RHE Global’s Housing Team Working Alongside Leeds City Council

RHE Global can now provide a summary of this particularly interesting Tribunal case about crowding and space, in which Leeds City Council’s actions were supported and an appeal against the prohibition orders served by the authority was dismissed. The case has a number of salient points, which we have summarised within the case review. Of particular note is the Tribunal’s agreement on the use of the most up-to-date advice in relation to space standards. The Tribunal confirmed that the guidance used by officers was of relevance in informing the assessment of risk using the HHSRS and that the premises in question did not meet those standards, this in itself being a strong indication of a significant likelihood of an occupier suffering any harm as a result.?

For us, at RHE Global, it’s a stamp of approval for our newly drafted worked examples, with Leeds City Council making reference to one, produced by us in partnership with the council. The Tribunal considered this worked example to be the most relevant (to the premises), being an objective and authoritative benchmark for the case in question. The actions taken by the diligent officers at the council were recognised as being the most appropriate, including their assessment, the justifications made in relation to that assessment and the steps taken by those officers to prohibit use of the premises in question, particularly given the seriousness of the Category 1 Crowding and Space hazard found to exist on those premises.?

We discussed this specific case with Leeds CC for comment, and Daniel Benson, their inspecting officer in this case, made a number of insightful observations in the case review. Of particular note to Daniel was the endorsement by the Tribunal of the approach used to undertake the HHSRS assessments. Using a risk-based system and the most up-to-date relevant guidance has clearly been established as the correct way forward for such cases. Daniel went on to explain that the sound methodology used in this case and the withdrawal of outdated local space standards in 2017 meant that the council was not hamstrung by space standards of 10 square metres for this type of accommodation, which are still widely used by many authorities. We thank Leeds City Council for engaging with us in producing this case summary and in the production of new worked examples in partnership with RHE, and congratulate their officers for this strong endorsement of their approach to enforcement using the HHSRS.