Rent arrears management practices in the housing association sector

Chapter 2
Rent arrears management practice:
a literature review
Chapter summary
As a backdrop to the original research being
undertaken within this study a literature review has
been carried out to establish the current state of
knowledge on rent arrears management practices
together with possession proceedings, and to
identify gaps in that knowledge .
Earlier studies on rent arrears management drew
attention to a steep rise in possession actions
seen during the 1990s . For some, this was seen
as resulting largely from the promotion of a
performance culture within social housing . Previous
research on arrears management practice identified
a wide range of landlord approaches . Developing
use of IT systems has had an impact, for example,
through automated and triggered responses .
Since the early part of this decade there has been
a shift towards a more specialist model of rent
collection services .
As regards court action, studies have found that
roughly one quarter of notices result in a court
hearing . Association practice was, not surprisingly,
varied - for example, in relation to the level of
internal review of each claim . Provision of money
advice to tenants in arrears has been found uneven
and concerns have been raised about access to
advice and information prior to court hearings .
Studies have found a number of barriers to justice,
including the inaccessibility of advice services,
fear of cost, language, cultural barriers and a
general lack of understanding of the implications of
proceedings . Different factors affect the exercise of
discretion by District Judges and there is a lack of
consistency in relation to outcomes across different
courts and between different judges in the same
court . However, it is to be noted that the relevant
studies took place before certain key interventions,
notably the implementation of the PAP .
There is a lack of evidence about the use of Ground
8 in England . There is some evidence about its use
in Wales, where around 26% of outright possession
orders obtained in 2006-07 were made on the basis
of mandatory grounds . A Citizens Advice Bureau
survey of 26 English associations identified 20 using
Ground 8, although only two did so as a matter of
routine . An earlier national study of England found
that about one third of associations used Ground
8 but that there were striking regional and landlord
type variations . There was also evidence that District
Judges disapproved of Ground 8 and in some cases
sought to avoid granting possession in such instances;
for example by giving extra scrutiny to paperwork
before the court . However, these studies took place
prior to Court of Appeal guidance on Ground 8 .
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