I confess never to have thought too deeply about this question, but it is clearly important and not exactly free from doubt. In Oxford CC v Basey [2012] EWCA Civ 115, the question arose for the Court of Appeal in the context of the range of payments which...
HB and necessaries
Wychavon DC v EM is a double decision, so to speak, by Judge Mark on a housing benefit matter, with broader implications regarding incapacity. In essence, EM is profoundly disabled (mentally and physically). Her parents moved her from a care home, with...
Crumbs of comfort for those ‘too poor to go bankrupt’
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Payne & Cooper (test case) [2011] UKSC 60 This is a decision of the Supreme Court. It considers the issue of whether deductions in respect of Social Fund Loan repayments and overpaid benefits can continue to be...
Housing benefit and available accommodation
The Chartered Institute of Housing and the Guardian have put together the results of a survey into the effect of the housing benefit/LHA limits and the pegging to the bottom third of market rents coming into force in January. Specifically the survey looks at...
You better watch out, You better not cry
Just when I thought we weren't going to have a seasonal story this year. Westminster Council have ridden to the rescue. A new proposal, announced by the eminently sane and reasonable Councillor Phillipa Roe, is that from April 2013, Westminster are to...
HB round up
Three decisions of the Administrative Appeals Chamber of the Upper Tribunal on HB matters stand out: SS v North East Lincolnshire Council (HB) [2011] UKUT 300 (AAC); MB v Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (HB) [2011] UKUT 321 (AAC); MR v Bournemouth...
Taken out does not mean taken over
Secretary of State for Work and Pension v Neera Mohammad [2011] EWCA Civ 1358 [not available on Bailii yet] This is a case which turns very much on its facts and as far as the Income Support claimant is concerned, turned out badly. Mrs. M. was the divorced...
Forward to the 18th Century!
The Coalition's proposed legislation this week has a marvellously retro feel to it. Sniff the air. Through the whiff of horse dung and open sewers, you can tell we are back in the days of Queen Anne and not solely because the lawfulness of the catholicity of...
HB Changes: Lawful but what impact?
We have previously covered the changes to housing benefit (HB) introduced by the Con-Dems and the DCLG's concerns over them as well as those of certain London boroughs. In truth, nobody really quite knows what the "impact" of those changes will be, but we...
Contracts and public law: The Cornwall case
Charles Terence Estates Ltd v Cornwall Council [2011] EWHC 2542 (QB) (subnom oh dear, oh dear) Forgive the length of this note, but this seems to be a significant case with potentially far-reaching ramifications. The judgment of Cranston J (in my view) is...
Eligibility: Reg 6(2)(a)
News has reached us at NL Towers (or lock-up - see image at bottom of page) from a regular reader/correspondent, Simon Marciniak, of an interesting and potentially important s 204 homelessness appeal decision on the ambit of Regulation 6(2)(a), Immigration...
Housing benefit and non-disclosure
In Coventry CC v Vassell [2011] EWHC 1542 (Admin), the issue for Hickinbottom J, on appeal by way of case stated, was as to the mental element required to convict an HB claimant for non-disclosure of a change of circumstances affecting entitlement to HB...