Round up of housing law and news: July 2026
Legislation
Second phase of Awaab's Law and draft Rights of Boat Dwellers Bill.
Second phase of Awaab's Law
Phase two of Awaab's Law will come into force on 30 November 2026. Phase two extends social landlord duties for emergency hazards to seven new types of hazard, including electrical hazards, risks of falls and excess cold or heat. Where these hazards pose an immediate danger, social landlords must investigate and make them safe within 24 hours.
Read the Awaab's Law Regulations at Gov.uk.
Rights of Boat Dwellers Bill
The Rights of Boat Dwellers Bill has received its second reading in the House of Lords.
The Bill would prevent relevant authorities from taking actions that undermine boat dwellers' right to a secure home. For example, eviction proceedings or certain restrictions on licence renewals.
Read the draft Rights of Boat Dwellers Bill at UK Parliament.
Case law
Ending main housing duty with private rented sector offers, a continuing breach of main housing duty, fitness for human habitation and more.
Main housing duty and private rented sector offers
The Supreme Court considered the impact of a private rented sector offer (PRSO) on the main housing duty, under section 193 of the Housing Act 1996.
The court ruled that the main housing duty ends automatically when an applicant accepts or refuses a compliant PRSO. A local authority does not need to make a separate decision or notify the applicant that the duty has ended. The original offer letter is the reviewable decision for the purpose of section 202 and starts the time limit for requesting a review.
R (on the application of Bano) v London Borough of Waltham Forest [2026] UKSC 22
Continuing breach of the main housing duty
The Court of Appeal considered whether a local authority had complied with the main housing duty owed to a vulnerable applicant. The local authority ended the main duty on the basis that the applicant had voluntarily ceased to occupy temporary accommodation.
The court upheld the finding that the local authority had failed to secure suitable accommodation and remained in breach of its statutory duty. It also confirmed that judicial review was an appropriate remedy where a local authority's failure to perform the duty continued over time. The appeal was dismissed.
R (Griffiths-Fowell) v Birmingham City Council [2026] EWCA Civ 920
Fitness for human habitation
The High Court considered a claim by a family of six against their landlord under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.
The court found that the property was unfit for human habitation and ordered the landlord to carry out remedial works. It granted a specific performance order, requiring the defects to be addressed, but did not require the landlord to provide alternative accommodation while the works were completed.
Joseph Harvey & Anor v Polly Louise Heaver & Anor [2026] EWHC 1671 (KB)
HMO licensing conditions
The Upper Tribunal considered whether a number of conditions attached to an HMO licence were lawful and justified.
The tribunal found that some of the conditions exceeded the local authority's powers or lacked sufficient justification, such as providing certain documents to the local authority on demand. It partly allowed the appeal and varied several licence conditions.
Fletcher & Anor v Portsmouth City Council [2026] UKUT 234 (LC)
Selective licensing designations
The High Court considered a challenge to a local authority's selective licensing designation.
The court held that the authority was entitled to designate areas by reference to ward boundaries and was not required to demonstrate specific housing problems. It was sufficient that the designation was directed at improving conditions across the area as a whole.
News and guidance
Housing conditions in the private rented sector, a legal challenge to closure of a walk-in homelessness service, an Ombudsman decision on local authority housing failures affecting a disabled teenager and more.
Housing conditions in the private rented sector
The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee published a report on housing conditions in England's private rented sector. This report estimates that:
22% of privately rented homes currently fail the Decent Homes Standard
10% of privately rented homes have serious category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS)
two thirds of councils failed to prosecute a single landlord between 2022 and 2024
The committee highlights a 'postcode lottery' of local authority enforcement and makes recommendations to improve enforcement. Recommendations include ensuring local authorities have the funding and resources to enforce standards and removing barriers to selective licensing schemes.
Read the report on housing conditions in the private rented sector at UK Parliament.
Challenge to closure of walk-in homelessness service
The High Court granted permission for a judicial review of Croydon Council's decision to close its walk-in homelessness service. This closure means the only way to access homelessness advice is by telephone or online appointment.
Public Interest Law Centre are bringing the judicial review. They argue that closing face to face services leads to discriminatory barriers and unlawful gatekeeping of homelessness assistance. Only three of London's 33 boroughs offer face to face drop-in services for people experiencing homelessness.
The case is expected to reach trial before the end of 2026.
Read the article about the judicial review from Public Interest Law Centre.
Housing failures affecting disabled teenager
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found significant fault by a local authority after a disabled teenager and their family remained in unsuitable accommodation for around 18 months.
