Intentional homelessness – what counts as accommodation? – Nearly Legal

Posted August 1st, 2023 in appeals, homelessness, housing, local government, news by sally

‘A second appeal to the Court of Appeal on Folkestone’s decision that Ms Hodge was intentionally homeless because she had left a room in a hostel run by a charity that she was occupying under licence.’

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Nearly Legal, 31st July 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Free legal advice aims to help thousands of people facing eviction each year – The Independent

Posted August 1st, 2023 in bills, homelessness, housing, legal advice, news, repossession, statistics by sally

‘The launch comes not long after the latest statistics showed households and children in temporary accommodation in England are at record highs.’

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The Independent, 31st July 2023

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Suitability appeal – don’t ignore evidence of need – Nearly Legal

‘Our grateful thanks to Daniel Grütters of One Pump Court for the following note and copy of the judgment in a section 204 appeal on the suitability of temporary accommodation.’

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Nearly Legal, 28th July 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Getting it all wrong… LB Redbridge ‘dismal’ homelessness decisions – Nearly Legal

‘Ms UO and her 3 children, aged 11, 5 and 3, were homeless and had applied to LB Redbridge. The family had NASS accommodation in the Tottenham area since 2021, after NASS accommodation in Croydon and West Ham from 2019. Ms UO’s elder children were enrolled in school in Tottenham and the youngest in the nursery attached to the school. MS UO had connections in Redbridge herself. Following Ms UO’s grant of asylum in 2022, the NASS accommodation ceased. She applied to Redbridge. The application stressed how important the children’s school was to them. She then did not hear anything from Redbridge until the day before her eviction from the NASS accommodation.’

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Nearly Legal, 18th June 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Homeless single mother wins High Court battle against London borough – Local Government Lawyer

‘A High Court judge has allowed a homeless single mother’s claim for judicial review against the London Borough of Redbridge on all four grounds.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 14th June 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Housing case law update – April 2023 – Local Government Lawyer

‘Emily Howe, Kelly Lloyd and Laura Waby round up the latest housing law judgments of interest to housing associations and local authorities.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 17th May 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Suitability duties and reasonable preferences that weren’t unreasonable – Nearly Legal

‘A judicial review on three grounds:

i) Breach of section 193(2) Housing Act 1996 duty to secure suitable accommodation;

ii) The Westminster’s allocation policy was unlawful in that it denied the applicant medical need priority reasonable preference, restricting him to homeless reasonable preference; and

iii) Breach of the duty under section 166A(9)(a)(ii) Housing Act 1996 to provide the applicant sufficient information to permit the applicant to determine whether housing accommodation appropriate to his needs is likely to be available to him and, if so, how long it is likely to be before such accommodation becomes available for allocation to him.’

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Nearly Legal, 8th May 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Judge allows appeal against decisions of city council over whether accommodation was unsuitable – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 3rd, 2023 in appeals, burden of proof, homelessness, housing, local government, news by tracey

‘A homelessness appeal has been allowed on three out of four grounds on behalf of a man who was placed in unsuitable accommodation by Cambridge City Council.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 2nd May 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Anonymisation of a young adult applicant for judicial review about section 20 – Transparency Project

‘There are two matters of interest in this unusual judgment by Mr Justice Mostyn in respect of a claim for judicial review brought by a teenager against a local authority, originally published on The National Archives as TT v Essex County Council [2023] EWHC 721 (Fam) but replaced as [2023] EWHC 826 (Admin).’

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Transparency Project, 10th April 2023

Source: transparencyproject.org.uk

Thousands of homeless people arrested under archaic Vagrancy Act – The Guardian

‘More than 1,000 homeless people have been arrested for sleeping rough or begging since the government pledged to scrap the nearly 200-year-old Vagrancy Act, new figures show.’

