Think tank

It may not be possible to inspect before each NOSP but you could at least check your records to see if there are outstanding repairs requests. Make sure they're dealt with before you issue your NOSP.

But the best defence to counterclaims for lack of repair is a really good repairs service. There is no substitute. I know of one London borough that massively reduced the amount it was paying out on repairs claims (nearly all counterclaims), not by action by its lawyers, but by making sure repairs were being done, and it had the paperwork to prove it. Filing is more important than a lot of people think.
Catherine Hand, Partner at solicitor Jenkins & Hand

Any lawyer worth his or her salt will try to mount a disrepair counterclaim when a tenant seeks their advice on defending a rent arrears possession claim and there is any suggestion of disrepair. In some cases the counterclaim is spurious and is raised simply in order to gain time for the arrears position to be sorted out. In other cases, there may be a genuine counterclaim which could be pursued to trial and which, in the worst case, could outweigh the arrears owed. If you want to minimise the possibility of a disrepair counterclaim, you need to make some investigations before issuing your rent arrears proceedings.

You cannot be expected to inspect all properties in all cases beforehand, although some registered social landlords do as a matter of course.

But you can ask your maintenance department if there are any outstanding repairs issues. Also, check your own tenancy file – it may be that there is something on there which indicates that the tenant is already in dispute over repairs. There may even be an ongoing complaint going through the complaints process – it has been known. Another step you could take is to look out for disrepair generally when visiting tenants and to ask tenants when they come into the office to discuss arrears. Ask them if they have any disrepair issues as a matter of course. If they do, then you need to investigate or get your maintenance workers round to the property.

In any event, make a clear note on the file if there is a repairs issue so that arrears proceeding are not issued without giving it all some thought. There's no point walking into a disrepair counterclaim.
Nick Billingham, Partner, Devonshires

Ground 8 appeals
When a judge has granted an immediate possession order for rent arrears, using ground 8 (no discretion for judge), can an assured tenant then obtain an appeal hearing against the subsequent warrant of possession? If so, can the judge at the appeal hearing go against the original ground 8?

If a mandatory order for possession has been made on ground 8, the court's power to suspend any warrant issued pursuant to the order is restricted by section 89 of the 1980 Housing Act.

This says that where the court does not have to decide whether it is reasonable to make an order for possession – such as in a ground 8 case – then any order made can only be suspended for a maximum of six weeks, and only then if the tenant can show "exceptional hardship". Once six weeks has passed since the order was made, the court has no further jurisdiction to interfere with execution of the warrant.

This is why it's important that a ground 8 order for possession makes it clear on its face that the order has been made pursuant to ground 8, otherwise the district judge considering an application to suspend a warrant will not know that he or she has limited powers to suspend or stay the eviction.
Nick Billingham, Partner, Devonshires

Continually in suspension
We have a number of tenants who have won a suspended warrant at an appeal hearing after an original suspended possession order. When they subsequently fail to make payments off their rent and arrears we apply for another warrant. The tenant then requests a further appeal hearing and the judge invariably grants it. This pattern is repeated over a length of time with the same tenant and the same tenancy. Is there any way of forcing the judge to let the warrant go ahead and evict the tenants?

Unfortunately the situation you describe is one faced by registered social landlords and local authorities up and down the country.

To avoid "multiple suspensions" you need, first, to ensure that you put your case to the court as effectively as possible, so the judge is aware of all previous applications. This means preparing effectively for any suspension hearing, if necessary in advance of the application being made. In difficult, long-standing cases, it might be an idea to instruct your solicitors in advance to prepare a witness statement and to arrange representation for you when the inevitable application comes in. Second, if – despite being aware of all previous applications and even though there is no merit in the tenant's latest application – the district judge orders a suspension, you should consider appealing.

If district judges get the idea that they will be appealed in these sort of cases, they tend to be less reluctant to allow suspensions as a matter of course.
Nick Billingham, Partner, Devonshires

Lost in music
One of our tenants is causing complaints because he likes to play reggae music late at night and the vibrations from the bass come through his neighbours' walls. Who is responsible for noise nuisance? Don't local authorities have a statutory obligation to provide 24-hour noise patrols?

Noise nuisance is dealt with by environmental health departments under the 1990 Environmental Protection Act. There is a legal duty to investigate complaints of noise and, where nuisance exists, to serve a section 80 abatement notice. There is also a legal duty to inspect the local authority area from time to time to detect statutory nuisances. But there is no duty to provide a 24-hour service. Some local authorities have adopted the 1996 Noise Act which gives inspectors additional powers to deal with noise from dwellings at night. It also requires the authority to provide a night-time service, which is why few have adopted it.
Richard Kemp, Executive member for housing & neighbourhood services in the Liverpool cabinet