Abdulrahman, R (on the application of) v The London Borough of Hillingdon [2016] EWHC 2647 (Admin) This was judicial review of Hillingdon's refusal to accept a homeless application from Ms A. Ms A and her then husband had made a joint homeless application...
Homeless Reduction Bill – part 2
After my rantette about clause 1 of the Homeless Reduction Bill as published for second reading, it is time to turn to the substance of the Bill in terms of new duties and so on. And, some drafting issues aside, these are broadly positive. But first, I...
Reducing the Homelessness Reduction Bill. Part 1
Monday's big news was the Govt announcement that it will support the Homelessness Reduction Bill - Bob Blackman MP's private members bill, due for second reading on 28 October. But exactly what is it that the Govt is supporting? The first draft of the Bill,...
Time, distance & suitability
Begum v Tower Hamlets LBC. County Court at Central London. 1 December 2015 Thanks to the Housing: Recent Developments in the September 2016 edition of Legal Action for the note of this case. This was a s.204 appeal of a s.202 review of suitability of...
Homeless eligibility amends and deposit discretions
The Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 have (finally) been made to come into force on 30 October 2016. These sort out the anomaly highlighted in Romans v Southwark LBC and SSDCLG and Alabi v SSDCLG...
Vulnerability, ‘significantly’ and equality duties
S Butt v London Borough of Hackney. County Court at Central London. 22 February 2016 (PDF of judgment) This was another in a number of county court judgments on section 204 Housing Act 1996 appeals which turned on the question of vulnerability after the...
Right to be Forgotten?
When does temporary accommodation become settled so as to break the chain of causation of intentional homelessness? The appeal in Huda v LB Redbridge [2016] EWCA Civ 709 concerned a homeless applicant and his family, who were effectively forgotten about by...
Circumstances and consequences. Accommodation pending appeal.
Our thanks to Garden Court chambers and Justine Compton for their note of this case. Where a homeless application has requested a s.202 review of the local authority's decision on duty, the authority has a power, but not an obligation to provide temporary...
A compendium of vulnerability cases
Following on from our post on Mohammed v Southwark LBC, here are notes on a further three appeals to the County Court under section 204 Housing Act 1996, all related to decisions on priority need (or lack of it) through vulnerability. Ward v LB Haringey....
Weekend Miscellaneous
Various bits and pieces on subletting and homelessness. (Edited 15 September 2016 This post originally went into detail about an article on Property 118 setting out a Rent to Rent arrangement where the rent to rent tenant would have an assured shorthold...
Perversity in Brent
Our thanks to Garden Court Chambers, Hackney Law Centre and Liz Davies for their note of this case. Cieicierska v Brent LBC. Central London County Court, 5 September 2016. Ms C, a single parent with 3 children, was owed the full housing duty by Brent and was...
What do points mean? (No prizes)
Woolfe, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough of Islington [2016] EWHC 1907 (Admin) Another allocation judicial review, related, but perhaps distinct from the line of 'reasonable preference' cases we have previously seen. The issue, in part, Islington's...