9 Prevention of Homelessness Bill
| Date introduced to the House of Commons
Current Bill Number
Previous Reports
| 16 March 2004
House of Commons 73
None
|
9.1 This is a Private Members' Bill introduced by Mr Mohammad
Sarwar MP. The Bill contains a number of measures which would
allow courts discretion to take measures protecting a person at
risk of homelessness as a result of possession proceedings. It
would allow the court to suspend an order in such proceedings
to allow the person concerned to secure reasonable alternative
accommodation (clause 1). In such proceedings, the court may also
vary the parties' contractual rate of interest where it is reasonable
to do so in order to prevent homelessness (clause 2). It may waive
charges levied under the mortgage, and legal expenses, again where
reasonable in order to prevent homelessness (clause 3). The Bill
also makes provision for the payment of benefits to persons subject
to mortgage possession proceedings.
9.2 In seeking to enhance protection against homelessness,
the likely effect of the Bill would be to further protection of
the UK's international human rights obligations, in particular
the right to adequate housing, an element of the right to an adequate
standard of living under Article 11 of the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
9.3 Two clauses of the Bill, however, raise issues
for protection of property rights under Article 1 of Protocol
1 to the ECHR. Contractual entitlements to economic benefits,
such as interest payments or mortgage charges, amount to property
rights under Article 1 of Protocol 1.[156]
Deprivation of those property rights, by waiver of charges or
variation of the interest rate, would amount to a deprivation
of property under Article 1 of Protocol 1, which would be likely
to breach the Convention in the absence of payment of compensation.[157]
In our view, measures under clauses 2 and 3 of the Bill are likely
to give rise to breaches of the Convention rights, and are unlikely
to be capable of interpretation in accordance with the Convention
rights under section 3 of the HRA. We draw this matter to the
attention of both Houses.
156 Beis v Greece (1997) 25 EHRR 335; Association
of General Practitioners v Denmark 62 DR 226 Back
157
Although the measures which constitute a deprivation of property
serve a public interest, it is only in the most exceptional circumstances
that the public interest will justify deprivation of property:
Holy Monasteries v Greece (1994) 20 EHRR 1 Back
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