We are a legal aid provider on the Fylde Coast in housing and debt  and we offer legal aid for people who qualify if the case is one where it is available  This generally  covers validity of notices served by your landlord, defending possession proceedings, dealing with homelessness situations legally, anti-social behaviour or cases where important aspects of public law and/or human rights arise. We can also deal with very serious cases of disrepair and applications for injunctions/restraining orders for unlawful evictions where a landlord evicts you without getting a Court Order.

As an organisation we provide extensive support for people to enforce their legal rights as a tenant or as a homeowner. We can only provide you with an example of some of the type of work we can do to support you not all which are within the terms of legal aid.

a. Defend possession proceedings brought by a landlord whether it’s a social landlord or a private landlord (although for private tenancies this can be difficult, although not impossible);

b. Defend possession proceedings brought by a mortgage company, or where proceedings are brought by a finance company due to a loan being secured on the property. Often these orders can be suspended or be made subject of a time order.

c. Unlawful eviction is a criminal offence and also a tenant can seek damages and a restraining order/injunction. In general, a landlord cannot simply throw a tenant out unless they have obtained a court order. Many instances occur on the Fylde Coast where no court order has been secured and peope can obtain a remedy from the Courts.. Do you know that you can apply for a court order to return to the property?

d. Do you know that there are stringent requirements in relation to the protection of any deposit paid if you are an Assured Shorthold Tenant? A tenant can be awarded compensation for a failure by a landlord to follow the correct procedure and it can have repercussion in a landlord recovering the property.

e. Do you know that if you complain about repairs and you have involved the council’s environmental health service, that a landlord may not be able to serve a notice which is valid as this may be considered a step of retaliatory eviction?

f. If your landlord has not repaired the premises after you have complained and they have been allowed a reasonable time to do so, then you may be able to claim compensation and an order that the repairs are carried out. This can be used in possession proceedings to effectively defeat them if the claim is based on rent arrears.

g. Assist you in long leasehold disputes.

The centre is now contracted by the Legal Aid Agency to provide legal aid in some of these areas.