In which two [now confirmed as four] Housing Associations behave very badly in anticipation of the benefit cap. Haringey is one of the pilot boroughs for the benefit cap, limiting the total amount of benefit, including housing benefit/LHA (and astonishingly...
Not So Great Expectations
We are all aware that there is no general entitlement to permanent accommodation via the Part VII route (R v Brent ex p Awua). So it is interesting to find a s.204 appeal where it was argued that the Appellant had a legitimate expectation of permanent...
Shelter briefing on private sector discharge
Shelter have produced a briefing on the use of Localism Act powers to place homeless applicants in private sector accommodation, aimed at Local Authorities and Councillors, Changes in the Localism Act 2011 give local authorities more scope to place homeless...
When fraud is not the operating cause of a person’s homelessness
Chishimba v RBKC, Court of Appeal, March 25, 2013, [from a lawtel note - not on bailii yet] concerned an appeal brought by a homeless applicant. The issue was whether Ms Chishimba had become intentionally homeless. Ms Chishimba approached the authority for...
In the teeth of it …
In El-Dinnaoui v Westminster CC [2013] EWCA Civ 231, the Court of Appeal found that the offer of a flat on the 16th floor of a block to a household which contained a person with fear of heights was perverse. The offer of accommodation was "in the teeth" of...
Residing together, apart.
Sharif v The London Borough of Camden [2013] UKSC 10 Does accommodation available for occupation by a person and those reasonably expected to reside with them have to be in one unit of accommodation? In this case, the Court of Appeal had said yes (our report...
When a deficiency makes no difference.
Ibrahim v London Borough of Wandsworth [2013] EWCA Civ 20 The question for the Court of Appeal in this second appeal from a homeless appeal, was "How should the courts deal with a plainly deficient homelessness decision when the deficiency has had no adverse...
Wrong priorities
Every now and again, there is a Local Government Ombudsman report that seems to go beyond individual instances of maladministration and instead capture something of the zeitgeist. The LGO decision summarised here (and see here for the full decision [pdf])...
Consultations, bills and mysterious advisors
A bit of a miscellany, with Government skullduggery and posturing galore. First up, Grayling's MoJ has announced a consultation into revising the rules on Judicial Review. Broadly, he is against it. Responses are due by 24 January 2013, so a busy holiday for...
Relationship breakdown and intentional homelessness
Amanda Carthew v Exeter County Council (2012) CA (Civ Div) 4 December 2012 [Not on Bailii, on lawtel only as a note - if anyone has more information or a transcript of judgment, we'd be very grateful...] Where a homeless applicant had previously transferred...
Disputed facts, s.204 appeals and Article 6 to the ECtHR?
You may recall Ms Ali of Ali & Ibrahim v Birmingham CC (heard in the Supreme Court as Tomlinson & Ors v Birmingham City Council [2010] UKSC 8 (our report here) The issue in Ms Ali's case was a dispute of fact about whether an offer of accommodation...
Deja Vu All Over Again (and again)
In Samin v Westminster CC [2012] EWCA Civ 1468 [not on bailii yet - lawtel has a transcript], the Court of Appeal had to decide what was meant by someone being "temporarily unable to work" so as to determine if Mr Samin retained his status as a "worker"...