London Legal Walk 2024: Why we walk
It’s been 10 years since Advice for Renters started participating in the London Legal Walk. It’s no coincidence that it has also been 11 years since the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012 came into effect in April 2013. This Act cut legal aid spending, therefore cutting off access to vital legal help for many vulnerable people during a decade where rents have spiralled out of control, no fault eviction proceedings have hit a 7-year high, and homelessness has hit a record high.
What is legal aid?
Legal aid is government funded legal help and advice, first introduced through the Legal Aid and Advice Act 1949. It sought to help those who could not afford a solicitor through traditional means. According to the Law Society, 4 in 5 people in England and Wales were eligible for legal aid when the Act came into effect. It helped a significant proportion of the population to get equal access to the justice system.
What has changed?
However, with the passing of the LASPO Act 2012, the scope of legal aid was severely reduced. Certain cases are now ineligible under the new guidelines. For housing advice, the new criteria include:
Homelessness or the risk of becoming homeless,
Eviction, and
Disrepair posing serious risk to health and safety.
For other cases, such as deposit disputes, these now fell outside the criteria and led to the number of legal aid cases for early advice taking a nosedive. In 2009/10, there were 1 million legal aid cases which subsequently fell to 130,000 in 2021/22 due to the cuts. These changes introduced by LASPO have severely reduced access to early advice, which not only helps the individual but also helps to reduce wider costs to the system.
Furthermore, the reduced scope has also seen a simultaneous slashing to funding, making it even more difficult to access legal advice. 100% of law and advice centres are operating at a loss. Legal aid fees have not seen an increase since 1996 and were then cut by 10%. Spending by the Ministry of Justice on legal aid was cut from £2.5 billion in 2012/13 to just £1.8 million in 2022/23. The Law Society cites that “the average fee earner is only able to recover around half of the full costs of providing housing legal aid” and are having to subsidise the rest of the cost through other means.
Combined with the low income from fees, there is also a high-cost burden. Screening clients takes time, and many cases can be more complex than they seem at first. While this work is crucial, it is also expensive but cannot be recovered from the Legal Aid Agency (LAA). For many providers, this has become a major obstacle in retaining staff as the long hours of work and stress just don’t seem worth it, leading to major burnout.
Consequently, many advice and law centres are having to close their doors. According to the Law Society, the number of advice agencies and law centres that are still operating have fallen by 59%. This has resulted in what is described as a ‘legal advice desert’. 25.3 million people (around 42%) of those living in England and Wales do not have access to a legal aid provider for housing. This has
increased by 9% since 2019, and those who do not live in major metropolitan areas are the worst hit. Before our presence, residents of Herefordshire had no legal aid providers, though neighbouring Worcestershire had one.
Why we walk
At Advice for Renters, we’re dedicated to our community and understand the impact of our presence. We’re currently the only housing advice charity in England dedicated to specifically meeting the needs of low income, vulnerable private renters. We understand that our support can be a vital lifeline to those who need us most. However, the amount we receive from the LAA no longer covers the cost of the services we provide and do not reflect the impact of the work we do on our clients’ lives and wellbeing.
That is why we have been involved with the London Legal Walk for the past 10 years and are proud to be walking once again for its 20th anniversary this June. For the past 20 years, the London Legal Walk has brought those working within the legal community together to raise money for free legal advice services. This has become more important than ever, with housing legal aid providers being on the brink of collapse despite ever-increasing demand.
Team A4R are in need of your support again this year. Can you help?
Team A4R has grown in size since last year, but we’re still looking for people to join us! Click here to learn more about the walk and here to sign up to join our team.
Can’t join us but would still like to support us? Please click here to go to our fundraising page.
We would greatly appreciate any donations towards our fundraising goal of £3,000. Your contribution will go to supporting those in dire need of legal assistance, preventing individuals from being pushed into homelessness or struggling with inadequate housing conditions.
From everyone at A4R, thank you for your continued generosity and unwavering support throughout the years.