Lawyers know that de facto rationing is widespread in the justice sector, at least for hoi polloi. Most recently, jury trials have (again) been deemed too burdensome. Hence the appointment of Sir Brian Leveson to revisit old ground.
The professional-managerial class that runs the country only ever encounters the criminal justice system in a working capacity, if ever. It makes no difference to them. Nor does the right to a jury trial animate politicians, for whom rights once fondly regarded as inviolable harvest few votes.
The same applies to new rights that Labour claims will be transformative for workers and private renters. In reality, they will not, in part because the enforcement infrastructure will not be created to underpin them.
The Renters’ Rights Bill, for example, is being puffed as ‘seismic’. As anyone who has lived in rented accommodation for a prolonged period could tell you, there is a loudly trumpeting elephant in the room. No-fault evictions will be outlawed, but landlords will still be able to rack up rents to the point where a tenant has no choice but to move out.
Britain’s 11 million private renters tend to be cash-strapped. No wonder, given that they hand over more than a third of their household income to the homeowner. So at least there will be a quick and cheap way to enforce the limited new rights they will enjoy, yes?
No. As Gary Scott, property dispute resolution partner with London law firm Spector Constant & Williams, says: ‘The committee stages of the passage of this bill has made clear that the government has no intention of properly resourcing the courts and tribunal to deal with the inevitable influx of claims and additionally required court time in dealing with disputes over rent increases and possession.’
There will be neither a formal assessment of what increase in claims can be expected, nor a review of how that increase will be dealt with.
Labour says its longer-term plan to build 1.5m homes will ensure rents come down, thereby mitigating the chronic and enervating insecurity of renters.
Perhaps. And yet, as the economist John Maynard Keynes wrote about monetary reform as long ago as 1923: ‘In the long run, we’re all dead.’
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