In-court advice for repossession cases

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The context

Until the COVID-19 pandemic, between 12-15% of homelessness applications in Scotland each year consistently resulted from loss of a rented or owned home, following repossession action by a landlord or lender. One of the key principles of recent PRG proposals is incentivising earlier intervention to prevent homelessness.

But it’s equally important that preventative services exist and can be accessed at any point in a journey towards homelessness, including at courts and tribunals, where decrees to evict are just about to be granted. In-court advice services, like that provided by Dumfries and Galloway Citizens’ Advice Service (DAGCAS), step in at just that moment.

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The intervention

DAGCAS has a small in-court team providing independent advice, support and lay representation to people at Dumfries and Stranraer Sheriff Courts, mainly in Heritable Court cases, that is, eviction or repossession actions for rented or mortgaged homes. The team work with people whose case is already at the court stage: some seek or are referred for advice before they’ve had to appear. In those cases, in-court advisers have an opportunity to establish the facts, provide advice and support, for example, on debt or benefit issues, and negotiate with landlord or lender before the case escalates to court.

But a key feature of the service is its availability and accessibility for people who are at court unrepresented at a ‘last minute’ stage in the process, and who have often had no prior advice. In-court advisers are able to get involved on the day and offer advice, support and lay representation. Over years, advisers have built relationships and become familiar faces, so court officials and sheriffs signpost people to the service proactively. Advisers can also monitor cases listed for eviction and approach unrepresented people. For some, being at court can be daunting and intimidating; but it can also bring the first full realisation of a situation, and with it, the first time a person may be receptive to help.

Whilst most of DAGCAS’s in-court work relates to social housing and mortgage repossessions, the number of eviction cases from the PRS is growing. Whilst in-court advisers offer advice and lay representation at First Tier Tribunals (FTTs) as well as courts, the open access and opportunistic nature of service availability works less well in the multiple venues and less open setting used by the FTT. The face-to-face, last minute aspects of the service have also been compromised by transition to digital courts during the pandemic. Though an online service has worked better for some, it has disproportionately disadvantaged many others benefited by an on-the-day, in person approach.

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The outcome

DAGCAS’s in-court advisers assisted just under 500 people in 2019-20; over two thirds of these were facing eviction or repossession. Following representation in court, homelessness was prevented in 98% of all cases. In the few cases where decree was granted (which is more likely for home owners than tenants) 99% of people received a more positive outcome than they would otherwise have done without in-court advice - for example, an extended time to plan or more comprehensive advice on options and support. Having engaged with in-court advice, many people also accessed help with debt management/reduction, and increasing income.

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Key insights

• going through the doors of a court is the first time some people at imminent or immediate risk of homelessness are able to make use of support; in-person, in-the moment, independent, in-court advice is unique in meeting this need - digital equivalents may exclude some of those most likely to benefit
• private tenants have fewer protections and less access to advice/support than social tenants. Tenants are also less likely to be represented at tribunals than their landlords yet access to in-court advice is perversely lower in the tribunal system. This must be addressed if we want to prioritise prevention
• in-court advice plays a key role in preventing homelessness. But though tenants/owners face court action in every part of Scotland, in-court advice provision and capacity can be a postcode lottery

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Find out more…

Doreen Beattie, In-court Advice Co-ordinator, DAGCAS
doreen.beattie@dagcas.org