Tell it like it is

In just over a week's time the Law Commission closes its consultation on the reform of housing law relating to tenancies and security of tenure. All the usual suspects – the housing lawyers, pressure groups and the main national housing organisations – have been finalising their bulky responses.

They will predictably argue their corners on the big issues (the single social sector tenancy, whether there should be probationary tenancies, the antisocial behaviour proposals and so on). It's quite possible that your own employer is working on a submission. But what about you?

Whatever work you do – whether in housing management, housing development, tenancy support, tenant participation, even housing finance – the way you do your job will already be affected by some part of our present housing law. That means your work will probably be changed by the reform programme.

It is too late to sit down with the full 280-page consultation paper but you do have an opportunity to get informed and submit your views on things that matter to you. The commission has published a summary of its proposals and would no doubt be refreshed to receive responses from the "front line" of housing services.

The following examples from the housing management sector demonstrate just how your input really could make a practical difference to the way the job is done.

Possession and ending tenancies
When a council or registered social landlord gets a possession order against a secure or assured tenant, the present law is that the tenancy ends not when the property is repossessed by the bailiff but at a much earlier date when the judge's order becomes effective. So, if the judge ordered "possession in 28 days" the tenancy has gone on day 29 even if the "tenant" is still there.

If the judge granted an order for possession "suspended on terms" (much more common) the tenancy ends when the terms are first breached, even if the "tenant" is not evicted immediately (or at all).

Landlords who fail to move swiftly and evict these categories of former tenants quickly find there are more and more people living in their housing stock who are not actually tenants and who have no rights at all. The judges have given these people the label "tolerated trespassers". There are hundreds of thousands of people living in social housing who are not tenants at all, though most of them think they still are.

You can submit your views on things that matter to you. Your input really could make a difference to the way the job is done

Worse still, some landlords have failed to properly identify them and still treat them as though they were tenants. This has produced a massive housing management headache that reaches its peak when stock transfer becomes an option and the purchaser realises a good proportion of the stock is not occupied by sitting "tenants" at all.

Why not just change the law so that the tenant stays tenant until actually evicted?

The Law Commission wants your views on this idea (consultation questions 173-175).

Abandoned tenancies
Another common scenario in housing management arises when a tenant has seemingly abandoned a property and the landlord wants to relet. Under housing law, the landlord can only safely treat the tenancy as ended after it has delivered a four-week notice to quit.

Alternatively, it could treat the overall circumstances as amounting to an implied offer by the tenant to surrender the tenancy, which the landlord then takes steps to accept. The first route leads to a potential four-week delay and loss of rental income. The latter is full of uncertainty.

Should we have instead simple rules about tenancies coming to an end when they are abandoned, as happens in Scotland? The Law Commission thinks this might be a way forward but wants your input (consultation question 152).

You can get hold of the commission's summary by calling 020 7453 1290, or you can read it online at www.lawcom.gov.uk. Then you can send in your comments by fax, email or old-fashioned post. The numbers and addresses are on the document.