Legal Aid For Tenants in Dartford

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Everyone wants to feel safe in their home, but sadly, there is a reality where many people face the real danger of eviction. When a tenant is struggling to pay their rent, it has a ripple effect that can cause stress to a number of individuals and families. Well, with the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme, legal aid will now be provided to the tenant in a difficult situation within England and Wales.

The Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme is funded by The Legal Aid Agency throughout England and Wales to provide on-the-day emergency advice and advocacy to anyone facing possession proceedings.

The scheme allows anyone in danger of eviction or having property repossessed to get free legal advice and representation on the day of their hearing, regardless of their financial circumstances.

More About Legal Aid

Legal Aid is available for possession claims, homelessness, eviction and unlawful eviction, re-housing, disrepair, judicial review.

Possession claims include defending possession proceedings from both public and private landlords. Funding is available for counterclaims, including disrepair counterclaims, regardless of the grounds for possession as long as there is a defence. Assistance for mortgage repossession cases is also available (but these cases are now classified as ‘debt’ cases and subject to the telephone gateway). Legal Help is available as soon as possession is being sought, and notice is served.

When it comes to Homelessness, funding is available to assist people with their homeless applications. It is also available for the provision of accommodation through community care services and housing for asylum seekers. This includes requesting reviews of negative decisions or requesting reviews of the suitability of your accommodation. Funding is available for County Court appeals.

Funding for Eviction and unlawful eviction is available for assistance in setting aside a warrant of eviction and also to bring a claim for illegal eviction.

Legal aid for Re-housing is available as long as the person falls within the definition of ‘homeless’. Assistance can then be provided in relation to their application for re-housing. Therefore, funding should be available for anyone living in unsuitable accommodation wanting a transfer as it will not be reasonable for them to occupy their current accommodation and so they will be ‘homeless’.

When it comes to disrepair, where there is a severe risk of harm to the health and safety of a client or their family, legal aid is available to pursue a disrepair claim. Funding does not cover any claim for damages in civil proceedings. That said, Legal Aid is only likely to be suitable for very urgent injunction cases where compensation is minimal. Legal Help can be used to investigate prosecutions under the Environmental Protection Act, but alternative funding will have to be used to take the case to Court.

Funding is also available for housing judicial review cases. However, the coming changes to judicial review – providers will only be guaranteed payment if they are granted permission to bring a claim, payment for cases that settle before this will be at the discretion of the Legal Aid Agency.

When checking financial eligibility, assessments of capital is needed, even where the applicant receives Income Support, Income-related JSA or Income-related ESA.

The Legal Help forms contain a checklist for acceptable proof of income.

Legal aid and free legal advice

Find out how to get free legal advice and representation for housing problems, including eviction and homelessness.

Legal help with housing problems

You should always check if you can get legal help if you have an urgent housing problem.

For example, if you’re being evicted or need to challenge a homelessness decision by the council.

Depending on your situation, you may be able to get help from:

● a legal aid caseworker or solicitor

● a duty adviser if you’ve been taken to court

If you can’t get help through legal aid, there may be other options. For example, a solicitor might help you take your landlord to court under a conditional fee agreement.