The Ombudsman found that failures by the council prevented the applicant's son from accessing essential medical equipment. The family's housing needs were not addressed despite extensive evidence of disability and care requirements.
Read the press release about this case from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Government pledge to end rough sleeping
The new Prime Minister Andy Burnham used his first speech in office to pledge to end rough sleeping at the earliest opportunity. This announcement is backed by additional funding of £340 million, which takes overall funding to record levels. The initial funding will provide 1,200 homes and intensive support for at least 3,000 people.
Read the press release about the pledge to end rough sleeping at Gov.uk.
Racism in the homelessness system
The Women and Equalities Committee published a report on racism in the homelessness system.
Black people are almost four times more likely to experience homelessness than White people. They are more likely to be in temporary accommodation (TA), to stay in TA for longer and to experience forms of hidden homelessness such as sofa surfing.
The committee calls for the government's national homelessness strategy to explicitly acknowledge and address the:
higher risks of homelessness faced by Black people
worse outcomes Black people experience in the homelessness system
Read the report on Black people's experiences of homelessness at UK Parliament.
Housing Ombudsman lessons from root cause analysis
The Housing Ombudsman published its latest insight report. Social landlords can use the insights to support their analysis of root causes and prevent complaints.
Key themes highlighted in the report include repairs and hazards, complaint handling, information management and governance.
Read the insight report from the Housing Ombudsman.
Online Procedure Rules for possession proceedings
New Online Procedure Rules for court and tribunal proceedings conducted electronically will be introduced from 7 September 2026.
Initially, the Online Procedure Rules will apply only to possession proceedings in England and Wales conducted through HMCTS's online possession service.
See The Online Procedure (Rules and Practice Directions) Rules 2026 at legislation.gov.uk.
Access to justice and legal aid
The Justice Committee has called for urgent action to address the 'justice gap' for millions of people who are ineligible for legal aid but cannot afford private representation.
The committee sets out more than 50 recommendations to improve legal aid, including:
increasing the eligibility thresholds to reflect inflation and the cost of living
intervening in areas which have failing legal aid provision
supporting the sustainability of the sector through fee uplifts and regular reviews of civil legal aid rates
Read the report on access to justice and legal aid at UK Parliament.
Data and trends
Temporary accommodation spending, frozen Local Housing Allowance rates, rough sleeping in London and more.
Temporary accommodation spending
The Local Government Association has released analysis of councils' temporary accommodation (TA) spending. Key findings include:
councils spent £6 billion on TA between 2011/12 and 2024/25
councils spent £2.2 billion on TA in the two years of 2023/24 and 2024/25 alone
spending on TA has increased by more than tenfold in real terms between 2011/12 and 2024/25
Read the article on temporary accommodation expenditure from the Local Government Association.
Frozen Local Housing Allowance rates
A coalition of charities and organisations published a report on how Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, which have been frozen since April 2024, are driving homelessness. Key findings include:
rents have risen by an average of 8% each year since April 2024
LHA now covers the rent for less than 2% of privately advertised properties
the average gap between LHA rates and the cheapest 30% of local rents for a two-bedroom home is now £419 per month
The coalition is calling on the government to unfreeze LHA in the Autumn Budget so it covers the cheapest 30 percent of private rented homes.
Download the report on how frozen LHA rates are causing homelessness from Crisis.
Rough sleeping trends in London
The CHAIN homelessness database published its annual report on rough sleeping in Greater London from April 2025 to March 2026. Key findings include:
12,938 people were recorded as sleeping rough in the capital, a 2% decrease from 2024/25 but a 60% increase from ten years ago in 2016/17
4,893 people (38% of those sleeping rough) were supported by homelessness services into accommodation
21% of people new to rough sleeping had previously been staying in asylum support accommodation
Read the report on rough sleeping in London from CHAIN.
Traveller caravan count
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has released data from the count of traveller caravans in England, which took place in January 2026. Key findings include:
29,402 traveller caravans were counted, an increase of 8% from the previous year
83% of caravans were on authorised sites and 17% were on unauthorised sites
of caravans on authorised sites, 74% were on privately funded sites and 26% were on socially rented sites
See the traveller caravan count statistics at Gov.uk.
Legal aid statistics
The Ministry of Justice released the quarterly legal aid statistics for January to March 2026. Key findings include:
9,199 closed cases in housing legal aid, a decrease of 3% from the previous year
£8.2 million expenditure for housing legal aid, an increase of 15% from the previous year
65% of legal aid housing work volume is made up of legal help
See the legal aid quarterly statistics for January to March 2026 at Gov.uk.
Updates from the Renters' Rights Act
The monthly round up of legislation, cases, news and data from Housing Matters