Tag: news

emotional intelligence, interview, politics, self improvement, Uncategorized

How to become a great public speaker

bruceandholly
Three British politicians speaking at separate public events, including Green Party and Greater Manchester signs
A three-panel collage presents prominent British politicians speaking at public events.

With so much rubbish on the freeview channels, I have taken to watching the recent party conferences. I’d much rather be entertained by a great speaker than bore myself watching celebrity game shows. And aren’t there too many of those? Where gameshows and Eastenders’ become the ‘news’. Even though it’s all pretend. Talk about dumbing down! I’ve shown Farage; Polanski and Burnham in the picture because they are the political leaders I most enjoy watching. I don’t have to agree with them to like hearing them speak.

When it comes to presentation, party politics, for me, has never been better. A move away from the complacency of the past. New ideas. New faces. Though for me, some of Andy Burnham’s shine is beginning to wear off. It’s one thing to talk about growth in the economy. But he doesn’t seem to be doing anything to make it happen. Instead there is hesitancy even over the Heathrow Airport expansion, not to mention the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gasfields. all of which are supported by the main unions, including the TUC, because of the jobs they will create. When I attended a recent Back Heathrow Airport Event at Hounslow’s Gymkhana Club. I was impressed by the turnout from the Unite and GMB unions. Andy – please listen to them – instead of wittering about Britain rejoining the EU. Kemi Badenoch is for me still the unknown quantity and I look forward to seeing her speak at the forthcoming Conservative party conference. But her promise has for me being marred by her recent support for Joshua Bonehill-Paine becoming a Conservative councillor. Why? What was that all about? Bonehill-Paine might be a reformed character but none of us can erase our past. The damage has been done. But I’ll listen to what Kemi has to say. I hope that she can come up with some real ideas. Gimmicks like abolishing inheritance tax just don’t cut it for me. And wasn’t her predecessor, David Cameron, all about gimmicks? Like ‘localism’. And as leader of the opposition, she has to do more than just ‘oppose’. And as for Ed Davey? Well? What can I say? Falling out of boats is never going to win my vote. I need to know what he stands for. So what is it that makes the three-party leaders shown in the picture so engaging? And what can we learn from them? Here are some suggestions:

  • Be genuinely passionate about your subject. If you are passionate, you don’t have to worry about what you are going to say. The words will just come. A passionate speaker sells emotion.
  • Have you noticed that none of these speakers ever use notes.? Burnham doesn’t even stand behing a rostrum. Glancing at notes means that you break eye contact with your audience. And it is the eye contact which creates the power in a good speech.
  • Structure your speech. Not just a beginning, middle and an end. Remember the salesmans’ acronym AIDA. Say something to get the audience attention. Summarize the theme. Back it up with facts and argument. And finally the call to action.
  • Don’t ramble. You are not a lay preacher. Know what you want to say. Say it. Summarise it. Sit down. Learn to read your audience. When you see them fidgeting. Whispering to each other. Looking up their phones. Have the courtesy to shut up. Don’t wait for people to start walking out.
  • Be heard. You don’t need to tap a microphone if you can throw your voice to the end of the room.
  • Actively look for opportunities to speak. Maybe through your work or special interests. Or join a speakers club.
  • Buy a copy of Dale Carnegie’s ‘The quick and easy guide to Effective Speaking’ [my call to action]
Uncategorized

Empty Homes in England and Wales – House of Lord’s consultation paper

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Following on from my 20th June 2026 post, ‘A Quick Fix to Britain’s Housing Crisis’, The House of Lords has now published its own 14th September 2026 briefing note on the subject ‘ Empty Homes in England and Wales’, prompted by a question from Lord John Bird (Crossbench), asking what assessment the government has made of the potential for a National Empty Homes Strategy to help end homelessness. You will remember John Bird as the founder of the Big Issue, which has probably done more to tackle rough sleeping than anyone else.

The Briefing Note refers to the 1.5 million unoccupied homes in the UK, many of which need major renovation to become habitable and with some being deliberately left empty in the hope that they can increase in value over time. This latter category has been termed a ‘buy to leave investment’. There are other properties whose owners have died and with no obvious beneficiary. The Local Government Association and the Empty Homes Network have stated:

” Every empty home removes a property from the housing market and with it the chance of those on the housing registers to be housed, first time buyers to purchase, or those looking to progress on the property ladder.”

