Human Rights Act Applies to Social Landlord

The Human Rights Act 1998 applies only to public bodies, so where a claim under the Act is made, it is first necessary to ascertain whether the organisation against which the claim is made is a public body.

Recently, the question came before the Divisional Court as to whether a registered social landlord was a public body for the purposes of the Act. The conclusion of the Court was that the management and allocation of housing stock was a public function, in the sense that it was subsidised by the public purse because of the role it played in the implementation of Government housing policy, and in that regard the social landlord effectively stood in the place of a local authority.

Accordingly, the decisions of the registered social landlord could be challenged under the Act.