Masterclasses in Welsh Housing Law: Instant reflections

There was an unplanned fire alarm 20 mins in, train delays/cancellations (which meant that my old mate and friend of this blog, Justin Bates, was going backwards on his train, as he put it), somewhat organised chaos of moving between rooms for smaller group discussions, and an evening do sponsored by Cornerstones Barristers, and … what a fantastic two days.

I am reeling from the level of information, knowledge and expertise provided by the speakers, but also by the audience.  I have come to realise that my original idea of skilling up housing law providers in Wales was just plain wrong as I was being skilled up too by what was happening and what they are seeing.  My most abiding personal reflection, then, is how expertise is shared between everyone and how housing advisors (for whomever they act) are the truly knowledgeable actors.

That said, I was surrounded by some of the greatest housing law practitioners around today and it is important to emphasise that they gave their time and expertise for free.  They are: Tim Baldwin, Kujit Bhogal KC, Sally Blackmore, Melanie Cant, Alistair Cantor, Rosalee Dorfman, Elizabeth England, Dominic Evans, Lucy King, Crash Krylova, Mike Norman, Tara O’Leary, Ayesha Omar, Owain Rhys James, Lee Russell, Sarah Salmon, David Smith, Sarah Steinhardt.  They were all absolutely brilliant, of course (without wishing to sound too much like a luvvy).

The other important thing to note is that the event was co-sponsored by the Housing Law Practitioners Association and Social Housing Law Association, perhaps the first time that these representative organisations have joined together – demonstrating, I think, all our anxiety about the progressive legislation being created in Wales but a concomitant concern about the enforcement of the rights it has created.  And, in particular, thank you to Rosemary and her team who did the admin.

More specific things I have learned:

(a) The Kensington Mortgage case is being appealed (rightly, in my view) – they will surely get permission;

(b) There is a High Court case to be slated in on whether you can add a power to force entry to an injunction;

(c) Supported housing law in Wales is harder than it looks (thanks, Alistair);

(d) There are nooks and crannies of the RH(W)A which should be explored, especially when defending possession claims;

(e) there is greater use of minded to notices that I realised (phew); but also (worryingly) greater use of the unreasonable failure to comply provisions perhaps as a proxy for intentionality, which suggests that getting rid of intentionality might not achieve what is desired;

(f) The registration and licensing scheme is really quite interesting, more than I thought, but also requires amendment in light of RH(W)A as well as consideration being given to civil penalties;

(f) I don’t use AI, and I learned why it may not be a good thing;

(g) The Welsh Government is listening to us, and interested in what we are saying.  I apologise to them for giving them my wishlist and my moans.

But, most of all, I loved:

The amazing spirit and camerarderie in the rooms.

And, for those who were able to be there: We survived it; thank you for coming; please pass on your knowledge and expertise gained from the event to your colleagues; and, my rallying cry, let’s go to work for the best interests of housing rights in Wales.