My second letter came from Mr John Lawson-Smith who advises us that a new ruling was passed in the high court in June which in effect rules that All housing associations/charities from now on will be treated as "Public Bodies" this ruling gives new and extra protection to social housing tenants in particular to those who may be facing eviction
Many social housing tenants will now be protected by the Human Rights Act after an intervention by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in a landmark human rights case judgment at the Court of Appeal.
The Court found that some Registered Social Landlords (such as charities, companies or co-operatives that provide social housing) will now be treated as public authorities and subject to the Human Rights Act. These Landlords will now be required to have regard to a tenant's human rights - such as the right to a private and family life and right to a fair trial - when deciding whether to make an eviction order.
"Increasingly the Government is using private bodies to carry out public functions in areas such as social housing, care homes and detention and deportation services. It is only correct that Registered Social Landlords, who are providing these public functions, be treated as a public authority and be subject to the Human Rights Act. This will require Social Landlords to consider the proportionality and reasonableness of their actions, by taking a human rights approach.
"This recognition will benefit those who live in social housing. As we found in our recent Human Rights Inquiry, where a human rights approach is incorporated into public services both users and providers benefit."
While the High Court found the Trust had not breached her human rights in this case, it did find that its role in allocating, managing and terminating social housing was a public function, making the Trust a public authority for those purposes and so subject to obligations under the Human Rights Act.
