The Housing Ombudsman
2025-11-13 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/London)
The Housing Ombudsman Service (“HO”) was first established by the Housing Act 1996. The powers of the HO were increased by the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. The current 2024 HO Scheme was made under the SH(R)A 2025 and replaced the previous Scheme.
In this Webinar Imran Mustak (of L&Q ) and Nick Grundy KC (of Five Paper) will explain and discuss the HO’s powers under the HO Scheme 2024 and, relying on their experience, give guidance as to how Housing Associations and LHAs can best respond to complaints that the HO is considering.
Speakers:
Imran Mustak (of L&Q )
Nick Grundy KC (of Five Paper)
Non-Members – £20.00 (once registered you will be sent an invoice)
REGISTER YOUR PLACE HERE

The Relief Duty
2025-11-19 13:00 - 14:00
The relief duty was introduced to local authorities’ homelessness duties in 2017 by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. It is a duty to take reasonable steps to help secure that suitable accommodation becomes available for an applicant’s occupation for at least six months. The duty applies in respect of all persons who are homeless and eligible for assistance.
In this seminar Millie and Michael will look at when the duty arises, how authorities can bring it to an end, its interaction with other homelessness provisions, and the latest developments in the case law.
Members – Free
Non-Members – £20.00 (once registered you will be sent an invoice)
REGISTER YOUR PLACE HERE

Housing Mediation Protocol
2025-11-19 17:00 - 18:30
SHLA Midlands Region are pleased to invite you to join them for an in-person event on Housing Mediation Protocol.
We are pleased to invite you to our upcoming event on the 19th of November, which will be hosted at the offices of Anthony Collins in Birmingham. This event will feature Tom Russell, Mediator at St Ives Chambers, as the keynote speaker.
Tom Russell, has 30 years of experience in litigation, having worked as a solicitor from 1995 to 2004, and as a self-employed barrister since then. Since 2007, he has also been practising as a mediator and has led over 150 mediation sessions. At this stage of his career, Tom is focusing more on mediation, which he considers to be the optimal form of dispute resolution.
The event will focus on the Housing Mediation Protocol, a framework created by Tom Russell, working in partnership with solicitors, to facilitate the negotiated resolution of housing-related disputes. This voluntary protocol aims to help clients resolve issues in housing cases such as disrepair complaints, rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, and more, while avoiding the costs and uncertainties of litigation.
Tom will guide us through the various stages of the protocol, including the opportunity for early fixed-price mediation, the chance to engage in ongoing mediations with the same mediator, and how it can help resolve disputes efficiently and amicably.
We encourage all members to attend this insightful session, which will be followed by networking drinks and food, providing a great opportunity to connect with fellow professionals.
Join us for this in-person event including networking and refreshments, kindly hosted by Anthony Collins, 134 Edmund Street, Birmingham B3 2ES.
Members – £5.00
Non-Members – £15.00
If you would prefer to be invoiced, please email info@shla.org.uk.
Please note – tickets for this event are transferable but not refundable if cancellation is within 3 days of the event.

Housing Mediation Protocol
Housing Mediation Protocol

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Risks and Rewards of AI Use in Social Housing
2025-11-27 13:00 - 14:00
This webinar will explore the legal and ethical dimensions of using artificial intelligence (AI) in the social housing sector. After a brief overview of how AI models work and their inherent strengths and limitations, the panellists will describe some of the ways social housing providers are using AI and the benefits that AI can have for providers, tenants, and other stakeholders. The conversation will then turn towards some words of caution about the risks of AI use, including those relating to fairness, transparency, and data privacy. The event will conclude with an opportunity for participants to ask questions of the panellists.
Speakers:
Joanna Bouloux
Joanna specialises in advising on a range of corporate and commercial work including joint ventures, acquisitions and disposals, IT and commercial contracts.
Joanna has a particular focus on joint ventures in the real estate sector which ranges from advising housing association clients to developers and local authorities.
Joanna also advises on a wide range of IT contracts, regularly advising both suppliers and customers of IT solutions. She regularly drafts and negotiates both standard terms and bespoke agreements, support and managed service agreements. In addition, she provides commercial and IT support on wider corporate transactions.
Brendan Bernicker
Brendan Bernicker is a practising lawyer in the United States and a barrister in England & Wales (not currently practising). He represents technology businesses in disputes and advises them on a range of issues, including those relating to the development and use of artificially intelligent systems. Brendan previously worked as a civil rights appellate litigator at the MacArthur Justice Center and was a visiting assistant professor at Penn State University, where he taught the law school’s first AI course and two public law courses. Brendan holds a JD from Yale Law School and both an MA in Political Science and a BA in Philosophy from Penn State. In addition to his legal practice, Brendan works as a full-stack software developer building custom software for enterprise clients.
John Fitzsimons
John Fitzsimons is a versatile junior barrister who maintains a deliberately diverse practice encompassing data protection/information law, planning/environmental law, inquests/inquiries and general public and regulatory law. He is regularly instructed by a wide variety of public and private clients and is ranked in Legal 500 as a leading junior.
As well as his work at the Bar, John sits as a non-executive director on the board of Innisfree Housing Association and regularly provides data protection training on behalf of PDP Training to a range of data protection and privacy professionals in both the UK and Ireland.
REGISTER HERE

