Category: homelessness

Private sector accommodation in discharge of duty – meeting the tests at the right time – Nearly Legal

Posted October 23rd, 2023 in appeals, health & safety, homelessness, housing, landlord & tenant, local government, news by tracey

‘Ayinla v London Borough of Newham. Central London County Court. 29 September 2023. The key issue was whether LB Newham had met the requirements of satisfying itself that a private sector tenancy offered in discharge of duty was suitable, with regard to the judgment in Hajjaj v City of Westminster (2021) EWCA Civ 1688 (our note) and the conditions in Article 3 of The Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2012.’

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Nearly Legal, 22nd October 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Ban on no-fault evictions in England unlikely this year – The Guardian

Posted October 18th, 2023 in government departments, homelessness, housing, landlord & tenant, news, rent, repossession, statistics by sally

‘Michael Gove has won a battle with No 10 to push ahead with a ban on no-fault evictions and other reforms, but renters will not get protection until next year.’

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The Guardian, 17th October 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Homelessness and evidence – Nearly Legal

Posted October 16th, 2023 in disabled persons, equality, evidence, homelessness, housing, judicial review, local government, news by tracey

‘Oday Yabari, R (on the application of) v The Lord Mayor and Citizens of the City of Westminster (2023) EWHC 185 (Admin). A judicial review of what was alleged to be Westminster’s failure to meet its s.188(1) duty to secure suitable accommodation and breach of Public Sector Equality Duty.’

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Nearly Legal, 15th October 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Thousands of refugees could be made homeless in UK’s asylum backlog clearance – The Guardian

Posted October 5th, 2023 in asylum, delay, homelessness, news, refugees by sally

‘More than 50,000 refugees in the UK could be made homeless by the end of the year unless ministers take urgent steps to support them as it clears the asylum backlog, the British Red Cross has warned.’

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The Guardian, 5th October 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Distance, affordability, suitability – Nearly Legal

Posted August 29th, 2023 in benefits, equality, homelessness, housing, local government, news, statutory duty by sally

‘This was the second appeal from a review decision upholding the suitability of an offer of a private sector tenancy in Walsall in discharge of Waltham Forest’s s.193 duty to Ms Webb-Harden. Ms Webb-Harden is a single mother with three children, who had lived in London all her life. She had become homeless from the termination of a private sector tenancy.’

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Nearly Legal, 28th August 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Court of Appeal finds council had “due regard” to s149 Equality Act when offering accommodation in Walsall to single mother who had lived in London all her life – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 25th, 2023 in appeals, children, equality, families, homelessness, housing, local government, London, news by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has dismissed a single mother’s appeal against a decision of a reviewing officer of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, finding that the accommodation offered to her was “reasonable and suitable”.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 24th August 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Court of Appeal dismisses appeal over whether hostel room was “suitable accommodation” – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 24th, 2023 in asylum, disabled persons, homelessness, housing, local government, news by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has dismissed a woman’s appeal against a decision that a room in a hostel was “suitable” accommodation for her to continue to occupy.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 23rd August 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Suitability s202 reviews and ‘minded to’ regulations – Nearly Legal

Posted August 14th, 2023 in appeals, children, education, families, homelessness, housing, local government, news by tracey

‘Elbhiri v Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 9 December 2022. Central London County Court (Unreported – copy of judgment )
This is a s.204 appeal judgment that I have been sitting on for an inexcusably long time, ever since I was kindly sent the judgment. This is particularly inexcusable as it is a very interesting point at issue in this appeal. The brief background was that RBKC owed Ms Elbhiri the full housing duty following her homeless application. Ms E had been placed in temporary accommodation under s.193 Housing Act 1996. She then sought a review under s.202 of the suitability of the accommodation. The review upheld the suitability of the accommodation and Ms E brought a s.204 appeal.’

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Nearly legal, 13th August 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Intentional homelessness – what counts as accommodation? – Nearly Legal

Posted August 1st, 2023 in appeals, homelessness, housing, local government, news by sally

‘A second appeal to the Court of Appeal on Folkestone’s decision that Ms Hodge was intentionally homeless because she had left a room in a hostel run by a charity that she was occupying under licence.’

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Nearly Legal, 31st July 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Free legal advice aims to help thousands of people facing eviction each year – The Independent

Posted August 1st, 2023 in bills, homelessness, housing, legal advice, news, repossession, statistics by sally

‘The launch comes not long after the latest statistics showed households and children in temporary accommodation in England are at record highs.’

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The Independent, 31st July 2023

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Suitability appeal – don’t ignore evidence of need – Nearly Legal

Posted July 31st, 2023 in appeals, autism, children, disabled persons, equality, families, homelessness, housing, local government, news, statutory duty by tracey

‘Our grateful thanks to Daniel Grütters of One Pump Court for the following note and copy of the judgment in a section 204 appeal on the suitability of temporary accommodation.’

