RESIDENTS facing homelessness or challenging a landlord may find it 'catastrophically' harder to seek legal help, according to a new report.

More than half of local authorities in England and Wales have no publicly funded legal advice for housing, with Bracknell having no provider.

In the South East, 82 per cent of the population living in their local authority have just one or no legal provider.

Bracknell and Wokingham doesn't have a publicly funded housing legal provider.

However, Ascot under the Royal Borough, has one and so does Reading.

Christina Blacklaws, Law Society president, said: "Anyone trying to resolve a serious housing problem is likely to need to face-to-face professional advice urgently - if the nearest legal aid solicitor is in the next county, they might as well be on Mars."

The data revealed by the Law Society shows how 184 local authorities across the country have no publicly funded legal provider, and 81 have just one.

Christina added: "People facing homelessness or trying to challenge a rogue landlord increasingly can not get the expert legal advice they desperately need.

"More than 21 million people live in a local authority without a single housing legal aid service, leaving pensioners, families with young children, people with disabilities or on low incomes struggling to access the legal advice they are entitled to when they are at their most vulnerable.

According to the report, low rates of pay are forcing legal professionals across the country to withdraw from providing legal aid as the work is not economically viable for small businesses like solicitor firms.

Having just one housing legal aid provider in a large area can result in problems, according to the report:

  • Anyone on an income low enough to qualify for legal aid, or rent arrears is unlikely to afford travelling great distances to see a solicitor
  • Working people, families and those with children may have logistical challenges, particularly in a rural area with a lack of good public transport
  • One firm covering a large area may not have the capacity to provide advice to everyone
  • A single provider may have to decline clients due to a conflict of interest, because one law firm cannot represent both tenant and landlord
  • A conflict can also arise if the firm has been acting for the landlord on another issue, such as a family matter.

Christina Blacklaws, said: "The government must ensure everyone who has a right to state-funded legal advice can actually get it when they so desperately need it.

"Legal rights are meaningless if people can not enforce them."