Administrative, Housing & Local Government
Members of our specialist team regularly appear in cases involving administrative and housing law throughout England and Wales.
With extensive experience in dealing with devolved matters, 9 Park Place has for many years been at the forefront of legal developments in Wales, as our broad administrative and public law caseload reflects. Recent cases have ranged from providing leading and junior counsel in Judicial Review proceedings concerning the provision of local primary school places in what the Judge described as “a difficult and challenging case,” to regular appearances in immigration appeal hearings before the Administrative Court; from representing a North Wales local authority in a Judicial Review which challenged its obligations in providing local respite care, to another which centred on the balance to be struck between local planning policy and the need for housing as against the loss of open space. We additionally advise and represent the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales in matters concerning misconduct in public office. Given our breadth of knowledge and experience in this often challenging area of law, you can be confident that our specialist advocates are able to provide the very best representation to both individuals and public bodies alike.
Our Housing Law service extends to all aspects of housing law, from straightforward possession and disrepair claims to more complex matters including those involving unlawful eviction, harassment, beneficial interest disputes and judicial review proceedings which affect housing issues. Our members’ extensive expertise derives in part from having been regularly instructed by local authorities, housing associations and other social landlords, commercial landlords, as well as private individuals on all sides of housing disputes. Practitioners at 9 Park Place also have a wealth of experience in handling all manner of other housing issues, including anti-social behaviour orders and injunctions (within the sphere of possession claims or otherwise), disability, houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), housing benefit, and human rights. We regularly provide specialist advice and representation tailored to Registered Providers and Core Providers of social housing.
Our counsel can act either on instruction from solicitors on behalf of Housing Associations or, increasingly, on a direct access basis instructed by the housing provider itself. Under this arrangement the provider is put in direct contact with a barrister who can supply a pre-hearing advice and deliver assistance in the preparation of court documents, as well as provide full representation at all court hearings. We are therefore able to present to a Housing Association a fully specialised and highly-effective resource which can deliver appreciable costs savings.
For further information about the work we do in this area, or to instruct one of our team, please contact Michael Lieberman.