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...
Subjective suitability
Poshteh v Royal Borough of Kensington And Chelsea [2015] EWCA Civ 711 At issue in this second appeal from a s.204 appeal was whether it was reasonable for Ms Poshteh to have refused an offer of accommodation. Both parties agreed that the property was...
Temporary accommodation at a peppercorn rent
This is a fascinating judicial review case. While the specific facts might only apply to a very few people, there is an interesting principle in it which may have wider application. R (OAO Yekini) v LB Southwark [2014] EWHC 2096 (Admin) [Not on Bailii yet....
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...
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...
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...
Suitability Regs Consultation
DCLG has issued a consultation on suitability of accommodation in satisfaction of the main homelessness duty. It addresses two issues: the grant of an AST in the private rented sector; and the location of accommodation. The former is much more interesting...
When should an offer be ‘suitable’?
Abed v City of Westminster [2011] EWCA Civ 1406 Is an offer of temporary accommodation under s.193(5) Housing Act 1996 unlawful if the Local Authority has not assessed the suitability of the accommodation before making the offer? This was the issue before...
A room of one’s own
Virginia Woolf famously remarked that for a woman to write fiction, she required enough means to support herself and a room of her own. For homeless applicants, though, sometimes separated spaces can be the problem. Aliya Sharif v Camden LBC [2011]...
Never apologise, never explain
Akhtar v Birmingham City Council [2011] EWCA Civ 383 [not on bailii yet, we've seen a transcript] When a Local Authority accepts the applicant's case on a review under s.202 review under Housing Act 1996, is there or should there be a duty to give reasons...
Unreasonable bungalow
Anya Thompson v Mendip District Council, Taunton County Court 3 December 2010 [Unreported elsewhere]. This was the s.204 Housing Act 1996 appeal of a decision by Mendip DC that its offer of a two bedroom bungalow was an offer of suitable accommodation under...
Reviews of Suitability and Discharge of Duty
Ravichandran & Anor v London Borough of Lewisham [2010] EWCA Civ 755 Or Omar v Birmingham City Council [2007] EWCA Civ 610 revisted. This was the Court of Appeal hearing of a second appeal from a s.204 Housing Act 1996 appeal at the County Court on...