The Regulation of Social Housing has been subject to significant changes since a regulator was first introduced in 1964. The current Regulatory Regime was instituted by the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. It was influenced by the findings of the Grenfell Tower inquiry. Under the current regime regulation of HAs and LHAs is by different Regulators. However, the Housing Ombudsman (first established in 1996) has jurisdiction over both LHA and HA landlords. The current Housing Ombudsman has maintained a high profile and an interventionist approach. In this Seminar Nick will consider the main powers of the Housing Ombudsman, how the current Ombudsman is interpreting those powers and how the Ombudsman’s decisions can be challenged.

Nick is a barrister and a silk at Five Paper. Social Housing forms a large proportion of his practice.

Nicholas Grundy KC

Nick is a Property, Public Law, Equality and Human Rights specialist. Nick has particular expertise in statutory interpretation. Nick is head of Five Paper’s Real Property Practice Group and a member of the Housing, Landlord and Tenant and Public Law Groups.

He regularly acts for public bodies in cases where property and public law interact: e.g. Simawi v LB Haringey & SoS CLG (intervening) [2019] EWCA Civ 1770, where he successfully argued that the rules relating to succession to council tenancies were compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

He also acts for commercial entities: e.g. he was successful in the Court of Appeal for Global 100 Limited in establishing, amongst other things, that defences to possession proceedings should, where appropriate, be determined summarily: See Global 100 Limited v Laleva [2021] EWCA Civ 1835.