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Nearly Legal, 28th July 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Getting it all wrong… LB Redbridge ‘dismal’ homelessness decisions – Nearly Legal

Posted June 19th, 2023 in asylum, children, education, homelessness, hotels, housing, local government, London, news, school children by sally

‘Ms UO and her 3 children, aged 11, 5 and 3, were homeless and had applied to LB Redbridge. The family had NASS accommodation in the Tottenham area since 2021, after NASS accommodation in Croydon and West Ham from 2019. Ms UO’s elder children were enrolled in school in Tottenham and the youngest in the nursery attached to the school. MS UO had connections in Redbridge herself. Following Ms UO’s grant of asylum in 2022, the NASS accommodation ceased. She applied to Redbridge. The application stressed how important the children’s school was to them. She then did not hear anything from Redbridge until the day before her eviction from the NASS accommodation.’

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Nearly Legal, 18th June 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Homeless single mother wins High Court battle against London borough – Local Government Lawyer

Posted June 16th, 2023 in asylum, children, families, homelessness, housing, immigration, judicial review, local government, news, refugees by tracey

‘A High Court judge has allowed a homeless single mother’s claim for judicial review against the London Borough of Redbridge on all four grounds.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 14th June 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Housing case law update – April 2023 – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 19th, 2023 in homelessness, housing, local government, London, mental health, news, repossession, statutory duty by tracey

‘Emily Howe, Kelly Lloyd and Laura Waby round up the latest housing law judgments of interest to housing associations and local authorities.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 17th May 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Suitability duties and reasonable preferences that weren’t unreasonable – Nearly Legal

Posted May 10th, 2023 in disabled persons, homelessness, housing, judicial review, local government, news, statutory duty by sally

‘A judicial review on three grounds:

i) Breach of section 193(2) Housing Act 1996 duty to secure suitable accommodation;

ii) The Westminster’s allocation policy was unlawful in that it denied the applicant medical need priority reasonable preference, restricting him to homeless reasonable preference; and

iii) Breach of the duty under section 166A(9)(a)(ii) Housing Act 1996 to provide the applicant sufficient information to permit the applicant to determine whether housing accommodation appropriate to his needs is likely to be available to him and, if so, how long it is likely to be before such accommodation becomes available for allocation to him.’

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Nearly Legal, 8th May 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Judge allows appeal against decisions of city council over whether accommodation was unsuitable – Local Government Lawyer

Posted May 3rd, 2023 in appeals, burden of proof, homelessness, housing, local government, news by tracey

‘A homelessness appeal has been allowed on three out of four grounds on behalf of a man who was placed in unsuitable accommodation by Cambridge City Council.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 2nd May 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Anonymisation of a young adult applicant for judicial review about section 20 – Transparency Project

Posted April 12th, 2023 in anonymity, children, duty of care, homelessness, housing, interpretation, judicial review, local government, news, young persons by sally

‘There are two matters of interest in this unusual judgment by Mr Justice Mostyn in respect of a claim for judicial review brought by a teenager against a local authority, originally published on The National Archives as TT v Essex County Council [2023] EWHC 721 (Fam) but replaced as [2023] EWHC 826 (Admin).’

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Transparency Project, 10th April 2023

Source: transparencyproject.org.uk

Thousands of homeless people arrested under archaic Vagrancy Act – The Guardian

Posted April 3rd, 2023 in government departments, homelessness, local government, news, police, statistics, vagrancy by sally

‘More than 1,000 homeless people have been arrested for sleeping rough or begging since the government pledged to scrap the nearly 200-year-old Vagrancy Act, new figures show.’

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The Guardian, 2nd April 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Time to respond to ‘minded to’ letters, and getting affordability right – Nearly Legal

Posted March 27th, 2023 in appeals, homelessness, housing, judicial review, local government, news by tracey

‘Our grateful thanks to Alice Irving of Doughty Street Chambers for this note of a section 204 appeal decision, which is interesting in the approach to representations in response to ‘minded to’ letters, to affordability assessments and on the timing and role of skeleton arguments in s.204 appeals.

Tapper v Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (unreported, 4 January 2022, County Court at Central London, HHJ Parfitt)’

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Nearly Legal, 26th March 2023

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Councils “all too often” failing in duties to prevent homelessness, says Ombudsman – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 21st, 2023 in homelessness, local government, news, ombudsmen, reports by tracey

‘The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has said that vulnerable people are facing homelessness because some councils are “still not getting it right”, in a report marking five years since the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 21st March 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk