At Oasis Law Solicitors, we believe that everyone has a basic right to housing and the safety and security to lead a normal home life. We are proud to act for everyone, whether you are a home owner, landlord or tenant. We can also help with a range of problems, such as the following:

• Homelessness;
• Rent arrears;
• Possession proceedings;
• Disrepair;
• Housing allocation or tenancy transfer;
• Housing and community care;
• Harassment and unlawful evictions; and
• Anti social behaviour.

We will consider all options to fund the costs of your case, including legal aid, insurance and no win, no fee agreements if available and appropriate to your situation.

Homelessness

You may be homeless or unable to stay in your current home because of domestic violence or harassment, relationship breakdown, very serious overcrowding or disrepair which makes your home unsafe. Your local authority may have a duty to allocate housing or help find you somewhere to live if you have a priority need. Our solicitors have extensive experience getting assistance for homeless people and have specialist knowledge and expertise in helping young people access help from social services including after leaving care. Even if we cannot help you to access assistance either because of your immigration status or because your local authority has decided that you are intentionally homeless, we may be able to help you apply to social services for support. We offer a comprehensive service, from initial advice to representation at court.

In order to be eligible for long-term housing assistance from your council you must meet several criteria. You must be

• Legally homeless;
• A priority for help;
• Unintentionally homeless;
• Eligible to live in the UK.

Legally Homeless

In order to receive help from your council you must be considered legally homeless or likely to become legally homeless in 28 days. You can apply for long-term or emergency housing if you are considered to be legally homeless. You can be considered legally homeless if;

• You have nowhere to stay and are living on the streets – you could still have a home but if you cannot access it (e.g. landlord has illegally evicted you or an ex has changed the locks) you are still considered legally homeless;
• You have been evicted or face eviction;
• You’ve had your home repossessed or face having it repossessed;
• You’ve been asked to leave by family or friends;
• You are at the risk of violence or abuse;
• You are staying in a hostel or refuge;
• You can’t afford to live in your home – this involves not being able to pay for basic living expenses after paying your rent or mortgage;
• You live in overcrowded or unhygienic conditions;
• You are unable to live with your family or partner;
• You have nowhere to put your boat or caravan

A Priority for Help

You or someone in your household will be considered a priority if you have children in your household (your own children, step-children or other children in your care) who are; 

• Under 16;
• Under 19 and in full time education or training;
• You are pregnant;
• You are aged 16 or 17.

You are a care leaver aged 18 – 20, you will qualify if you have spent at least 24 hours in care when you were 16 or 17 years old. This covers;

• Foster Care;
• Children’s services;
• Any other accommodation covered by social services.

You, or a member of your household is considered ‘vulnerable’. This covers;

• Old age (people aged 60 and over may be considered vulnerable);
• Physical or learning disabilities;
• Mental health problems;
• Fleeing domestic abuse or violence;
• Time spent in care, prison or the armed forces

You will not be automatically considered vulnerable if you fall into one of these categories; however, the council will consider how any of the conditions will affect your daily life and whether you will be able to cope with being homeless.

Unintentionally Homeless

• To qualify for long term help you must be homeless through no fault of your own. You will not receive help if you are responsible for becoming homeless, this would make you ‘intentionally homeless’. This could be a result of;
• Being evicted because of anti-social behaviour;
• You left housing that you could have stayed in;
• You didn’t pay rent or mortgage.

If you have immigration or residential restrictions the council may not be able to help you.

Homelessness Review

You are able to ask your council to review a decision they have made regarding your claim for accommodation. You must request the review by sending a letter to the council within 21 days of receiving the initial decision. The council will only consider late requests if you can prove there was a good reason for the delay. The council will expect further information such as proof that supports your belief that you qualify for housing, medical details (if you are claiming health issues are a contributing factor in your appeal for long term accommodation) or proof of circumstances the council did not initially take into account. 

Get in Touch

We will be able to provide top quality service and assist on all aspects of obtaining a homelessness review by offering expert legal advice. Due to strict deadlines on appeal, we recommend that you contact us as soon as possible.

Challenging Local Authority

You can challenge a local authority or council’s decision to place you on a waiting list if you think there has been a mistake or relevant information had not been taken into account. Challenging these decisions may result in it being changed.

Homelessness Appeals

You can apply for judicial review if the council has refused to house you or has delayed the allocation of council housing to you. If successful, you may be awarded compensation for not being housed or for any delay in housing allocation by the local council. Their several decisions which may be appealed, including;

• Your eligibility for help;
• What the council will or won’t help you with;
• A decision to send you to another area because you are not considered to have a local connection to your current area;
• The suitability of the provided accommodation;
• Delays or refusals.

It is also possible to take legal action if you are allocated a home by the local council which is in such a poor state of repair that you could be considered homeless, for example, if the property has serious damp. Our solicitors can advise you on your legal rights, and if appropriate we can help you challenge decisions that appear to be contrary to your local authority’s scheme or decisions which are wrong in law.

Funding

Legal Aid is not available for housing allocations advice or disputes, unless connected to homelessness or a challenge to the legality of a scheme in the High Court.

Possessions

If your landlord is a local authority, housing association or private landlord, a court can order you to give up possession of your home in certain circumstances, such as where you are behind with your rent; where you or someone who lives with you has been harassing or causing nuisance or annoyance to others; or if your landlord has given you two months’ written notice of the need to leave and the notice contains certain information required by law. You may be able to delay the need to leave your home if the notice your landlord gave you did not contain this information or if they have failed to follow the other rules that apply to private rentals. If your landlord is threatening to evict you or repossess the property, or if you have already been evicted from your home and you think your landlord was wrong to do this, it is vitally important to contact a specialist solicitor as soon as possible as you could potentially risk being homeless if you do not act quickly.

Funding

Legal aid is available to defend possession proceedings, to apply to suspend warrants of eviction and to challenge unlawful eviction if you are financially eligible.

Unlawful Eviction

An illegal eviction is a serious criminal offence for both private and local authority landlords. However, if you don’t live with your landlord, then the only way they can legally evict you is with a court order. If you think you have been illegally evicted, you should contact our Housing Solicitors at Oasis Law Solicitors immediately so that we can help you as soon as possible.

Revenge Eviction

Revenge Eviction or Retaliatory Eviction is when a landlord has attempted to evict you after you have made legitimate complaints or asked for repairs to be made to the property. Rather than fixing the issues reported, the landlord chooses to evict the tenant. Until October 2015, this was not considered illegal. However, the Deregulation Act issued that year made it illegal to evict someone out of revenge or retaliation.

In cases where a tenant is facing homelessness as a result of an unlawful eviction, they will usually be entitled to Legal Aid to help them fight the eviction.

Landlord’s obligation (Repairs)

Your tenancy agreement or tenant’s handbook should provide details of your landlord’s obligations regarding the repair and maintenance of your home. Our solicitors have extensive experience dealing with unwilling landlords and one of our experienced housing lawyers can visit you at your home to understand the extent of your problem first hand. We can then advise you on the strength of your case.

Breach of Tenancy Agreement

The landlord may decide to evict a tenant and repossess their property If a tenant breaches their tenancy agreement. A landlord has two possible options that allow for the repossession of the property. They can seek possession using either section 21 notice or section 8 notice. The most important thing to do regardless of the unique situation is to contact a solicitor as soon as you can.

Buy-to-let property

Our property solicitors have extensive experience in buy-to-let properties and are here to help you ensure you meet your legal obligations and to advise you on any difficulties you may encounter as a landlord.