News
Welcome to our news page. Here you will find out what we’re up to and what we think about recent events and future possibilities.
Notice
Please note that all our content is now being shared to Devonshires Insights.
Please visit our insights page for our most up to date articles.
Removal of Local Authority Golden Shares
Since deregulation was announced and enabled in Section 93 of the Housing and Planning Bill, we’ve been eagerly anticipating sight of the promised draft regulations.
The Top Debt Recovery Tips for Businesses
With average levels of bad debt rising at small firms, it’s vital that business owners take steps to help minimise the risk of late payments and recover money more quickly should they need to do so.
Home Loss Payment Increases – What you need to know
The Home Loss Payments (Prescribed Amounts) (England) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/769) come into force on 1 October 2017 (“the Regulations”).
Devonshires are delighted to have worked with Property Pact Ltd on its peer-to-peer platform
Gareth Hall and Elad Yasdi, assisted by Diarmaid O’Sullivan, are delighted to have worked with Property Pact Ltd on assisting its peer-to-peer platform to become authorised.
Unlawful Profit Orders – housing benefit to be taken into account when calculating profit
A recent case, Poplar Harca –v- (1) Begum (2) Rohim [2017]UKHC 2040 (QB) has provided some useful guidance for social landlords in respect of subletting cases and in the calculation of Unlawful Profit Orders.
Funding and Group Restructure Delivers Major Capacity Gains for Your Housing Group
Your Housing Group this week has successfully completed its group restructure. The five core Registered Providers have been combined into one entity, renamed Your Housing Limited (YHL), which will own and manage more than 28,000 homes across the North West.
What the new debt recovery rules mean for your business
The Pre-Action Protocol applies to all businesses, including sole traders and public bodies, which are trying to recover debt from an individual, so explicitly excludes business-to-business debts unless both businesses are sole traders.
Environmental Protection Act claims – how to avoid prosecution
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in tenants claiming that the condition of their home constitutes a statutory nuisance as defined by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA).
Dismissing False Discrimination Claims – How an assessor can help
Social landlords are frequently faced with discrimination allegations in response to possession claims but rarely appoint an assessor who could help deal with potentially complex court proceedings.
Property Management – the shape of things to come for RPs?
With an estimated pipeline of £17 billion of rental stock and a forecasted requirement of some £300 billion more over the next 5 years, Registered Providers (also known as RPs) find themselves facing an interesting strategic dilemma. Are they better off sticking or twisting?
Balancing risk and the housing crisis in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster
The Grenfell Tower tragedy means that housing associations now face a fundamental choice about their housing priorities. Should their focus be on the maintenance of existing housing or on development plans to help build new homes?
Briefing note for clients: External insulation and cladding in buildings over 18 metres
In light of recent events we understand our clients will be concerned about the legal and fire-safety status of recently refurbished and over-clad properties and the potential risk presented by the means of construction and material used.