BIH Housing Association v Pavis
Mr Pavis was the BIH Housing Association's tenant of a house in Belfast when he died. His son failed to succeed to that tenancy but claimed that the RSL's refusal to grant him a fresh tenancy, and taking possession proceedings, was in breach of his human rights. The judge had to decide whether the association was a "public authority" under the Human Rights Act 1998.

The director of NI Housing Rights Service gave evidence that the RSL was regulated, monitored, part-funded by and accountable to a government department although not itself a statutory body. Its homes were allocated under a scheme run by the NI Housing Executive. This satisfied the judge that its duties fulfilled the definition of "public authority". However, BIH had not breached the son's rights by displacing him from his home. The decision to allocate the house to persons in greater need was justifiable, legitimate and proportionate.

Source

Housing Today

Reference

Many RSLs share allocation schemes with councils. This judgment would suggest that those that do should consider themselves "public authorities" for human rights purposes. But, in the result, they have little to fear.