The Briefing {aper also responds to industry stakeholder calls for an empty homes strategy to bring these properties back into use. They argue that unaffordable rents, rising homelessness, record levels of temporary accommodation use and long waits for social housing meant that each empty home represented a missed opportunity to provide settled housing, revitalise communities and make efficient use of existing stock, It is also one of the quickest, greenest and most cost effective ways to increase housing supply. It is argued that an empty homes strategy should include:

  • A fully funded local authority duty to investigate and act on long-term empty homes complaints
  • National initiatives, such as a loan scheme, a national acquisition fund and an enforcement fund
  • Replacing the new homes bonus scheme with rewards for successful empty homes interventions
  • Ring fencing council tax premium revenue for local housing initiatives
  • Developing empty homes specific enforcement powers
  • Reducing stamp duty for purchases where properties are used to meet local demand for social housing and who provide homes for those on a pathway out of temporary accommodation.

Currently local authorities can access funding through the Affordable Homes Program 2021 to 2026 and the Local Authority Housing Fund.

Back in 2018, under the last government, I wrote my own book on the subject titled Housing Regeneration: a plan for implementation, which was published through Routlege. One reviewer said:

“This provides a brief overview of housing and development considerations affecting local authorities from a legal perspective. It’s probably too short to answer all questions that a lawyer may be researching on the matter. Even so, it offers a helping hand navigating some complex issues and in some instances much more than that. I had hoped for material on overarching development agreements which didn’t seem to make an appearance. The chapter on local authority companies was particularly useful. By the standards of law books, this is very cheap, so for the price, 4 out of 5 stars is more than justified.”

Law, real estate, Uncategorized

Renters’ Rights Act 2025 – What it means for local authorities.

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Photo by Berdan Tudor on Pexels.com

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 goes beyond the abolition of assured shortholds and section 21 no-fault evictions. It also introduces a raft of measures intended to re-balance the legal relationship between residential landlords and their tenants at a time of housing crisis. 

Standing behind these reforms are the districts and unitaries which will have the difficult job of policing the new legislation. 

Indeed, the reason why new investigatory powers were brought into effect on 27th December 2025 was to give those councils a four-month head start to get their enforcement policies in place before the grand launch of the new legislation on 1st May 2026. Other key structural changes introduced by the 2025 Act, include:

  • The abolition of fixed term residential tenancies, which means that tenants can vacate on giving as little as 2 months prior written notice to the landlord;
  • Increased regulation of tenancy documentation;
  • An obligation on landlords and letting agents to quote a fixed rent when marketing a proposed residential letting and not being allowed to accept anything more than the quoted rent;
  • Increased restrictions on the amount of money which landlord can ask by way of advance rent;
  • A 12 months moratorium on re-letting, in circumstances where a landlord relies on one of the new non-fault grounds to recover possession in circumstances where they intend to sell the property or occupy for their own purposes.
  • A prohibition on discriminating against prospective tenants who either have children or are on benefits. Whilst this does not prevent a landlord from carrying out a financial assessment on a prospective tenant, state benefits must not be treated less favourably than other private income.
  • It is also made illegal for a landlord to ‘bluff’ a tenant into vacating by pretending to rely on a ground for possession which they cannot substantiate

Just to complicate things further, the 1st May 2026 launch will not apply to all residential lettings. Only those in the private rented sector. Social lettings will for the time being continue to be governed by the existing regime until the reforms are extended to social landlords later in 2026. It means that for the time being there will be two separate tenancy regimes running side by side.

The cost of getting it wrong

For private landlords and letting agents who get it wrong, there will be no second chances. There will be no warning letters. Only financial penalties. Nor is the new enforcement regime intended to be complaints-led.

Government guidance asks local authorities to be proactive in the enforcement of the new tenancy legislation and make full use of the investigatory powers and financial penalties which are made available to them. Local authorities will be incentivised to do this by being able to keep and recycle financial penalties into more enforcement.

Within the legislation there are at least three separate financial penalty regimes and a maximum range of penalties from £4,000 up to £40,000 depending on the nature and seriousness of the breach. The government also encourages councils to use financial penalties in preference to prosecution where it is possible to do so. Some circumstances giving rise to financial penalties require proof on a balance of probabilities whilst the most serious require proof beyond reasonable doubt. In each case, the process is the same.

The council will investigate and issue notice to the landlord or letting agent proposing a penalty of a certain amount and giving an opportunity for representations to be made. On the expiration of the period for representations, the council will serve notice of its decision. The landlord will then have a right of appeal to a first-tier tribunal until the order becomes final.

New investigatory powers already in force enable councils to ask questions, enter business premises and seize documents.

Will the new legislation work?

