Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

Risk to health or safety in rented home E+W

35 (1) Civil legal services provided to an individual in relation to the removal or reduction of a serious risk of harm to the health or safety of the individual or a relevant member of the individual's family where— E+W

(a) the risk arises from a deficiency in the individual's home,

(b) the individual's home is rented or leased from another person, and

(c) the services are provided with a view to securing that the other person makes arrangements to remove or reduce the risk.

Exclusions

(2) Sub-paragraph (1) is subject to—

(a) the exclusions in Part 2 of this Schedule, with the exception of paragraphs 6 and 8 of that Part, and

(b) the exclusion in Part 3 of this Schedule.

Definitions

(3) For the purposes of this paragraph—

(a) a child is a relevant member of an individual's family if the individual is the child's parent or has parental responsibility for the child;

(b) an adult (“A”) is a relevant member of an individual's family if—

(i) they are relatives (whether of the full blood or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership) or cohabitants, and

(ii) the individual's home is also A's home.

(4) In this paragraph—

• “adult” means a person aged 18 or over;

• “building” includes part of a building;

• “child” means a person under the age of 18;

• “cohabitant” has the same meaning as in Part 4 of the Family Law Act 1996 (see section 62(1) of that Act);

• “deficiency” means any deficiency, whether arising as a result of the construction of a building, an absence of maintenance or repair, or otherwise;

• “harm” includes temporary harm;

• “health” includes mental health;

• “home”, in relation to an individual, means the house, caravan, houseboat or other vehicle or structure that is the individual's only or main residence, together with any garden or ground usually occupied with it.