
I don’t want to sound too melodramatic but sectarianism appears to be alive and well amongst many housing lawyers in the UK. People aren’t getting shot or anything but there is still a problem. The two factions are the Housing Law Practitioners Association (“HLPA”) and the Social Housing Law Association (“SHLA”) HLPA consists of lawyers who see themselves as working for the benefit of tenants and people applying to councils. SHLA on the other hand is for people who either work for social landlords or local authorities and the lawyers who work with them.
HLPA has been around for many years and has made no secret of its hostility towards landlords and local government. SHLA was founded in 2005 in many ways as a response to HLPA. The SHLA website refers to it having been set up by a group of housing professionals and lawyers who saw the need for a forum where ideas and information could be exchanged and discussed. It was a shame for all concerned that HLPA could not provide that forum.
Both organizations have a lot in common. They consist of people who work in housing law and exist so as to provide their members with training and a chance to exchange information. The issues they discuss are often exactly the same. For example the SHLA Annual Conference in June 2010 covered the same issues of anti social behaviour and public law defences to possession claims which were dealt with at the HLPA Annual Conference December 2009. Nevertheless in order to join HLPA one has to be able to show that they are principally working for those receiving housing services. SHLA on the other hand say that they will grant membership where they are satisfied that the applicant regularly works or acts for social landlords. That means that I am excluded from SHLA membership and would no doubt be turned away from their meetings if I tried to attend.
Why There A Split Like This Between Supposed Professionals
There may be many reasons for this schism but perhaps the most obvious is that people who do not feel confident with the legal issues involved in their work tend to personalize the issues. This means that those acting for tenants quickly come to see landlords or local government staff and their lawyers as doing what they do because they are enemies of the people. Those who work for councils and their lawyers tend to see those who work for tenants as greedy opportunists who line their pockets by using legal trickery to make it more difficult for councils and landlords to function. Many of the lawyers who attend HLPA are new to the game and are susceptible to this way of thinking. Many of those who attend SHLA meetings are social landlord or council staff who lack legal training and therefore feel even less confident. There is a lot of money to be made by lawyers who can keep these groups as hostile towards each other as possible.
Why The Split Is A Bad Thing
I think that the split between the sections of the profession is a bad thing for a number of reasons. It encourages bad practice on the part of the members of each group who are encouraged to see themselves as being involved in a struggle with the other faction rather than recognizing the need to work together in the interests of the wider public.
It impoverishes us as professionals by preventing the sharing of information and hearing the views of those “on the other side”. I would very much have liked to have heard what the speakers at the SHLA conference had to say. We should be able to debate the issues which we face as professionals rather than adopt a bunker mentality and only talk to those who we are confident already agree with us.
It also leads to a waste of huge amounts of tax payers money on unnecessary legal expenses arising from cases which cannot be settled due to the hostility and lack of communication between those acting for the parties. A barrister I know told me that he was approached at a SHLA meeting by three members of staff from a local authority housing department who wanted to ask him questions about points I had been raising with them in correspondence which they were worried about. Is it too much to hope for that we might be able to come up with a way of working which would allow them to talk to me about them?
What Can Be Done To Heal the Split
A first step would be to hold joint meetings between SHLA and HLPA where issues such as how to deal with neighbour nuisance or mental health issues could be discussed.
A second step would be to drop the factional restrictions on who can join each group or attend their meetings.
We as lawyers should aspire to be like Tessa Shepperson of Landlord Law Blog who is able to provide a service via her blogging to all those involved in landlord and tenant work and Arden Chambers who appear to be able to work equally well for both camps.
Having said all that self-righteous stuff I have to admit all my client base is entirely tenant/applicant based and that I spend much my working life making a nuisance of myself to landlords and councils. If anyone from any of those organizations is reading this I would welcome any comments which might enable me to recognize where I have been guilty of sectarianism myself and to suggest ways we might be able to work more closely on the wider issues.