According to Cameron, there is a need to restrict the right to judicial review to ensure the country's economic competitiveness. As he put it, judicial review should, therefore, cost more, have shorter deadlines, and fewer rights of appeal. This is so that...
A cautionary tale
In R(Hamid) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWHC 3070 (Admin) [not on Baili yet, but apparently on Lawtel], the Divisional Court signalled its intention to get much tougher on out of hours administrative court applications to the duty...
Suitability: Of time and distance
With perfect timing, a County Court section 204 appeal judgment reaches us, on the issue of suitability of temporary accommodation. With the context of out of borough placements and the post Localism Act situation, this seemed worth considering and quoting...
‘Homeless Legislation – a thing of the past?’
[Update at the end of the post 15/11/2012] Now that the Guardian has the story, I feel able to quote a briefing paper by Andy Gale of the DCLG that had found its way to me. This is the briefing that Andy Gale has been giving to Council officers (not...
Deja Vu All Over Again
Konodyba v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea [2012] EWCA Civ 982 This was an appeal against a decision that a homelessness applicant was not eligible for assistance. It’s been on my blogging to-do list since July, for which I can only apologise. The...
Costs and s.204 Appeals
None of us I think can be blamed for presuming that in statutory homelessness appeals, costs ought to follow the event. It seems, though, that not all judges view appeals in this way and the Court of Appeal will shortly be looking at this issue in the case...
Homelessness post Localism Act – Statutory Guidance
The DCLG has released statutory guidance on: the changes that the Localism Act 2011 makes to the homelessness legislation. It also provides guidance on the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2012. This supplements parts of the...
New Regulations 2 – Private Sector Suitability
The Government has today laid The Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2012 SI 2012 No. 2601. It comes into force on 9 November 2012 This sets out the issues for determining suitability (or the lack thereof) of accommodation for...
New Regulations 1 – ‘Zambrano’ eligibility
In response to Zambrano (C-34/09) the Government has laid new regulations today, to come into force on 9 8 November 2012. The Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (England) (Amendment) Regulations...
Let’s all move to … Wales
This is another one of our irregular posts on our theme of happenings in Wales; this time with an apology because it's all rather later than I had hoped and SO much is going on in Cardiff that they must be in a state of permanent combustion. Following on...
Housing eligibility via a child?
Not sure how this one didn't make it on to the blog before... Back in March 2011, the Court of Justice of the European Union gave judgment in Zambrano (C-34/09) [For a report on that judgment, see Free Movement, here] The upshot of Zambrano was that where a...
New Practice Direction for s.204 appeals
The 59th update to the CPR comes into force on October 1, 2012 and, importantly, it brings in a raft of new practice directions for appeals. For we housing lawyers, page 81 of this document sets out the position for s.204 appeals. The appellant should now...