LexisNexis report suggests 12.5 million people without adequate access to housing legal aid

Research from LexisNexis has suggested that more than 12 million people currently have no access to legal aid providers in their local area offering housing services.

This news comes while the cost-of-living crisis increases housing insecurity, leading to a significant rise in the number of people likely to require legal aid, LexisNexis said in a report.

According to UK government data, the number of mortgage possession orders increased by 496% for April to June 2022 versus the same period in 2021, and landlord possession orders had increased by 164%.

The report found that 56% of local authorities in England could be classed as ‘legal deserts’, meaning they have no legal aid providers per 1,000 legal housing incidents, with residents forced to travel significant distances and incur costs to access services.

The locations across England & Wales with the highest need for legal aid providers and the least access to them have been pinpointed in the report, with Stratford-on-Avon, South Lakeland and Boston coming out as the top ‘legal aid deserts’ along with 12 others.

According to the report, 12.45m people live in legal aid deserts for housing.

The housing 'legal deserts' in the bottom 10% had 0 providers per 1,000 incidents, while the five best served local authorities had 1.74 providers per 1,000 incidents, the data revealed.

Jasmine Basran, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Crisis, said: "Access to justice is a fundamental right that should be available to everyone in our society. Legal aid plays a significant role in this for people on low incomes where cost can be a barrier to justice. This is especially true for people who are homeless, experience the sharpest end of poverty and can face economic barriers and social stigma, which reduces the likelihood of being able to access justice."

James Harper, Senior General Counsel at LexisNexis, said: “Millions of people around the country are reliant on the UK’s legal aid system, particularly to give them advice when they face possible eviction from their homes.

“Our research shows that during a time when many more people may be relying on this vital service, there is a worrying lack of provision in many parts of the country, meaning that many vulnerable people in society may not be able to access the legal advice they are entitled to.”

Law Society of England and Wales President Lubna Shuja said: “This research echoes our own findings that many people across the country, particularly on low incomes, are facing serious legal problems. The cost-of-living crisis is likely to increase demand on a system that is already at breaking point, and the UK government urgently needs to address these problems in the civil and criminal justice systems to avoid a crisis in our legal sector.”

Last month the Government announced reforms to the former Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme that will come into force in August next year and which will mean that anyone facing eviction or repossession will receive free early legal advice on housing before appearing in court.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We are injecting £10m a year to make sure housing legal aid gets to the people that need it most, including in rural areas.

“The Legal Aid Agency regularly monitors capacity in the legal aid market and takes immediate action when gaps appear but we have also launched a review of the civil legal aid market to consider how to make it more sustainable.”

The Ministry of Justice claimed it was "misleading to compare legal aid services by local authority area as that is not how provision is set. It is set across larger procurement areas covering multiple local authorities."

It added that legal advice remains available through the Civil Legal Advice telephone service.

Lottie Winson