‘The High Court has quashed an assessment by the London Borough of Lambeth after it failed to re-assess whether a child – after a diagnosis of autism – was in need of assistance.’
Local Government Lawyer, 17th July 2017
Source: localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Four homeless street drinkers have been found guilty of killing a “vulnerable” man who was attacked in his own home.’
BBC News, 12th July 2017
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A second appeal of a homeless decision that Ms T was intentionally homeless, on the issues of whether Ms T’s actions were “an act or omission in good faith on the part of a person who was unaware of any relevant fact” as per s.192(2) Housing Act 1996.’
Nearly Legal, 11th July 2017
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The defendant, Islington Borough Council, maintained an allocation scheme which provided that certain categories of people were excluded from joining the housing register, including those who had lived in the borough for less than three out of the previous five years. However, the scheme allowed for exceptions to be made. In particular, in respect of homeless applicants to whom a long-term housing duty under Part 7 Housing Act 1996 had been accepted.’
Garden Court Chambers, 5th July 2017
Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk
‘In a robustly worded judgment handed down today, Mr Justice Collins found the revised benefits cap operated to unlawfully discriminate lone parents with children under the age of two and those children under the age of two.’
Garden Court Chambers, 22nd June 2017
Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk
‘The Administrative Court has held that priority within a housing allocation scheme providing that existing social housing tenants are to be preferred over other applicants, such as the homeless and women fleeing domestic violence, for certain local lettings of eg new and refurbished accommodation was justified and accordingly had not been unlawfully discriminatory for the purposes of art.14 and ss.19, 29 Equality Act 2010; the introduction of the local lettings policies had complied with s.149 Equality Act 2010 and s.11 Children Act 2004; but the operation of a system of direct offers, used particularly to allocate accommodation to homeless applicants, had not been sufficiently set out in the scheme and was accordingly unlawful.’
Arden Chambers, 31st May 2017
Source: www.ardenchambers.com
‘C was accepted for the full housing duty by Islington, with her 3 children, as a result of domestic violence. C is profoundly deaf. She had been living in Southwark, but following the DV, was in refuge in Islington and applied as homeless there. She was, eventually, given 3 bed temporary accommodation in Islington.’
Nearly Legal, 6th June 2017
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘R (oao Sambotin) v London Borough of Brent (2017) EWHC 1190 (Admin). Once a local authority has made a homeless decision under section 184 Housing Act 1996, can it change its mind? That was the issue in this judicial review.’
Nearly Legal, 21st May 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Supreme Court has declined to depart from its previous judgment in Ali v Birmingham CC that the right to homelessness accommodation under s193 Housing Act 1996 was not a civil right under art 6, despite a decision of the ECtHR to the contrary in Ali v UK; it has affirmed the dicta of Lord Neuberger in Holmes-Moorhouse v Richmond upon Thames LBC that a “benevolent approach” is to be taken to homelessness review decisions under s202; and said (obiter) that the principles governing the right of appeal to the county court under s204 had been authoritatively established by the House of Lords in Runa Begum v Tower Hamlets LBC and other cases including Holmes-Moorhouse, and should be taken as settled.’
Arden Chambers, 10th May 2017
Source: www.ardenchambers.com
‘The Homelessness Reduction Act has now received royal assent. The Act itself is here. There is no date yet for it to come into force – there will need to be statutory guidance produced first – and the current guess is that it is likely to be in 2018. Of course, what the Act mostly does is amend Housing Act 1996 Part VII.’
Nearly Legal, 14th May 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Poshteh v Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea S [2017] UKSC 36, 10 May 2017. For the last 15 years, whether the right of the homeless to suitable council accommodation is an Art.6(1) ECHR civil right has been argued over in the courts. And the question arose again in today’s judgment of the Supreme Court.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 10th May 2017
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘The Supreme Court has upheld a reviewing officer’s decision that it was reasonable for a refugee to accept an offer of accommodation which she claimed reminded her of prison in Iran.’
Local Government Lawyer, 10th May 2017
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘More than one in three councils (36%) are targeting rough sleepers with enforcement measures such as Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) and Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs), research by national homelessness charity Crisis has suggested.’
Local Government Lawyer, 4th April 2017
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Local Government Ombudsman has issued a quite withering decision on a complaint about Barnet Council’s failure to make a formal decision on repeated homeless applications by a homeless woman.’
Nearly Legal, 30th March 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has held that the four-stage approach to considering the public sector equality duty in s.149 Equality Act 2010 in Hotak v Southwark LBC [2015] UKSC 30; [2016] AC 811, is concerned only with vulnerability under s.189(1)(c) Housing Act 1996. In cases concerning suitability of accommodation, a review officer had to show (on a “stand-back” reading of the decision) recognition as to whether a homeless applicant had a disability and whether the accommodation was unsuitable having regard to that disability and its impact on the applicant compared to those without such a disability.’
Arden Chambers, January 2017
Source: www.ardenchambers.com
‘The London Borough of Croydon v Lopes [2017] EWHC 33 (QB). Costs on settled s.204 Housing Act 1996 appeals – the issue that never goes away. The latest instalment also brings with it some rather sharp findings by the Court of Appeal on the extent of inquiries the council should have made.’
Nearly Legal, 25th January 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘As has been reported here and here, Westminster City Council have decided to adopt various new housing policies. In particular, there are new proposed policies on temporary accommodation and permanent accommodation offers for homeless households.’
Nearly Legal, 16th January 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A judicial review in which two local authorities fought over which of them was gong to have to owe a housing duty to a homeless applicant. The central issue was whether, in the circumstances, Ealing could refuse a referral under the local connection provisions by RBK&C. However, the finding on ‘same facts’ second homeless applications has much broader application and should be taken note of by everyone.’
Nearly Legal, 15th January 2017
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Thousands of people are being made homeless every year because they cannot find lawyers to help them resist eviction, charities are warning.’
The Guardian, 18th December 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Sally Robertson considers the decision of R (GS) v London Borough of Camden [2016] EWHC 1762 (Admin), 27 July 2016 in this blog.’
Cloisters, 9th November 2016
Source: www.cloisters.com
© Inner Temple Library 2017