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03 May 2024 / Daniel Bacon
Issue: 8069 / Categories: Features , Property , Landlord&tenant
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Next steps for housing loss prevention

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Daniel Bacon explains the new court duty scheme—& how it could help both tenants & landlords
  • Outlines the two stages of HLPAS, the legal aid scheme covering possession cases.
  • Provides a glimpse into the work of duty solicitors in court.

The Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS) replaced the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme on 1 August 2023. It is an architecture for providing free legal advice to tenants facing eviction. There are two stages to the current scheme. Stage 1, prior to court, lifts the usual means assessments of Legal Help to provide free, early and non-means-tested legal advice to tenants facing eviction—for example, once they have received an eviction notice. Stage 2 provides free-at-the-point-of-need advice and representation to any tenant facing a claim in the county court first-instance possession lists. Again, there is no means assessment; it is just an opportunity for any tenant to take advice and to be represented.

Stage 1

The HLPAS scheme Stage 1 strips away some of the administrative burden

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NEWS
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.

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