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The Guardian, 2nd April 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Time to respond to ‘minded to’ letters, and getting affordability right – Nearly Legal

Posted March 27th, 2023 in appeals, homelessness, housing, judicial review, local government, news by tracey

‘Our grateful thanks to Alice Irving of Doughty Street Chambers for this note of a section 204 appeal decision, which is interesting in the approach to representations in response to ‘minded to’ letters, to affordability assessments and on the timing and role of skeleton arguments in s.204 appeals.

Tapper v Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (unreported, 4 January 2022, County Court at Central London, HHJ Parfitt)’

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Nearly Legal, 26th March 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Councils “all too often” failing in duties to prevent homelessness, says Ombudsman – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 21st, 2023 in homelessness, local government, news, ombudsmen, reports by tracey

‘The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has said that vulnerable people are facing homelessness because some councils are “still not getting it right”, in a report marking five years since the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 21st March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Council told to pay nearly £10k after woman forced to live in unsuitable accommodation for three years – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found that Croydon Council placed a woman fleeing domestic violence in “unsuitable accommodation” for three years, as well as finding poor complaint handling.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 13th March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Tenants face homelessness as no-fault eviction threat up 76% – Local Government Lawyer

Posted November 29th, 2022 in homelessness, landlord & tenant, news, repossession by sally

‘There has been a 76% jump in the number of no-fault eviction notices issued by landlords, putting tenants at a higher risk of becoming homeless, government data has revealed.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 28th November 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Assessment of housing needs and cascading unlawfulness – Nearly Legal

‘YR, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough of Lambeth (2022) EWHC 2813 (Admin). Ms YR had applied to Lambeth as homeless. Her household consisted of her three children and four of her sister’s children, A, her youngest child, is 6 months old; R is 4; Y is 7; B is 9; H is 12; J is 12; and S is 16. Ms YR is a Spanish national with pre-settled status, and Spanish speaking. After becoming homeless in December 2021, she had been staying with a friend, but this could not continue. Following an approach to Lambeth, she was given temporary accommodation in a two bedroom flat in the borough, and the children were enrolled in schools in Lambeth. The accommodation was obviously overcrowded. A formal homelessness application was made in July 2021, with a request for suitable accommodation, together with a request for assessment of the children as in need under section 17 Children Act 1989.’

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Nearly Legal, 20th November 2022

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Racial inequality hard-wired into housing system in England, study finds – The Guardian

‘One in three black people who have experienced homelessness have also faced racial discrimination from a landlord, six times more than the general population of those who had struggled for shelter, a study reveals.’

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The Guardian, 21st November 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

HMOs, overcrowding standards and reasonableness of accommodation – Nearly Legal

‘A Court of Appeal decision which has broader significance for considering overcrowding and whether it is reasonable for a homeless applicant to remain in accommodation in an HMO with shared facilities. It also flags some arguments for the future by failing to decide what overcrowding standards should be applied to HMOs.’

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Nearly Legal, 24th October 2022

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Requirements for private sector offers in discharge of duty – Nearly Legal

Posted October 24th, 2022 in appeals, homelessness, housing, local government, news, statutory duty by sally

‘A second appeal from a section 204 appeal of Haringey’s decision to discharge homeless duty following a private rented sector offer (PRSO).’

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Nearly Legal, 23rd October 2022

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Surge in ‘no-fault evictions’ prompts calls to renew UK-wide ban – The Guardian

‘The number of renting households made homeless because of “no-fault” evictions has surged higher than pre-pandemic levels, sparking fresh calls for the government to ban the practice.’

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The Guardian, 22nd September 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

Needs, not wishes – Housing Needs Assessments and Personal Housing Plans – Nearly Legal

Posted September 5th, 2022 in asylum, homelessness, housing, immigration, judicial review, local government, news, refugees by tracey

‘ZK, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough of Havering (2022) EWHC 1854 (Admin). This was a judicial review of what was claimed to be Havering’s failure to provide a lawful housing needs assessment and personal housing plan for Mr ZK, under section 189A Housing Act 1996.’

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Nearly Legal, 4th September 2022

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk