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....
Out of Area Placements
Shelter has recently issued its 2012 statistics of homeless households who were temporarily accommodated outside London. 31 London councils provided data, which have revealed that out of 11513 households, 120 (or 1%) were accommodated more than 20 miles from...
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. On expired beds and shared bathrooms
Just how bad and inappropriate does temporary accommodation have to be to be unsuitable? There is an interesting post by David Thomas on the Anthony Gold 'Housing and Public Law' blog about a settled Judicial Review that highlights this issue. The challenge...
Private Sector Accommodation and Part 7
Hanton-Rhouila v Westminster City Council [2010] EWCA Civ 1334 This was a second appeal from a s.204 Housing Act 1996 appeal which had been dismissed by a Circuit Judge. Mrs Rhoulia had applied as homeless to Westminster and the appeal was of Westminster's...
Gatekeeping and an absence of records
Local Government Ombudsman's decision: London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (09 001 262) 'Ms Kenza' (not her real name) approached LB Hammersmith and Fulham as homeless when she had to leave her private rented home following an incident of domestic...
Outsourced temporary accommodation
Many local authorities use private accommodation for temporary accommodation under Housing Act 1996 Part VII. This may be by an LA ALMO 'managing agency', on which more at another time, or by licence agreements with private agencies. One of the latter came...
An inconvenient problem
There were lots of good intentions behind the SI making clear that 16/17 year olds are in priority need (The Homelessness (Priority Need for Accommodation) (England) Order 2002 (SI 2002 /2051)). But as a few have pointed out in recent years, there might...
Homelessness – when unitary authorities aren't.
R (Hassan) v Croydon LBC (Admin Court 13 January 2009. Only reported so far in Arden Chambers eflash 336) was a judicial review on the discretion to secure accommodation pending s.202 review under s.188(3) HA 1996 and whether a potential duty under s.20...
Refusing Temporary Accommodation
Once someone is in temporary accommodation, following an acceptance of the full housing duty to a homeless person by the local authority, what happens when that temporary accommodation becomes unreasonable for the household to continue to occupy, but...
Manchester CC v Moran – Lords appeal
One of Nearly Legal's band of information elves (sorry H) brings news that Sharon Moran in Manchester City Council v Moran [2008] EWHC Civ 378 has been given leave to appeal to the Lords. This was the important Court of Appeal case on women's refuges and...
On the Naughty Step
Or an RSL behaving badly, again. And this time it's personal... 21 Press House, Press Road LON/00AE/LSC/2007/0292 [pdf], an LVT decision. The landlord, Stadium Housing Association, were facing an application over hefty service charges made on an shorthold...