Avoiding Possession Orders at the First Hearing

7 June 2022

Earlier this month, James Stark, from our Housing team, together with Helen Jackson of Shelter, who sits as a deputy district judge, gave a presentation of Part 1 of their guide to “Avoiding Possession Orders at the First Hearing” for the North West Housing Law Practitioners Group, of which James is a co-ordinator.

James’ section of the presentation concentrated on Counterclaims in Rent Arrears cases and his notes for the presentation can be found below.

Part 2 will follow later in the year looking in particular at Equality Act and Human Rights Act defences at first hearings.

Avoiding Possession Orders at the First Hearing (Part 1) – Rent Arrears Cases and Counterclaims

James Stark was a housing law solicitor, admitted in 1992, before being called to the Bar in 1998. Since then, he has become “one of the leading lights for social housing work” (Chambers and Partners 2010) and practises in all areas of housing law including: residential landlord and tenant, unlawful eviction and harassment, allocations and homelessness and injunctions. He specialises particularly in housing cases involving human rights issues, complex possession proceedings, homelessness appeals, and disputes involving multiple parties and agencies.