As senior partner Ole Hansen observes, there is a host of reasons why demand for housing advice from firms like his is increasing: an acute housing shortage in London and record numbers of possessions, coupled with a rise in homelessness and the introduction of the bedroom tax.

But while the level of demand means that Hansen Palomares ran out of its housing matter starts, the overall number of people with housing problems being helped through legal aid is falling.

Data obtained through an FOI request showed that the LAA paid for 34,817 face-to-face housing cases in the year to April 2014, only 55 per cent of the 63,275 cases it had provided for. The information, requested by the Bureau for Investigative Journalism (BIJ) showed that in some areas only 11 per cent of matter starts were used.

For 2014–15, the LAA cut the legal help housing allocation by 19 per cent, citing a lack of demand.

So what is going on? How can the number of cases be falling just as demand is on the increase?

While it is true that the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 removed large areas of legal aid from scope, mainstream housing law came away less badly scathed. However, as Sara Stephens, housing partner at Anthony Gold, executive member of the Housing Law Practitioners Association, and head of its legal aid working party, says, there remains a huge lack of clarity both among the public and profession over the areas where public funding remains available.1See Legal Action, November 2014, ‘Use it or lose it’, for detailed analysis of the areas of housing law that remain in scope of legal aid

Public funding remains available for possession proceedings and eviction, including counterclaims for disrepair, unlawful eviction, homelessness, including asylum support for accommodation, anti-social behaviour cases, harassment injunctions and serious disrepair cases.

However, Stephens notes that LASPO created some ‘bizarre’ funding anomalies that leave clients able only to partially solve their problems. For example, she explains: ‘You can get legal aid funding to fight an injunction regarding damage to property, but not for the related damages claim.’

In addition, she says, firms do not want to run the risk of having money clawed-back following an audit where they have claimed for work that is not within scope, so many are erring on the side of caution and wrongly telling clients their case is no longer covered.

Even where a problem remains within scope, proving a client’s eligibility, says Stephens, has become so burdensome. ‘It is difficult to prove a client’s means. The fixed fee is used on the work to determine if they qualify, so the case itself becomes pro bono,’ she says.

The main reason for the drop in cases, says Hansen, is a lack of suppliers. Falling fees for work that was already poorly paid, on top of more stringent means-testing, has driven many firms to stop offering housing advice or to quit legal aid work altogether.

‘Even clients whose cases are in scope will struggle to find a provider to take on their case,’ he says.

When his firm ran out of matter starts, the LAA initially refused to grant any more, saying it will only do so if all other providers in the area have run out. Instead the LAA provided a list of 15 firms within the borough offering housing advice and told Hansen Palomares to refer clients to one of them.

But, says Hansen, when they looked at the list (which included their own firm), they spotted other firms that they knew had also run out of matter starts, a couple that had moved or shut their housing departments, and some which, although they had not formally given up their contracts, had stopped taking on housing cases because they were no longer profitable.

Hansen’s assertion is supported by the available data. The BIJ report in November showed there were 38 fewer legal aid housing providers in June 2014 than there had been in April 2013 and eight more had given notice on their contracts.

In 23 of the 134 administration areas, there was only a single housing provider.

Head of legal aid at the Law Society, Richard Miller, pointed to LAA figures showing that the number of organisations offering housing advice on legal aid has dropped from 509 in 2012–13 to 228 in 2013–14.

‘It is therefore little surprise, given how much more difficult it is to find advice, that even in those areas where on paper legal aid is still available, fewer cases are being started,’ he says.

A National Audit Office report last year found that in 14 local authorities, no providers had started any face-to-face publicly-funded work in any area of civil law, including housing.

Stephens points out the result of this is that vulnerable clients are remaining in unsuitable accommodation and suffering increased stress and anxiety.

‘I would like to see LASPO repealed,’ she says. But on a more pragmatic level, she has a couple of simple and cost-effective measures to improve the situation for clients and their advisers.

She suggests the government reintroduce legal aid passporting for those in receipt of welfare benefits, so they do not have to go through the wasteful process of proving their lack of means.

Another key change, that would not only make a huge difference, but also be cheaper for the government, she says, would be to bring welfare benefits advice back into scope. ‘At the moment we can assist someone with a possession case, but can do nothing to help with the rent arrears that are causing the problem.’

Asked about the problem of falling supply and what is being done about it, an LAA spokesman said: ‘Information about what is covered by legal aid and where people can get advice is readily available on gov.uk. People can search for a local advice provider or contact Civil Legal Advice by telephone or online.

‘In an emergency, many people facing repossession can also get help at court on the day of their hearing.’