Synopsis / Speakers
The day will be led by Hilary Crook, Solicitor and chaired by Martin Blakey, Chief Executive, Unipol
This one day update seminar is designed to brief delegates on a number of developing areas that effects student accommodation provision and management. Hilary is an expert in the field and has undertaken work widely throughout the HEI and FE sectors. She is one of the best placed experts in the country to know what ongoing issues are being raised in the legal arena that educational establishments need to identify and address. She is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
The day will also provide an opportunity for delegates to raise issues and questions that have arisen within their own institutions and the seminar will include participation and networking.
The coalition government has introduced several measures that influence student housing. The day will start with an explanation of why the rules on tenancy deposit protection needed to be changed and guidance on how the Localism Act 2011 affects the rules on tenancy deposit protection. Delegates will be invited to share their own experiences of deposit protection and alternative dispute resolution through the authorised tenancy deposit protection schemes. After 5 years of tenancy deposit protection, clear trends are emerging and the speaker will comment on those.
There are comparatively few decisions about accommodation published by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education. The speaker will highlight two cases where the complaint was held to be justified. Many of the Adjudicator’s decisions about procedural irregularity, breaches of natural justice and discrimination are also relevant to student accommodation. The update will include some tips on how to avoid being the subject of a complaint.
Confused or baffled about planning and HMOs? This course will explain what the law is now and how Article 4 directions work. We will also bring you news of challenges to local authorities’ decisions and delegates will be invited to share their own experiences.
After an investigation by HMRC at one university, the university sector as a whole lobbied for an exemption from the rules that meant student wardens who received a free or discounted room for their services were often not being paid the national minimum wage. The national minimum wage “accommodation offset” rules now apply to some student wardens, but not others. This session will explain what the issues were before the change, summarise how the law has changed, and explain what the issues are likely to be after the change.
Some types of trespass have been criminal for some time – trespass on railway property, for example, could lead to prosecution. Most types of trespass, including squatting, have traditionally been a civil matter, with the landowner being entitled to sue for the use of the land. That right is worthless if the trespasser cannot pay. Many property owners are relieved simply to get their property back. Some property owners did not try hard enough to eject the squatter, resulting in the squatter eventually becoming entitled to keep the property. This session will explain the changes in the law and give examples of how it could affect landlords and tenants in student accommodation.
This update seminar will be of relevance to any staff or managers interested in keeping up to date in a number of prominent legal areas as they affect student accommodation, its provision and management. Because of the round table nature of the seminar numbers are strictly limited to 30.
Speakers
Hilary Crook, Solicitor, ACIArb, Hatch Legal
Hilary Crook is one of Unipol's regular panel of trainers. She is a practising solicitor, an associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and has nearly 20 years’ experience of advising universities and colleges on their property assets and student relationship management. She won the Corporate INTL Education Lawyer of the Year in the UK award in 2011, and is listed by Chambers Directory as a “notable practitioner”.
