SOCIAL HOUSING UPDATE

DECEMBER 2019

Introduction

by Linda Storey

Welcome to the December issue of our social housing newsletter.

I would like to start by wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The Conservative Party has secured a comfortable majority in the general election and its manifesto included several key pledges on housing related matters such as:

building at least one million homes over the next five years
ending ‘no fault’ evictions
extending the housing association 'Right to Buy' pilot to other parts of the UK
simplifying shared ownership
introducing ‘lifetime’ mortgages for home owners and deposits for the private rented sector.

Additionally, the Conservative Party has promised a Social Housing Green Paper and a Green Paper on Planning.

In this week’s Queen’s Speech, the Government announced it will introduce legislation to:

protect tenants
improve building safety
support home ownership and
make homes available to first time buyers at a discount.

2020 (and beyond) will be a significant year for the housing sector.

In this month’s newsletter, we feature an article by Eugene Wojciechowski which reminds housing associations of the need to obtain all the necessary GDPR consents or risk a hefty fine. The articles gives guidance to our clients as to what they should do to ensure compliance and avoid penalties.

The second article by Rebecca Conway discusses the Government’s proposal to enable leaseholders to staircase a minimum of 1% instead of the current 10%. What does this mean for housing associations, and how should you prepare?

Finally, Mark Sellers writes about a recent case where the court held an automatically generated signature in an email footer was sufficient to create a valid and binding contract for the sale of land. Mark provides some guidance as to how you can avoid inadvertently creating a contract for the sale or purchase of land.

I look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Contact Linda Storey

Another GDPR fine and important considerations for housing associations

by Eugene Wojciechowski

A recent decision of the Hellenic Data Protection Agency (HDPA), the Greek equivalent of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) confirms that employers who seek to rely on employee consent as the basis for processing employee data risk being in breach of the GDPR, and potentially liable to fines and enforcement action.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Contact Eugene Wojciechowski

Staircasing - a realiity or just a pipe dream?

by Rebecca Conway

Less than 3% of homeowners belonging to shared ownership schemes staircase each year…

Earlier this year, the government announced a new plan to enable leaseholders to staircase a minimum of 1% instead of the current 10% dictated by most leases.

This change could increase affordability of staircasing, as a property valued at £150,000 would result in a leaseholder raising £1,500 for a 1% share instead of £15,000 for a further 10% share.

But what does this mean for the housing associations?

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Contact Rebecca Conway

What constitutes a signature in the digital age?

by Mark Sellers

Most of us are aware that certain formalities need to be complied with before a valid contract for the sale of land can be created. However, in this digital age, is it possible to create such a contract by exchange of emails? Such a case appeared before the courts recently and to avoid that happening to you, we offer some guidance that you should adopt.

The legal requirements

For a contract for the sale of land to be valid, it must

Be in writing
Contain or incorporate all of the agreed terms and
Be signed by or on behalf of the parties.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Contact Mark Sellers

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