All change: the Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Bill
2025-12-05 13:00 - 14:00
Liz Davies KC, Garden Court Chambers
Liz Davies KC is a barrister specialising in housing and homelessness law at Garden Court Chambers. She is a co-author of Housing Allocation and Homelessness: Law and Practice (Luba, Davies, Johnston, Bano & Ahluwalia, LexisNexis, 2025, 7th edn) and of Domestic Abuse and Housing (LAG, forthcoming). She also co-authors the monthly column Recent Developments in Housing Law in Legal Action magazine, with Sam Madge-Wyld. She is instructed by Southall Black Sisters and others in the Covid Inquiry, on issues of domestic abuse.
Legal 500 describes her as “the leading barrister on homelessness law and superb with clients”. Chambers & Partners says “her level of expertise is only matched by her passion for fighting for an individual’s right to justice”.
Lee Russell, Partner of Housing Management & Property Litigation at Devonshires
Lee was one of the first solicitors to qualify as part of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s fully qualifying law degree. He was one of the youngest qualifying solicitors at the time.
Lee advises on all aspects of housing management and property litigation, regularly advising private organisations, land owners, developers, investors, charities, local authorities and some of the largest providers of social housing in the United Kingdom.
Lee’s specialism in complex dispute resolution, both in and out of court, sits alongside his extensive experience in advising on non-contentious policy and procedure in addition to regulatory matters. Lee has a developed specialism in fire safety issues and property litigation aspects to contentious construction disputes.
Lee also deals with broader property litigation matters including adverse possession, service charge issues, lease disputes, trespass, restrictive covenants/easements and boundary issues. Lee leads our dedicated Wales team, advising registered social landlords on all aspects of housing management, property litigation and topical Welsh issues.
Lee’s background in mental health, safeguarding and capacity also sees him advising on litigation involving those who lack capacity to do so. In addition Lee is a specialist in advising on associated regulatory matters, including healthcare providers involving CQC regulation. Lee advises providers of social housing on health and social care aspects including regulatory proceedings and dealing with adverse incidents. Lee’s Welsh practice also sees him advising a number of registered social landlords on the Welsh care regime and matters involving the Care Inspectorate Wales.
Session Chair – Sarah Salmon, Cornerstone Barristers
Sarah Salmon specialises in social housing, property and public law. She is ranked as a leading junior in Legal 500 for both Administrative Law and Human Rights and Social Housing. She is recommended in Chambers and Partners for Housing. In 2024, she was appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s panel of counsel (B panel) and nominated for Property and Housing Junior of the Year in the Legal 500 Bar awards.
Sarah has represented public bodies, charities, local authorities, housing associations, individuals and companies in her specialist areas in England and Wales. Sarah is the author of Author of ‘A Practical Guide to Housing Allocation Schemes in England’ (Law Brief Publishing) and regularly acts and advises in homelessness cases (on both sides).
Sarah has a special interest in Wales and has been instructed, and advised extensively, on a number of issues for a range of clients. She was instructed in Coastal Housing Group Ltd (now Beacon Cymru Group) v Mitchell [2024] EWHC 2831 (Ch) and [2025] EWHC 2477 (Ch) (the first case to see provisions with the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 and its accompanying regulations before the higher courts) and Jarvis v Evans [2020] EWCA Civ 854; [2021] 1 WLR 24 (the first case to see the provisions of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 before the higher courts). She has also advised an organisation on the Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Bill.
Members – Free
Non-Members – £20.00 (once registered you will be sent an invoice)
REGISTER YOUR PLACE HERE

All you need to know about the PSED
2025-12-08 13:00 - 14:00
We are pleased to invite you to the next session in our SHLA Winter Webinar Series 2025, taking place on 8 December. This online event will cover a key area for all social housing professionals: the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).
Our speakers, Millie and Donna, will outline the latest developments on the PSED and provide practical examples to help social landlords and local authorities understand and meet their responsibilities.
Millie Polimac
Millie is a leading junior barrister ranked in both Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners, with extensive experience across landlord and tenant disputes, public law challenges, and landmark appellate cases. In 2019 she was appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Panel of Counsel and has been on the Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel since 2025.
Donna McCarthy
Donna, a Consultant in Devonshires’ Housing Management & Property Litigation team, brings 35 years of specialist experience and is ranked in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame. She is widely recognised for her expertise in Equality Act compliance and complex housing litigation.
Members – Free
Non-Members – £20.00 (once registered you will be sent an invoice)
REGISTER YOUR PLACE HERE

Government's Call For Evidence - Housing Disrepair
2026-01-29 11:00 - 12:30
SHLA Members Roundtable
We are pleased to invite you to a virtual roundtable meeting to discuss the Government’s call for evidence concerning Housing Disrepair and the role of claims management activity in the sector.
To support members, respond to this consultation, SHLA will host a roundtable discussion.
Register your place below – places are limited.
Members Only – Free Event
Registration for this event has now closed.