The Renters Rights Act 2025 does not exist in isolation. Its success is dependent on a courts and tribunal system which actually works. The abolition of the accelerated possession procedure now means that all possession claims will have to go to a court hearing, where the landlord will need to prove its case. Taking account of the time needed to get to a possession hearing followed by a bailiff eviction, that eviction process could take up to a year. Add to that the longer lead-in times introduced by the 2025 Act for all grounds of possession, save those based on antisocial behaviour.

It also means more work for first tier tribunals, who will be tasked with adjudicating appeals against fixed penalties. And of course it means more work for local housing authorities tasked with enforcing the new regime. This workload could increase in 2027 when the government introduces its expected landlord registration scheme, which councils will also be required to police. By 2035, the government is also expected to have introduced its Decent Homes Standard for all residential lettings.

How will it affect the Lettings Market?

The speed at which the legislation is being introduced and the fact that it applies retrospectively, means that many private landlords may not even have a chance to get out of the market. Any landlord who has not served their section 21 notice before 1st May 2026 and issued possession proceedings by the cut off date of 31st July 2026, will be caught by the new regime. We could also see a growing professionalisation of the residential lettings market, as small residential landlords drop out and are replaced by larger professional landlords who are better able to navigate the new legislation. It could also provide opportunities for social landlords to replenish their housing stock as more ex-rental properties come onto the market.

We could also see the re-emergence of avoidance schemes, such as company lets. Or private landlords choosing to lease their properties through intermediaries, such as local authorities or housing associations, who can then shoulder those landlord responsibilities and guarantee a return of vacant possession at the end of the lease. End

First Published in Local Government Lawyer – March 2026

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V. Charles Ward Is a senior property lawyer with HB Public Law and the author of Housing Regeneration: a plan for implementation. He is also the author of The Renters’ Rights Act: a practical guide, which is being published through Taylor and Francis and will be released later this year

Uncategorized

The Dangers of Eroding Jury Trials in Justice System

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It always disappoints me how easily intelligent people can be convinced to surrender ancient liberties to the State.

We saw it several years back in the ‘Simon Says’ world of the Covid lockdowns, when everyone had to jump to every Matt Hancock command.

“Put a mask on your face. Now clap your hands. And stand 6 ft apart. Do it when the Simon says and you will never be out.”

We’re seeing it again with David Lammy’s published proposals for the scrapping of jury trials save for the most serious charges of murder, manslaughter, rape and other public interest cases. But what is more worrying for me, from listening to phone-in programs, is the way people are beginning to buy into it. Not just retired police officers and prosecution barristers, who would be expected to support any proposal which would make their job easier because a prosecution would no longer have to explain it’s case and convince a panel of ordinary people. It also seems to rest on the premise that anyone who steals a mobile phone from a supermarket is already guilty and just playing the system by electing jury trial. The proposals also belittle the damage which any conviction involving dishonesty or violence can have on someone who’s trying to hold down a responsible job or career. It’s something which will stay with you for life.

When mention is made of the fact that more than 90% of criminal cases already start and end in the magistrate court, it must also be remembered that almost all of those cases involve guilty pleas, in which the magistrates’ only role is to assess the seriousness of the offence and an mitigating factors before determining sentence. Remember also that, unlike jurors, magistrates are not picked at random from amongst our communities but are people who put themselves forward for selection. They are not like you and I. It attracts a certain type of person.

One thing which I’ve always regretted is the whittling away of public involvement in our justice system, first in civil cases leading to the last defamation jury trials and now extending to judge only criminal trials. I don’t trust them. Nor should you.

Law, Uncategorized

2025/2026 Solicitors Practising Certificate Renewal

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I’ve just managed to renew my solicitor’s practising certificate for 2025/2926. For a non-techno like me, it was so much more difficult just to log on to the SRA website to make the application. In previous years I would just put in my log in details and password and then receive a one-time password, which I would then type in. Bingo! I’d only need another 10 minutes to complete the online application, make the payment, and my practising certificate would be on its way. Not this year.

Faced with the dreaded QR code, I spent many hours trying to suss out my cell phone to generate the six digits which would get me into the website. Up to then, my phone’s primary use had been – well – phoning! And perhaps the occasional text message. Whatsapp? Forget it! I watched the ‘ how to log on’ video on the SRA website. Then struggled again.

It’s pure luck that at the end of my road there is a small computer shop where I was able to get help to navigate through the technical barriers and complete my application. Well worth the £20 I paid the guy for his trouble. But it means that I won’t have to worry about that for another year.