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OFT investigation into retirement home transfer fee terms: a report on the OFT's findings
- Author:
- OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING
- Publisher:
- Stationery Office
- Publication year:
- 2013
- Pagination:
- 68p.
- Place of publication:
- London
In September 2009 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced an investigation into the contract terms signed by owner-occupiers of purpose-built retirement homes. The OFT considered that a number of terms relating to transfer fees, payable when a lease is assigned, sold or disposed of, may be unfair, and hence breach the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Transfer fee terms typically provide that a percentage of the sale price or original purchase price goes to the developer and/or managing agent when the property is sold or sub-let and can amount to thousands of pounds. In general, the OFT believes that there are a number of features of transfer fee terms which make them potentially unfair. In particular, consumers may struggle to understand the implications of the transfer fee (even when transparent) due to a lack of certainty about their future financial obligations. As a result of the investigation, a number of landlords have agreed to make changes. The report sets out general principles that all landlords will be expected to abide by when enforcing transfer fee terms in existing leases. The OFT also recommends that legislative reform be considered as a means to address the difficulties tenants have in challenging the reasonableness of transfer fees.
Handyperson schemes and the Equality Act 2010
- Authors:
- MORIARTY Jo, MANTHORPE Jill
- Journal article citation:
- Housing Care and Support, 16(3/4), 2013, pp.114-125.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore whether handyperson services are able to meet the needs of diverse groups of older people, specifically in the UK policy context, to meet the requirements of the Equality Act (2010). Design/methodology/approach: The scoping review of the literature was conducted in 2012 using a wide range of literature from the UK. Findings: In an under-researched field it is difficult for policy makers to determine whether handyperson schemes and their associated services are accessible to and being used by all sections of the older population. Schemes do not generally collect and report data about their users. Research limitations/implications: The scoping review concentrates on UK literature. There are a variety of handyperson schemes and they operate in different ways with different criteria and priorities. Some of the accounts of handyperson schemes provide little data about user characteristics. Practical implications – The paper suggests how handyperson schemes may be able to meet the requirements of the Equality Act (2010) by outlining what data are needed and approaches to gathering it sensitively and proportionally. Originality/value: The paper is the first to consider the implications of the Equality Act for handyperson schemes, which may be relevant to other housing and care services. (Publisher abstract)
Opportunity knocks: exploring the links between day opportunities and equal opportunities
- Authors:
- MANTHORPE Jill, MORIARTY Jo
- Journal article citation:
- Practice: Social Work in Action, 25(5), 2013, pp.317-333.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The term ‘day opportunities’ is used in the context of personalisation in England to refer to alternatives to day centres. This article employs the lens of legislation on equalities to comment on access to day opportunities by different groups of eligible older people. It reports and discusses findings from a scoping review of the literature conducted in 2012 and updated in 2013 which searched for research and ‘grey literature’ material. Findings from the scoping review are presented using the different elements of the Equalities Act 2010. The authors conclude that social workers need to be aware of definitions when describing what is being suggested as part of a support plan or reviewed in the context of desired outcomes. Attention is drawn to the need to think about levels of needs and access to any day opportunity. Social workers are well placed to identify whether these changes have a differential impact on certain groups. This exploration of the literature on user experiences and outcomes from day opportunities may be helpful to social work practice and scholarship. (Publisher abstract)
Is it lawful to base a home care package on the cost of care home care?
- Author:
- SCHWEHR Belinda
- Journal article citation:
- Community Living, 26(4), 2013, pp.8-9.
- Publisher:
- Hexagon Publishing
The author considers a council's legal responsibilities in offering home care after an offer of care in a home has been refused. (Publisher abstract)
‘My Friends are my Family’: an argument about the limitations of contemporary law's recognition of relationships in later life
- Author:
- WESTWOOD Sue
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 35(3), 2013, pp.347-363.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Current law and social policy in the various UK legal systems privilege the conjugal couple, biological and filial relationships. Friendship remains on the margins of regulatory recognition. Yet friendship is of growing significance in contemporary social relationships. This is particularly so for older people, especially older lesbian, gay and bisexual people. This paper explores the place of friendship in key areas of law and social policy relating to older age: pensions, benefits and inheritance; medical decision making; mental health and mental capacity legislation; and social care policy. The extent to which contemporary law is keeping up with changing relationship forms will be considered, together with its implications for equality in later life. (Publisher abstract)
Care and corporate neglect: the case for action
- Author:
- BURSTOW Paul
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Adult Protection, 15(4), 2013, pp.203-214.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
This paper explores how corporate bodies could be held criminally responsible for abuse and neglect that takes place in hospitals and care homes if by their actions they facilitate this abuse or neglect to take place. It provides a review of existing legislation and regulation on corporate neglect in hospitals and care homes and seeks to find precedents and guidance that would allow the Government to create a new criminal sanction for “corporate neglect”. The paper proposes that the Health and Social Care Act 2008 be amended to include a new section which would make corporate neglect a criminal offence. Furthermore, to ensure that the punishments for these offences act both as appropriate sanction and a suitable deterrent for corporations, the author proposes that new offences should be implemented to include unlimited fines, remedial orders and publicity orders. It has been written following the recent scandals in care homes and hospitals, including Winterbourne View and Mid Staffordshire. (Edited publisher abstract)