‘A man who plied homeless men with drugs and alcohol to make them do gruelling work has been ordered to pay back the £275,000 he made through his crimes.’
BBC News, 1st June 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A boy who was “butchered” in a drugs turf war after being groomed by drug dealers had been arrested in a crack den months earlier but police did not contact child exploitation staff, a report has found.’
BBC News, 26th May 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Undocumented migrants are being forced to sleep rough during the coronavirus pandemic amid an increase in illegal evictions and a lack of government guidance, lawyers have warned.’
Each Other, 13th May 2020
Source: eachother.org.uk
‘A judge has questioned the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to charge a man who said he was homeless with allegedly breaching coronavirus regulations by leaving “the place where he was living”.’
The Guardian, 12th May 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘An eight-year-old British boy and his migrant mum were unlawfully made street homeless by a Home Office policy which denied them social security payments, a court has ruled.’
Each Other, 8th May 2020
Source: eachother.org.uk
‘Though there is little firm evidence of the extent of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the homeless population or the effectiveness of measures adopted by the government to mitigate that impact, it is clear that the crisis poses unique and urgent risks to this part of society. The Housing, Communities, and Local Government Committee has launched an inquiry into this issue which will meet for the first time next week, and it is more than likely that we will see more changes to this fast-developing area in the weeks and months to come.’
4-5 Gray's Inn Square, 6th May 2020
Source: www.4-5.co.uk
‘This article focusses on the approach that reviewing officers should take when deciding whether someone has made themselves intentionally homeless following the Court of Appeal’s decision in LB v London Borough of Tower Hamlets [2020] EWCA Civ 439.’
St Ives Chambers, 29th April 2020
Source: www.stiveschambers.co.uk
‘The conditions in which many statutorily homeless people live are frequently sub-optimal. Everyone has an anecdotal story of a family of five provided with temporary accommodation in a studio flat above a nightclub which is accessed via a dark alleyway, which the local authority insist is suitable. A frequent source of controversy is the use of hostels to discharge duties, where potentially highly vulnerable people are required to live with and share facilities with those who they do not know.’
Doughty Street Chambers, 1st May 2020
Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk
‘The onset of Covid-19 gave rise to a massive effort to provide health care services and accommodation for homeless persons. This includes not just those people who are rough sleeping, but also those otherwise at risk without a home, such as those living in hostels and B&B accommodation. A range of organisations have assisted in this process, from medical health professionals to local authorities, who have procured empty hotels and other spaces for homeless persons to self-isolate as well as acted on the government’s guidance to keep temporary accommodation open.’
Doughty Street Chambers, 17th April 2020
Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk
‘A second appeal on a homelessness review, where a finding of intentional homelessness had been upheld, raising an important point on whether events or factors post-dating the decision or action that led to eviction need to be considered on review.’
Nearly Legal, 19th April 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has upheld the decisions of two councils where reviewing officers had considered the Public Sector Equality Duty without making clear findings as to whether the applicant in each case was disabled, and concluded that those applicants were not vulnerable. Michael Paget, Zoë Whittington, Catherine Rowlands and Rowan Clapp report.’
Local Government Lawyer, 17th April 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Today [2 April] the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in James v Hertsmere Borough Council [2020] EWCA Civ 489. The judgment answered a question that has been troubling homelessness lawyers for several years now: does the County Court have jurisdiction, when hearing homelessness appeals, to consider challenges to councils’ ‘contracting-out’ processes?’
Garden Court Chambers, 2nd April 2020
Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk
‘We saw the approach of the Court of Appeal to the operation of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in possession proceedings in Luton Community Housing v Durdana. Now, in these joined appeals, the Court of Appeal turns its attention to PSED in homeless decisions and reviews.’
Nearly Legal, 12th April 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Serco is a private company that was contracted by the UK Home Office between 2012 and 2019 to provide accommodation to asylum seekers living in Glasgow. In July 2018, Serco began to implement the “move on protocol” – a new policy of changing locks and evicting asylum seekers without a court order if they were no longer eligible for asylum support. This put around 300 asylum seekers – who had no right to work or who had no right to homeless assistance – at risk of eviction and homelessness in Glasgow without any court process.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 8th April 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Ms Durdana was a tenant of LCH. She faced possession proceedings under ground 17 Sch 2 Housing Act 1988 – that the landlord was induced to grant the tenancy by a false statement made knowingly or recklessly by the tenant or someone acting at the tenant’s instigation.’
Nearly Legal, 6th April 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘What can be addressed in a section 204 Housing Act 1996 appeal of a review decision? What is the scope of the jurisdiction? This second appeal provides answers, albeit in a rather phyrric way.’
Nearly Legal, 6th April 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal over whether it was not reasonable for the appellant to stay in a property from which she was evicted for rent arrears given that there was evidence she had been subjected to domestic violence.’
Local Government Lawyer, 26th March 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Here are emergency regulations, The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020, made today. These, amongst many other things, deal with what commercial premises may open, or must be closed, and – to the point here – restrictions on individual movement.’
Nearly Legal, 26th March 2020
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Home Office will stop evicting asylum seekers from government accommodation for the next three months while the UK remains in coronavirus lockdown, the British Red Cross has said.’
The Guardian, 28th March 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Lord Justice Hickinbottom has given guidance on making applications to the Court of Appeal for interim relief, in a housing case he declined to conclude because it had become academic.’
Local Government Lawyer, 25th March 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
© Inner Temple Library 2020