The government yesterday announced that they will be postponing the introduction of its controversial legal aid reforms by six months, from October 2012 to April 2013.

Why is this delay a good thing? Many cases which are currently eligible for legal aid will no longer be eligible once the reforms come into force. This means that you would not be entitled to have your claim funded and therefore would have to fund it yourself. The reforms that the government is proposing will severely affect the level of services that Brent Private Tenants’ Rights Groups can provide to its clients. For example, at the moment if you are experiencing problems because of disrepair in your property and your landlord is not doing anything about this, we could give you advice, act on your behalf and even take the matter to court if necessary. However, under these new rules we would only be able to help you if the disrepair is classed as “serious” disrepair, affecting your health or the health of others you live with.

Tenants will be in no better position to pay for legal advice and representation under these rules, and yet they will be stripped of their rights to claim legal aid. This means that landlords will more easily be able to get away with treating their tenants unfairly because the tenant will not know what rights they have or how to enforce these against the landlord and without legal aid tenants will not be able to seek legal advice at places like Brent Private Tenants’ Rights Group. Tenants will either have to fork out for private legal costs or try and take on the landlord themselves.

What do you think of the reforms to legal aid? What is your response to the government postponing this by six months? How will all of this affect you?

Get in touch with us on here and let us know what you think!