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03 May 2024 / Daniel Bacon
Issue: 8069 / Categories: Features , Property , Landlord&tenant
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Next steps for housing loss prevention

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Daniel Bacon explains the new court duty scheme—& how it could help both tenants & landlords
  • Outlines the two stages of HLPAS, the legal aid scheme covering possession cases.
  • Provides a glimpse into the work of duty solicitors in court.

The Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS) replaced the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme on 1 August 2023. It is an architecture for providing free legal advice to tenants facing eviction. There are two stages to the current scheme. Stage 1, prior to court, lifts the usual means assessments of Legal Help to provide free, early and non-means-tested legal advice to tenants facing eviction—for example, once they have received an eviction notice. Stage 2 provides free-at-the-point-of-need advice and representation to any tenant facing a claim in the county court first-instance possession lists. Again, there is no means assessment; it is just an opportunity for any tenant to take advice and to be represented.

Stage 1

The HLPAS scheme Stage 1 strips away some of the administrative burden of early legal advice for possession matters. Prior to HLPAS, tenants

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