Richard has an extensive knowledge of social housing, both as a barrister in independent practice and as the head of a legal team working in-house at a large Housing Association. He is aware of the need to handle some cases with sensitivity, others with firm action, and understands the pressures and deadlines that clients can be under – quite apart from those dictated by the Courts and rules.
Areas of expertise include:
Discretionary and mandatory possession claims
Injunctions and committals
Housing conditions cases, under both section 11 and fitness for human habitation
Section 82 Environmental Protection Act prosecutions and defences
Equality Act defences
Human rights challenges
Public Law challenges
Claims against “persons unknown”
Arguments on allocation and succession
Right to Buy claims
Tenancy fraud and Unlawful Profits Orders
In particular, Richard has a wealth of experience advising on and defending housing conditions claims and cases under section 82 of the EPA brought against landlords by their tenants, whether at an early stage under the pre-action protocol or in court.
Last year Richard obtained an injunction against persons unknown in the County Court for his client within a week of the Court of Appeal’s decision in Barking & Dagenham LBC v Persons Unknown [2022] EWCA Civ 13.
