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Housing

Cumbria Law Centre has a contract to deliver housing work with the Legal Aid Agency. This work focuses on eviction, repossession and homelessness.

Sometimes, we are able to provide advice on housing matters that are outside the scope of legal aid such as tenancy agreements, disrepair transfers etc.

Housing Cumbria Law Centre

Looking for advice about a housing issue?

Contact us

Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS)

If you are at risk of losing your home, it is vital to seek legal and financial advice as soon as possible. Acting early gives you the best chance of gathering evidence and securing a favourable outcome at your hearing.

Cumbria Law Centre provides expert assistance through the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS). This government-funded scheme allows us to provide free, non-means-tested legal advice to anyone facing the loss of their home.

How We Can Help

The HLPAS scheme is delivered in two stages to ensure you have support at every step of the process:

    1. Early Legal Advice: If you have been served a notice to leave your home or are in mortgage arrears, we can provide advice to help resolve the issue before it reaches court.
    2. In-Court Duty Scheme: If your case proceeds to a hearing, we act as the Duty Solicitor. We provide on-the-day help, including:
      • Professional legal advice.
      • Referrals for ongoing support (if necessary).
      • Representation during your hearing (where appropriate).

Who is Eligible?

We can assist regardless of why you are facing the loss of your home. Our services cover:

  • Eviction: If your landlord (private, Council, or Housing Association) has served a Notice Seeking Possession or a Notice to Quit, or if they have applied for a warrant for bailiffs.
  • Repossession: If you have a mortgage and your lender has issued court proceedings to repossess your property.

Court Locations and Availability

We serve as the Duty Solicitor for possession hearings at the following locations:

Carlisle County Court usually holds repossession hearings on Wednesdays.
Barrow County Court usually holds repossession hearings on Fridays.

Please Note: If your case is being heard at West Cumbria (Workington) Court, please contact Citizens Advice Allerdale, as they provide the representative for that location.

Visit citizensadviceallerdale.org.uk for more information.

Don’t wait until your court date. Contact Cumbria Law Centre today to access early legal advice and protect your home.

Housing case study

Anna is a single mum, 30 years of age, who came to see us when she had been forced to leave her home due to bullying and harassment from neighbours. She had not long moved into her private rented house when she began to suffer verbal and eventually physical abuse from members of a family living opposite her.

This culminated in a brick through her window and an assault on her personally, when her attacker, a young woman, pushed her way into Anna’s flat during the middle of the night. The attacker was successfully prosecuted, but Anna simply had to move out. She left with immediate effect and found a new place to live away from her previous troubles.

However her landlord kept the whole deposit without any justification, simply citing ‘cleaning’ and repair of the window as the reasons, despite the fact this was caused by criminal damage.

After a protracted process, we finally helped Anna to recover her full deposit which was vital in helping her to access new accommodation and move on with her life. £450 was a huge sum to her at that time and gave her a much needed opportunity to start again with her baby.