Housing White Paper: fixing the housing crisis?

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has issued a Housing White Paper entitled ‘Fixing our broken housing market’ setting out the challenges and opportunities in relation to housing.

The paper contains a number of proposals with the Government intending to boost housing supply and in the long term create a more efficient housing market that matches the needs and aspirations of all households.

Through a four step approach, the Government is proposing to deliver a fix to the housing crisis by:

1. Planning for the right homes in the right places;
2. Building homes faster;
3. Diversifying the market; and
4. Helping people now.

Neighbourhood Watch: Disputes and CCTV

Last month, a court in Edinburgh decided a case where damages were sought for breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) in relation to the use of CCTV and surveillance equipment by neighbours. Whilst the decision was made in Scotland, it is not binding on courts in England and Wales, the case considered a number of interesting points and could potentially be persuasive for courts in England and Wales. 

Save the Date

Spring Housing Management Conference

Thursday 18th May 2017

Village Hotel, Waterfold Business Park, Rochdale Rd, Bury BL9 7BQ

A full programme will be sent out closer to the time.

Supported Housing Funding Reform: Consultation Response

Forbes Solicitors acts for over 90 registered providers of social housing and local authorities. Supported housing is an umbrella term and brings together a range of different schemes and beneficiaries. The schemes that our clients operate include sheltered accommodation, extra care schemes, supported housing complexes, refuges and hostels.

Settlement Agreements and the Procurement Rules

The CJEU in the case of Finn Frogne A/S v Rigspolitiet ved Center for Beredskabskommunikationhas has ruled that a settlement agreement can amount to a regulated modification of a contract.

Facts of the case
The state of Denmark initiated a procedure to award a public contract through competitive dialogue for the supply of a global communications system for emergency response services and the maintenance of those for a number of years. The Centre for Emergency Communication of the National Police of Denmark (CFB) became the contracting authority and the contract was awarded to Terma for an approximate value of over €70 million.

The Importance of s.106 Monitoring

On 9th January, Inside Housing published the results of a recent survey. The survey asked local authorities if they had processes in place to ensuring developers provide the social housing they are required to under s. 106 Agreements.

Of the 41 councils asked, most confirmed that they had proper processes in place or employed full-time planning obligations officers to conduct site visits, however, 14 authorities (including Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds) were unable to confirm either way.

Spotlight on...our Contracts and Projects team

Legal Assistant within our Contracts and Projects team - Housing & Regeneration Group

What I do...

I work in the Contracts & Projects team within Forbes' Housing & Regeneration Group. This involves dealing with a range of matters focusing on governance, contracts and procurement. Some of the recent queries that I have dealt with include; advising on the Data Protection Act, reviewing a variety of commercial contracts, drafting procurement documentation and liaising with different regulators such as the HCA, Charity Commission and FCA.

A third way for public to public collaboration?

Contracting authorities regularly consider collaborations with other contracting authorities including public authorities. For the purposes of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (2015) these have become known as the in-house exception (Teckal) and the co-operation exception (Hamburg). However, the latest decision by the CJEU suggests a third way – the autonomous SPA exception (Hannover)?

Facts of the Case
Under national legislation the Region of Hannover and City of Hannover were entrusted with waste disposal and treatment tasks. In 2002 the City of Hannover transferred its responsibility to the Region of Hannover.

Quarterly Review

New finance, strong operating cashflows, investment and market sale activity increase summarised for 2016

On 28 February 2017 the Homes and Communities Agency published the latest quarterly survey covering the period 1 October to 31 December 2016. The report is based on regulatory returns from 236 private registered providers (PRPs) who own or manage more than 1000 homes.