R (A) v Croydon & R (M) v Lambeth UKSC [2009] 8 This was an appeal heard by the House of Lords over the course of four days in July, but with judgment delivered by the new Supreme Court. We reported the Court of Appeal's judgment here. At issue was to...
Child in Need, Indeed
The Supreme Court has handed down judgment in the case of R (A) v Croydon and R (M) v Lambeth [2009] UKSC 8. This is an important decision about the duty of LAs under s.20(1) of the Children Act 1989 to "provide accommodation for any child in need within...
Homeless reviews and fact finding in the Supreme Court
We've been told that Ali & Ibrahim v Birmingham City Council (now Ali, Ibrahim and Tomlinson v BCC) was heard in the Supreme Court today, 23 November, and continues tomorrow. Our report on the Court of Appeal judgment ([2008] EWCA 1228) is here. The issue is...
A curious footnote (with benefit of transcript)
We previously wrote up Mich-Onyibe v Wandsworth LBC [2008] EWCA Civ 1649 as "a curious footnote" to homelessness jurisprudence, basing our note on an Arden Chambers e-flash. Thanks to the Chief we now have the benefit of the transcript. The facts were as...
These we have missed…
And thanks to the Garden Court bulletin for pointing them out. A couple of cases not yet available on Bailii. R(Gardiner) v Haringey LBC [2009] EWHC 2699 (Admin), [2009] All ER (D) 301 (Oct). Or 'everything old is new again' From the full judgment: Ms G. had...
A quick update from the ECJ
Readers might remember the case of LB Harrow v Ibrahim and another [2008] EWCA Civ 386 (noted by us here) where the Court of Appeal referred three questions to the ECJ concerning the rights of residents of family members of former Community workers. The...
Lost by translation
Ali v Birmingham City Council [2009] EWCA Civ 1279 (Original note from an Arden Chambers eflash pdf). Mr Ali, who is Somalian, applied as homeless to Birmingham. At interview he was noted as speaking and understanding English. he was given a leaflet in a...
Gordon Brown – the new Gladstone?
As we all know, William Gladstone walked the streets of London, even while Prime Minister (1868–74, 1880–85, 1886 and 1892–94), seeking out fallen women to rescue, whether they wanted to be rescued or not. What Gladstone did when he accosted a prostitute was...
Accommodation pending review: Mohammed in action
R (Gebremarium) v City of Westminster [2009] EWHC 2254 (Admin) Thanks to the Garden Court housing bulletin for pointing to this one. We had to look around as the judgment is not yet available anywhere except casetrack. This was the permission hearing of an...
Changing Horses Midstream
Konodyba v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea [2009] EWCA Civ 890 was an appeal against a decision that Dr Konodyba was not entitled to housing assistance as she was subject to immigration control. It turned out to be a cautionary tale about getting rid...
HLPA Conference
The Housing Law Practitioners Association ("HLPA") host their annual conference on December 15, 2009 at the Royal College of Surgeons, London. Details have just been released (with more to follow later in September) and can be found at...
Contracting out homelessness reviews like the town hall catering contract
The Court of Appeal's judgment in Heald and others v LB Brent [2009] EWCA Civ 930 is just out concerning the outsourcing of s 202 Housing Act 1996 reviews by Brent to Minos Perdios' company Housing Reviews Ltd. There have been a number of County Court...