Campaigning
on Ground 8
When Justine*, a mother-of-two,
came to Shelter Cymru for help she
was facing possession proceedings
after running up £800 in arrears. A
previously reliable tenant of a Welsh
housing association, she had got into
difficulties after her Income Support
ended when her youngest child turned
seven. Due to a misunderstanding
at the Jobcentre when she signed
on to Jobseekers Allowance Justine
mistakenly thought the change to her
Housing Benefit was already taken
care of. Then, literacy problems meant
that she did not understand the letters
that were sent from Housing Benefit,
resulting in her payments being stopped
and her landlord pursuing possession
under Grounds 10 and 11.
Grounds 10 and 11 are discretionary,
meaning that the judge has discretion
over whether to grant the Order. The
decision is made taking into account the
facts of the situation including the tenant’s
circumstances, their previous history in
making payments, and their ability and
willingness to pay off the arrears.
In this case we were able to assist
Justine to defend herself in Court,
highlighting why she had not addressed
the problem earlier and arguing that she
was due a backdated payment of Housing
Benefit. The judge made a Suspended
Possession Order and we assisted Justine
to secure a back payment of £650, while
she undertook to repay the remaining
arrears at a manageable rate. She and her
family were able to remain in their home.
Ground 8
Not all evictions from RSLs are carried out
in this way, however. RSLs also have the
option of Ground 8 – a mandatory ground
of possession for eight weeks’ rent arrears
where there is no judicial discretion, not
even when there are circumstances that
are entirely outside the household’s control
such as serious illness, bereavement, or
administrative mistakes such as Housing
Benefit forms being lost.
No matter how the tenant found
themselves in the situation of owing rent,
if the landlord invokes Ground 8 the judge
has no choice but to make an Outright Order
for Possession. The only defences available
to the client are either extremely limited
in nature (such as technical faults with the
Notice) or are highly complex areas of law
(such as Human Rights Act defences).
There is also the issue of the Rent
Arrears Pre-Action Protocol, which is
designed to protect tenants’ rights by
ensuring that landlords pursue arrears in a
fair way. Under Ground 8 the judge has no
power to refuse the Order if the landlord
hasn’t followed the Protocol.
The potential consequences of this for
tenants are highly worrying – the use of
Ground 8 reduces their rights and leaves
them extremely vulnerable to substandard
rent collection practices.
For many years
RSLs in Wales have
voluntarily agreed
not to resort to
Ground 8, believing
that its draconian
nature means it
should have no place in social housing.
Despite this, it still gets used in certain
circumstances and crops up occasionally in
our casework.
Financial trouble
Welsh Government statistics show that, in
2010/11, there were 17 Orders made by
RSLs under Ground 8. In our experience
with clients facing Ground 8 claims, there
is usually some underlying reason why
the landlord wants rid of the tenant, but
now there are worrying signs that welfare
reform is prompting many RSLs to revise
their policies and consider employing
mandatory grounds for tenants who are in
serious financial trouble as a result of the
Bedroom Tax and other measures.
We asked RSLs in Wales to tell us their
intended approaches to dealing with
Bedroom Tax and whether they may
resort to Ground 8 in future. Some told us
they cannot guarantee that the voluntary
moratorium on Ground 8 will continue, in
light of rising arrears and the threat to their
business models.
Others said their Boards had taken the
decision that Ground 8 still had no place in
their policies, despite the threat of welfare
reform. One RSL told us their Board was
considering whether to adopt a policy of
pursuing Bedroom Tax arrears purely as
money debt – an approach that we at
Shelter Cymru applaud, as the only way
to be truly fair to tenants to whom the
Bedroom Tax represents a serious shift of
the goalposts.
The fact that some RSLs have renewed
their commitment to abandon Ground 8
demonstrates that RSLs do not by any
means rely on Ground 8 to appease
lenders or for any other reason. Also, with
the Renting Homes White Paper including
welcome proposals to remove Ground 8
powers entirely, it would be good practice
among RSLs to anticipate changes and
start adapting procedures now.
The consequences of eviction
Given their responsibilities as social
housing providers, RSLs need to be fully
aware of the consequences of eviction
for the household: the risk of intentional
homelessness, exclusion from waiting lists,
and vulnerability to a host of problems
that are endemic in the bottom end
of the private rented sector, including
rogue landlords, disrepair, and the strong
likelihood of repeat homelessness.
We hope that Welsh RSLs who took
a strong ethical stance against Ground
8 in the past will continue to do so,
recognising that at this time of extreme
difficulty for benefit claimants, it is more
important than ever not to abandon those
ethical values. We continue to monitor
RSLs’ use of Ground 8 through our
casework, checking it against landlords’
official policies, and sharing information
with the Welsh Government, the housing
sector, and tenants.
*all client names have been changed