Housing Condition Conference 2025

Registration and refreshments

Chair’s Opening Remarks

Opening Pandora’s Box: The role of landlord ICPs after Churchill

Any housing litigator will be familiar with the practice, increasingly common among landlords, of responding to a letter of claim with no more than a brief acknowledgment informing you that the matter will be treated in line with its internal complaints procedure, to be resolved with the tenant directly, without further engagement with the tenant’s solicitors or the pre-action protocol. In this session, a leading barrister will outline the options available to tenants and their representatives when landlords decide to adopt this tactic, and his thoughts on how it may be a decision which landlords come to regret.

Speaker:
George Murray, Barrister, Liverpool Civil Law

Acting for a local authority landlord in the current climate

As the relentless financial pressures on social landlords persist, housing condition claims continue to soar. In this session a leading defendant firm will outline the challenges acting for social landlords in the current climate and how best to address a backlog in claims from the landlord perspective.

Speaker:
Ellie Staniforth, Senior Associate, Bevan Brittan

Networking and refreshments break

Infestations and pests

An infestation is the presence of large numbers of insects or animals that are classed as vermin, which in the UK is most commonly ants, wasps, cockroaches, rats and mice. In this session, a pest control expert will outline how to gather evidence of infestation and establish if the cause is structural problems in the property rather than tenant behaviour. Finally, what should landlords/local authorities be doing to remove pests and prevent them in the first place?

Speaker:
Sean Mooney, Director, Kill Line Pest Control

What to expect when using surveyors

In this session, an expert surveyor will explain what he is looking for in instructions and how to deal with issues such as triaging of cases and insufficient disclosure – as well as why it is important to pay surveyors in a timely manner to ensure they remain available to progress your cases. He will highlight the issue of landlords who refuse to use chartered surveyors and instead turn to unqualified staff to conduct surveys and go on to outline a day in the life of a surveyor onsite and what the solicitor can expect.

Speaker:
David Deacon, Director, Housing Disrepair Surveys

Funding the claims

Litigators have seen a significant influx of funding for their cases in recent times, but it has not been a story of unalloyed success, with a range of poor practices and a number of law firm, funder and ATE insurer failures. The collapse of SSB Law in particular has attracted the attention of MPs, regulators and the media, making this a very sensitive time for the market. In this session, a specialist ATE provider will survey the current state of litigation funding, what to look out for, and how to reassure yourself that you are dealing with reputable partners.

Speaker:
Jamie Molloy, Head of ATE, Ignite Specialty Risk

Networking lunch

Raffle Draw in support of Shelter

The SRA is watching: clients and compliance

The SRA announced in December that it is investigating more than 50 firms involved in volume litigation, including those handling housing disrepair claims. The most common issues are clients acquired via cold calling or unsolicited approaches, the marketing of ‘no win, no fee’, and firms taking on claims without merit or not managing claims properly. In this session, we will highlight how to stay on the right side of the regulator.

Speaker to be confirmed

Jillians v Redkite and forthcoming legislative changes

The law around housing condition cases continues to change. The editor of the Nearly Legal blog will discuss the outcome of the Jillians case and how it might set the landscape for s9A and s10 claims, as well as the forthcoming impact of Awaab’s Law on social and private sector tenancies and other effects of the Renters’ Rights Bill.

Speaker:
Giles Peaker, Partner, Anthony Gold

Networking break and refreshments

Compulsory mediation

In this session, Alex Christian will delve into the Civil Procedure (Amendment No.3) Rules 2024, introduced following the landmark Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council case. These new rules empower courts to order or encourage alternative dispute resolution (ADR), with non-compliance potentially impacting costs decisions—an especially significant development for housing disrepair cases.

Speaker:
Alex Christian, Managing Director, Mediate Property

Training and mentoring staff

Paralegals and other unqualified case workers are at the heart of housing conditions claims. These cases can be legally complex and often involve aggressive opponents. In this session, we will explore how to train and develop a strong and confident team. We will look at understanding housing, case management systems – teaching the dog to wag the tail – costs management and supervision among other treasures.

Speaker:
Steve Cornforth, Owner, Steve Cornforth Consultancy

Conference closes