A FUNDAMENTAL PURCHASE FOR ALL INVOLVED IN POSSESSION ACTIONS – ESPECIALLY HELPFUL FOR UNREPRESENTED PARTIES An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers The new eighth edition of “Defending Possession Proceedings” by Jan Luba QC and his colleagues has been eagerly anticipated because it remains the key ‘homelessness prevention’ handbook available on the market for such a wide readership at such an affordable price. The Legal Action Group always produce comprehensive guides to all aspects of welfare and social law and practice, and this one relating to possession proceedings pursued against occupiers of residential property is particularly needed now. It is a book which one will see regularly on the bookshelves in most courtrooms because it is a guide for all involved in possession actions. The authors, Jan Luba QC, Nic Madge, Derek McConnell, John Gallagher and Sam Madge-Wyld, deal with the three principal types of occupier involved normally in these proceedings: social housing tenants, private tenants and mortgage borrowers. As the title suggests, the manual seeks to guide occupiers and their advisers in dealing with possession claims, tracing the court process from the initial notice given to the aftermath of eviction. It is written in a user-friendly way which LAG excels at so that the title contains specific information which is directly relevant to the most experienced legal practitioner and yet it is still understandable to the least experienced housing adviser yet it possesses an “all-round applicability”. The new eighth edition includes current and future legislative changes in the Housing and Planning Act 2016; the Deregulation Act 2015, the Immigration Acts 2014 and 2016, the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014; the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; the Localism Act 2011 and the Equality Act 2010. The authors aim to cover in detail the impact of the Government’s welfare reform agenda through the introduction of the infamous ‘bedroom tax’ and the benefit cap. We found the sections on possession procedure most helpful because they incorporate all relevant changes in the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), and specifically the important new Pre-action Protocol on possession claims by social landlords and the updated Pre-action Protocol on Mortgage Arrears. It is this sort of attention to detail which makes the book so helpful, especially for litigants in person which now abound the courts in a way they did not do before the LASPO era. Readers will also be grateful for the important new case-law: Kay v United Kingdom (ECHR); and the Supreme Court cases of: Akerman-Livingstone v Aster Communities Limited; Hounslow LBC v Powell; McDonald v McDonald; R (ZH and CN) v Newham LBC and Sims v Dacorum BC. The Court of Appeal is not missed out either with: Barnsley MC v Norton; Zinda v Bank of Scotland plc and R (JL) v Secretary of State for Defence to name but a few. We consider that “Defending Possession Proceedings” remains an essential and fundamental purchase for all advice workers, solicitors and barristers working with actual or prospective Defendants in possession proceedings at a time when very many are now litigants in person against represented Claimants. And it is all down to the energy of LAG and all their writers who give us such a great backup service for welfare and social law. Thank you for making our lives that little bit easier when we face confrontation. The publication date is cited as at 2016.