Report reveals low take up of housing mediation scheme

A review of the ‘Rental Mediation Service Pilot’, which supported possession cases as they progressed through court, has revealed that the service had a “lower than anticipated” uptake - with just 22 referrals when up to 3,000 cases had been anticipated.

The Rental Mediation pilot was jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) in response to Covid-19.

It enabled tenants and landlords to access a free, independent mediation service during the landlord possession process in the county court.

The pilot had two key aims:

• To minimise evictions by helping landlords and tenants to work together to sustain tenancies, therefore reducing the risk of homelessness for tenants and saving landlords the costs associated with the possession process and reletting the property.
• To reduce the burden on the courts, ensuring that court time was focussed on the most serious cases following the lifting of the stay, or suspension, of possession cases in September 2020.

The post implementation review revealed that the pilot only had an uptake of 22 referrals, which was “lower than anticipated”. When the pilot was being developed, it was estimated that up to 3,000 cases could be resolved.

In the few cases where mediation appointments took place, four out of nine cases were successful, with an agreement reached between the parties.

The report notes that the low level of referrals can “to some extent” be attributed to the lower volume of possession claims that were being processed through the court.

Between January and September 2021 there were 44% fewer private landlord claims and 83% fewer social landlord claims compared to an equivalent period prior to the pandemic, the report states.

Furthermore, the report finds that the circumstances of the pandemic “naturally imposed limitations on how the pilot could be resourced, operated and monitored”, and placed all stakeholders under additional pressure.

The post implementation review (PIR) was conducted as an assessment of the pilot to see what lessons might be learnt from it. It involved 64 in depth interviews with participants (tenants, mediators, judges, and stakeholders).

According to respondents, mediation was offered “too late in the possession process” for it to be attractive for large numbers of tenants and landlords. Furthermore, it was felt by many that additional dispute resolution efforts should be prioritised before court proceedings, the report revealed.

The report says that respondents also felt that there was a lack of awareness of mediation and what it could offer, especially for tenants who “generally struggle to understand the possession process”.

For instance, the review found that some tenants felt “confused, overwhelmed and intimidated” by the possession process, which it notes may have contributed to their lack of engagement in the process itself.

Respondents also cited concerns about the absence of specialist legal advice during mediation and whether the tenant might enter into inappropriate agreements. During the pilot period, some respondents felt that mediation “did not always deliver an agreement that aligned with legal requirements”, the report reveals.

According to the report, the mediators involved in the pilot had limited detailed understanding of housing law, although some training was offered.

Another issue raised by a number of respondents was in regard to communication between the different organisations involved in the pilot. The review includes the example of some duty advisers being reluctant to refer clients to the service because they were “not fully aware of how the mediation process would operate in practice.”

The Ministry of Justice and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have said that they will use the findings and lessons learned to “determine how mediation, as one form of dispute resolution can help to resolve landlord and tenant disputes in the future”.

Lottie Winson