Housing disrepair: Is there a role for experts?

Abstract

Housing disrepair is viewed as a separate area of the law but it is in reality merely another forum for the subject of dilapidations. The law of Landlord and Tenant has always envisaged a liability on one of the parties to repair the premises. The extent of repair and the penalties for failing to repair vary as does the extent of work required. In common parlance, however, dilapidations appears to be limited to the commercial world and housing disrepair to a separate world of dwellings. The ‘Proposals for the Reform of Legal Aid in England and Wales: Legal Aid Remuneration — Experts’ Fees’, set out in April 2011, describe the aim of the modern legal aid scheme: ‘to provide equality of access, and the right to representation before the law … There is a compelling case for going back to first principles in reforming legal aid, to ensure access to public funding in those cases that really require it, the protection of the most vulnerable in our society and the efficient performance of our justice system.’