Higher National Certificate in Housing

Year 1 - Housing and the Law

HL101: Structure and Framework of the Legal System

Studying law is likely to be a new experience for you. However, it is important to remember that you are not setting out to be a lawyer with a detailed grasp of the law. Instead, you are going to develop a comfortable understanding of the principles of law relevant to your activities and developing responsibilities as a housing professional. It is such an awareness of legal influences that can make the difference between uncertain and effective decision-making. Also, having the knowledge to know when to seek appropriate legal advice will help to minimise unnecessary or avoidable disputes. This, in turn, will help enhance the performance of both your housing organisation and yourself, as well as providing
personal job satisfaction.

In this Block of the Housing and the Law Unit, we will be examining the structure and operation of the English legal system. This will form the foundation of your further studies in the Unit, namely Block HL.102 ‘Tenancies and Social Landlords’ Responsibilities’ and Block HL.103 ‘Key Legislation: Provisions and Applications’. It will also form the framework that influences the formation, operation, and decisions of social housing organisations, as well as the rights and obligations of their tenants.

Generally, the three Blocks which make up the Unit ‘Housing and the Law’ are concerned with current and recent legislation. As a result, the differences between
English and Scottish law are not that significant, especially for Blocks HL.102 and HL.103. This is because the main changes to the law relating to the various
tenures took place in Scotland about the same time as changes in England and Wales. Nevertheless, to help students from Scotland, the relevant Scottish law has
been identified in all three Blocks. In this Block, you will see that the Scottish law relative to sources of law and the Scottish judicial system has been identified in
sections B.7 and C.4.

View HL101:Structure and Framework of the Legal System as a pdf document

HL102: Social Landlords' Responsibilities

This Block is concerned with the legal framework which establishes the rights of social housing landlords, their staff, and their tenants. The basis of the law is the legal system of England and Wales. However, as we are concerned with current and recent legislation, the differences from Scottish law are not that significant.

This is because the main changes to the law relating to the various tenures took place in Scotland at about the same time as changes in England and Wales. Nevertheless, to help students from Scotland, the relevant differences relating to legal estates in land, secure tenancies in the public sector, and housing
association tenure have been identified, as appropriate, in the Block.

You are about to undertake this Block with the confidence of having gained from Block HL.101 an understanding of the structure and operation of the legal
system. That understanding will now provide the foundation for looking at the substantive laws of contract and tort, and landlord and tenant. We shall build on your present understanding of the concepts of:

• statute law and case law;
• common law and equity; and
• public and private law.

You will recall that law has several sources, including:

• primary legislation;
• secondary legislation;
• European Union legislation;
• case law precedents; and
• circulars and codes of practice.

Again, remember that you are not setting out to be a lawyer with a detailed grasp of the law. Instead, you are going to continue to develop your knowledge of legal
principles. In this way, you will achieve a comfortable understanding of law relevant to your activities and developing responsibilities as a housing officer.

View HL102: Social Landlords' Responsibilities as a pdf document

HL103: Key Legislation - Provision and Applications

When you started your studies of the Housing and Law Unit, you had little or no understanding of the law. Now you have completed two Blocks of the Unit, you will be feeling more comfortable with knowledge gained of:

• the structure and operation of the legal system, including how statute law and common law principles are applied to housing issues;
• the substantive laws of contract and tort as they apply to social landlords as both employers and landlords; and
• how the law of landlord and tenant applied to different forms of tenancy

You will have found that your studies of Block HL.101 ‘Structure of the Legal System’ provided an essential foundation for your studies of Block HL.102 ‘Tenancies and Social Landlords’ Responsibilities’. In turn, your studies of both of those Blocks will have prepared you to examine the provisions and applications of key housing issues contained in this final Block. The issues you will be studying are key areas of law and practice encountered daily by social housing landlords and their staff, and include:

• issues of homelessness and allocations;
• housing benefits;
• rent arrears and possessions;
• nuisance and anti-social behaviour law;
• the law and disrepair; and
• anti-discrimination law.

Completion of this third Block will help you to develop the confidence that comes from the study of the essential framework of law and an understanding of the detailed application of housing law. Hopefully, your studies will encourage you to sustain an interest in the law, for it will enhance your work and that of your housing
organisation.

View HL103: Key Legislation - Provision and Applications as a pdf document

Glossary of Legal Words, Phrases and Abbreviations

When studying, interpreting or applying law, you will encounter some words or expressions that may be unfamiliar. To help, the following are a selection of
words and terms, together with their meanings, that may occur in matters of law. For students who would like a more comprehensive listing of words and their meanings, there are a number of law dictionaries available, including: Osborn’s Concise Law Dictionary, Curzon’s A Dictionary of Law and Mozley and Whiteley’s Law Dictionary.

View the Glossary of Legal Words, Phrases and Abbreviations as a pdf document

An Example of How the Courts and Lawyers Apply the Law to Settle Disputes

You will recall from the preface to Block HL.101 that the aim of the Housing and the Law Unit is to help you to develop a comfortable understanding of the principles of law relevant to your activities and developing responsibilities as a housing professional. Awareness of legal influences can make the difference between uncertain and effective decision-making.

Uncertain decision-making often leads to a dispute that can end up in court, which can be a costly process. However, students often ask just how the law is applied to a problem or a dispute. To help you to understand the process, we have included below a worked example of how the law is used to resolve a dispute.

You will see that the provided problem to be resolved concerns the law of contract, which, with the law of tort, was considered in part B of Block HL.102. However, the process of applying the principles of law remains the same, whether problematic disputes involve the law of contract, the law of tort, or other forms of law.

You will also remember that it is the law of contract which underpins land law, the law of landlord and tenant, and employment law.

A re-reading of Section 1.2 ‘The law of contract’ contained in Block HL.102 will be beneficial before working through the provided example, which is structured as follows:

1. An introductory reminder of the applicable law and legal precedent;
2. Relevant contract common law cases and the associated principles of law;
3. Considerations when applying the law to a problematic issue;
4. Details of the contractual dispute to be considered;
5. Worked example of applying the law to the contractual dispute;
6. Concluding commentary.

View An Example of How the Courts and Lawyers Apply the Law to Settle Disputes as a pdf document