FOI request details
Request
Subject: Housing Claims
Reference: LBR-FOI-00385
Please provide the following information:
1. How many housing claims were issued at court against the local authority since 1 January 2010, broken down by total claims per year;
2. Of those issued claims, how many were settled by the local authority before the matter reached trial, broken down by claims settled per year;
3. Legal fees paid by the local authorities on cases where a claim has been issued and the matter has settled before trial.
This should be broken down by year and further into the following:
I. The local authority's total legal fees per year in settled housing claims;
II. Total costs paid by the local authority in respect of the claimant's legal fees per year in settled housing claims.
An example:
A claimant issues a claim against the local authority. The local authority defends the claim but before the matter reaches trial, the local authority settles the claim. In these circumstances, the local authority will incur legal costs of its own solicitors and barristers. The Court may also order that the local authority pays the legal costs of the claimant's solicitors and barristers.
Please provide the information by paper and email; it can be in a table format with a row for each year since 2010 and columns to show to information requested above. If clarification is required, please contact me.
Example table:
Year A. Total housing cases issued at Court against the local authority B. Total housing cases issued at Court against the local authority that were settled before trial C. Total local authority legal fees incurred in B cases D. Total fees of the claimants the local authority was ordered to pay in B cases
2010 100 70 £1 million £600,000
2011 (and so on until 2023) … … … …
The above figures are purely for illustrative purposes.
Response
Full Disclosure - 25 January 2023
Your Request:
Please provide the following information:
1.How many housing claims were issued at court against the local authority since 1 January 2010, broken down by total claims per year;
2.Of those issued claims, how many were settled by the local authority before the matter reached trial, broken down by claims settled per year;
3.Legal fees paid by the local authorities on cases where a claim has been issued and the matter has settled before trial.
This should be broken down by year and further into the following:
I.The local authority's total legal fees per year in settled housing claims;
II.Total costs paid by the local authority in respect of the claimant's legal fees per year in settled housing claims.
An example:
A claimant issues a claim against the local authority. The local authority defends the claim but before the matter reaches trial, the local authority settles the claim. In these circumstances, the local authority will incur legal costs of its own solicitors and barristers. The Court may also order that the local authority pays the legal costs of the claimant's solicitors and barristers.
Please provide the information by paper and email; it can be in a table format with a row for each year since 2010 and columns to show to information requested above. If clarification is required, please contact me.
Example table:
YearA. Total housing cases issued at Court against the local authorityB. Total housing cases issued at Court against the local authority that were settled before trial C. Total local authority legal fees incurred in B cases D. Total fees of the claimants the local authority was ordered to pay in B cases
201010070£1 million£600,000
2011 (and so on until 2023)…………
The above figures are purely for illustrative purposes.
Our Response:
1.How many housing claims were issued at court against the local authority since 1 January 2010, broken down by total claims per year;
None (Richmond Council has no housing stock)
2.Of those issued claims, how many were settled by the local authority before the matter reached trial, broken down by claims settled per year;
N/A
3.Legal fees paid by the local authorities on cases where a claim has been issued and the matter has settled before trial.
This should be broken down by year and further into the following:
N/A
I.The local authority's total legal fees per year in settled housing claims;
II.Total costs paid by the local authority in respect of the claimant's legal fees per year in settled housing claims.
N/A
Please note that our responses were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of release, and have not subsequently been updated. This information should be considered an historical record only.