Member

Concerns about the sustainability of the current position are shared right across the sector. The Association of Safety Compliance Professionals, for example, launched a national campaign in May highlighting the risks to resident safety. In cases where social landlords make repeated and comprehensive attempts to secure entry for statutory checks but are still unable to do so, the court remains the only route of last resort. However, court backlogs and delays, as has been said, can significantly hinder this process and the legal position itself remains unclear, leading to inconsistent outcomes. Recent case law, including Southern Housing v James Emmanuel in October 2025, has underlined this ambiguity, confirming that courts cannot grant access unless Parliament has clearly conferred such a power.