across the sector, particularly our regulatory team and housing management team.

Other legalisation like the Fire Safety Act 2021 and Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 have also changed the obligations of housing providers. Some obligations only apply when certain criteria are met, such as a building is over 18 metres in height, and these are likely to change over time. We have helped our clients interpret and understand what actions they need to take now to ensure their residents’ safety and what is likely in the future.

Safety is the top priority

All our clients want to make sure they are complying with regulations and that all their properties are safe. Some are surprised when they hear that legislation still hasn’t provided the clarity or the powers that they need, but we’re here to help them get to the point they want to be, their buildings are safe, and they can do it in the most effective way possible.

Throughout 2023 and 2024, there will be follow-up actions housing providers need to take to meet the new laws in place as they come into force. We’ll be here to support our clients throughout the process and help them make vital changes moving forward.

“If we don’t get the advice right that we give to clients, someone might die. We are guiding them to make sure the vulnerable are not exposed to the type of risk that killed so many people in Grenfell Tower.”
Tim Coolican, partner, Anthony Collins

We helped Redditch Borough Council deal with a problem tenant to improve the lives of local residents.   

Redditch Borough Council asked Anthony Collins (AC) for legal advice last year to help tackle the anti-social behaviour of one of their tenants, Gemma*, and her associates.

Gemma had been known to the local police for some time for various criminal activities, including theft, criminal damage and threatening behaviour. She and her associates were causing regular disturbances around her rented home and destroying her neighbours’ quality of life.

As a result, the council received several complaints regarding loud verbal and physical assaults together with reported incidents of targeted racial abuse. Gemma had been given a community protection notice by the police, but this hadn’t made any difference and she was sent to prison.

Using the right legal tools 

Although Gemma was the only person on the tenancy agreement, her associates continued to visit her home in her absence, breaking in, causing damage and behaving in an anti-social way.

Registered providers of social housing normally use injunction orders to tackle this sort of anti-social behaviour at their properties. But for these injunctions to work the provider must know the identity of all the people they want to exclude. In this case, Gemma had a wide network of associates, many of whom were not known to the landlord, so an injunction order wasn’t appropriate for this situation.

An immediate and long-term solution  

The council needed to tackle the anti-social behaviour of Gemma’s visitors and stop their property from being permanently damaged.       

Our housing law experts recommended the council apply for a closure order that would restrict anyone apart from Gemma from being able to access the property. Closure orders are relatively rare and only available to local authority landlords and the police. They’re used as a temporary measure but are highly successful in combatting serious or prolonged incidents of anti-social behaviour.

This was the first such order Redditch Council had ever applied for and, with our guidance, they were granted it at the first hearing. The order also gave the community some much-needed breathing space while the associated possession claim was heard.

“This was a complex and sensitive case involving many aspects of high-level anti-social behaviour. Anthony Collins was pivotal in discussing a range of options with us to bring peace to a community which had been suffering such behaviour over a sustained period.”
Jonathan Elger, council officer. 

Giving a clear message

The closure order was breached by one of Gemma’s associates who broke into the property. But, under the terms of the order, they were arrested and removed from the property. This gave a powerful message to Gemma and her associates that action would be taken. It also provided reassurance to the local community.

Gemma was able to return to the property when she came out of prison but was later evicted and the council were granted possession of the property.  

At a time when demand for social housing outstrips supply, our approach meant the council was able to re-let the property to someone in social need who would not misuse it. And Gemma’s neighbours could live in an environment free of intimidation, harassment and distress.

“A great example of clear and guided decision making between the Neighbourhood and Tenancy Team and Anthony Collins that led to successful court outcomes and the community feeling safe in their homes again.”
Jonathan Elger, council officer.

“Our broad knowledge of the enforcement options available to landlords like local authorities, including the more uncommon ones, enabled us to put quick and effective protection in place which wouldn’t have been possible with injunctions.”  
Rebecca Sembuuze, associate, Anthony Collins   

*Tenant’s name has been changed.

The Abbeyfield Society wanted to change how their organisation worked, so they asked us to step in and create a new structure.

When the Regulator of Social Housing raised concerns around their structure, The Abbeyfield Society knew it was time to reassess how the organisation functioned and how they could best focus on providing care and accommodation for older people, as well as supporting their membership societies in the UK and beyond.

Acting as a membership federation, and at the same time looking after lots of homes for older and vulnerable residents, meant that the Abbeyfield Society was constantly being pulled in different directions. With many local membership societies typically running one house with 12 to 15 residents, and reliant on the society for services, there were important questions to address around whether the Abbeyfield Society saw itself as a membership organisation or a housing provider.

Creating a new structure

With a recommendation to separate the two parts of their charity, they asked us to help create two new organisations. First, a new membership body for local Abbeyfield societies in this country – Abbeyfield England. Secondly, the Abbeyfield World Council, who would be responsible for the brand worldwide.

We helped with the entire process, from drafting documents to deciding the new structure and addressing issues encountered along the way. Some members expressed legitimate concerns, so we had to advise on the issues that they raised and take them into account while moving forward.

Perfectly placed

Anthony Collins (AC) was uniquely well-placed to take on this challenge. We have extensive expertise in social housing, meaning we understand the regulator’s concerns and the challenges housing associations are currently facing. Our team also undertakes a lot of work for large membership organisations that harnesses the value of wider ownership arrangements.

Our expertise in governance was also key to the success of this work. We were able to advise on everything involved in setting up the organisations and registering with the Charity Commission, as well as helping advise who is best placed to make decisions and how to distribute decision-making across the organisations.

“Abbeyfield can now concentrate on its residents’ needs and act as a landlord. Members are now supported by Abbeyfield England which has its own board, and can focus on taking matters forward for local Abbeyfield societies.”
David Alcock, partner, Anthony Collins