14 Feb 2026 · 6 min read
Legal professional privilege (LPP) in housing SARs: edge cases that bite
What counts as LPP in a housing association's correspondence, and the three edge cases where well-meaning teams over-claim privilege.
What LPP covers
Legal advice privilege covers confidential communications between client and lawyer made for the purpose of giving or receiving legal advice in a legal context. Litigation privilege extends to materials whose dominant purpose is contemplated or pending litigation.
Three over-claim patterns
- CC-ing a lawyer on a business thread does not privilege the thread.
- Operational legal-team advice (e.g. process queries) is not always privileged.
- Advice routed through a non-lawyer summariser can lose privilege if the summary becomes the record.
How SART flags LPP
Markers across an email chain are tracked; the recommendation cites the chain segment that triggered the rule. Reviewer judgement remains the deciding factor.