I write further to the letter of Chris Wood from Knowsley Housing Trust last week regarding the recent article "RSLs cannot inherit possession cases, court says" (11 April, page 8).
Helena Housing was joint defendant in this case, and I fully endorse Wood's response.

However, I was disappointed to note in Jan Luba's "Case of the week" column in the same issue (11 April, page 10) the assertion that "starting fresh cases might be fairer – and cheaper".

The judgment outlined a cost-effective method of dealing with cases which we still wish to pursue which would save re-issuing proceedings at a cost of £130 a case. In addition, the cost of re-serving notices would also be saved. For Helena Housing this amounted to a considerable sum of money and we are pleased that the court recognised this issue and proposed a way forward.

While the initial issue fee was paid by the transferring local authority, what needs to be remembered is that the funding came from the Housing Revenue Account and thus tenants' rent money. Our tenants voted overwhelmingly in favour of transfer and want their rental monies used to fund our investment and improvement programme.

We are currently examining our cases and will be proceeding with necessary action in line with the judgement.

I would urge any housing association currently in the process of transfer to obtain a full copy of the judgement in order to assess the best way forward in such cases.

Source

Housing Today

Postscript

Rob Young, chief executive, Helena Housing, Merseyside