LW7108 - Housing Law

Teaching will be delivered via a combination of:

12 x 1 hour large group lecture sessions. The purpose of these sessions is to introduce you to the different tenancy regimes and relevant statutes and to give an overview in relation to the topics covered by the module. The small group sessions will take the form of 6 x 2 hour workshops in which you will work on a range of different practice-orientated housing law problems as well as contribute to discussions arising from housing policy or consultation reports.

You will be provided with guidance as to what to prepare for workshop sessions and this will be posted on the module eLP site. Face-to-face teaching will be supplemented by posting the following on the eLP:

• Panopto recorded lectures,
• PowerPoint slides and lecture handouts, and
• Additional self-test questions.

In addition to teaching you will be expected to engage in tutor guided independent learning (TGIL) in your preparations for teaching sessions. You will be provided with plans for the workshops and suggested reading but you will be expected to carry out your own research to be able to come to the workshop and propose solutions to the workshop problem/contribute to the discussions and be able to justify your solutions or arguments with reference to your research.

Feedback on summative assessment will take the following forms:-

• Written feedback on your marked assessment paper and a completed feedback sheet.
• Creation of an outline answer and general points to note document for your use.
• Opportunity to discuss your assessment performance with the tutor in feedback week.

The primary form of academic support on this module will be via teaching sessions. You will obtain ongoing and valuable feedback on your understanding and preparation from tutors across the 6 small group sessions.

In addition to this academic support in sessions and the support outlined above you will obtain formative feedback on this module in the following ways:

• Opportunity to answer practice assessment questions with subsequent discussion & consideration of a model answer and points to note in teaching sessions.
• Members of the module team are available to discuss module-related issues with students as required either on a face-to-face basis by appointment or by email or telephone.
• The module has its own eLP site which provides information relating to the module and its assessment, a module handbook, plans for workshops, PowerPoints and Panopto recordings of lectures.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:

• You will be able to apply housing law to practical problems and be able to identify ambiguity in the practice of housing law.

• A systematic and in-depth knowledge and understanding of key aspects of housing law, demonstrating detailed and coherent understanding.

• You will be aware of key current legal and/or social/political issues and developments in housing law and be able to evaluate this specialist knowledge in the context of a written problem or essay question.


Intellectual/Professional skills & abilities:

• An ability to consolidate and apply in depth knowledge and understanding to complex legal problems in order to find solutions and to evaluate and justify those solutions in writing.

• An ability to conduct self-directed research including accurate identification of issues, the retrieval and evaluation of relevant, current information from a range of sources to answer a problem or essay question relating to housing law

Formative assessment:

Instances of formative assessment on this module include:

• Testing knowledge and understanding in seminar sessions through problem based and essay style questions.

• Short self-test questions to test knowledge and understanding

• To answer a past assessment question with subsequent discussion & consideration of a model answer and points to note in a teaching session.


Summative assessment:

Will consist of a written coursework assessment comprising a choice of either an essay style question or a problem-based question.

The essay style question will require critical analysis of a current issue or development in Housing law and will require self-directed research.

The problem style question will be practice orientated and will require an understanding and the application of housing law to a practical legal problem.

Feedback will take the following forms:

• Written feedback on your marked assessment paper and a completed feedback sheet.

• Creation of an outline answer and general points to note document for your use.

• Opportunity to discuss your assessment performance with the tutor in feedback week.

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Most people will be tenants at some point in their lives. You may well be a tenant in a student house when you study this course. You will be introduced to tenant’s rights in relation to good living conditions and to security of tenure, free from harassment by landlords. We will look at a range of tenancy agreements and understand which terms can and which cannot be enforced.

The increase in the numbers of people renting accommodation in England and Wales in recent years has put pressure on the rented housing market. We will look at the political and social context of the law relating to residential tenancies and homelessness as well as the obligations on local authorities to house the homeless and ensure that rented accommodation in their area is safe.