‘Leicester City Council and the Chief Constable of Leicestershire have been ordered by the High Court to pay in all £52,000 to a claimant JW after a level 3 sex offender was housed near to the children’s home in which he lived.’
Local Government Lawyer, 8th August 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has held that reg.8(2) of the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Review Procedures) Regulations 1999/71, does not require a local housing authority to specify in a “minded-to” letter that an applicant may make representations to the reviewer orally at a face-to-face meeting.’
Arden Chambers, 12th July 2018
Source: www.ardenchambers.com
‘Private landlords and letting agents frequently advertise their properties stating that they will not rent to housing benefit tenants (for some outdated reason, still often referred to as “DSS” tenants).’
Employment and Discrimination Blog, 25th July 2018
Source: employmentblog.practicallaw.com
‘R(Gullu) v LB Hillingdon [2018] EWHC 1937 (Admin)
This was another challenge to LB Hillingdon’s policy of requiring 10 years residence in borough for admission to the housing register. It follows after TW, SW, and EM, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough Of Hillingdon (2018) EWHC 1791 (our note here) which found that Hillingdon’s policy unjustifiably discriminated against Travellers. But with a very different outcome.’
Nearly Legal, 5th August 2018
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Historic England has failed in a challenge to Milton Keynes Council over its decision to allow a development on part of a historic railway yard.’
Local Government Lawyer, 1st August 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Sentences for gross negligence manslaughter, which is being considered by investigators looking into the Grenfell Tower fire, could be increased under new advice given to judges.’
The Independent, 31st July 2018
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘A London borough has successfully defended a High Court challenge to the prioritisation under its housing allocation scheme of those people who have been resident in the borough for 10 years.’
Local Government Lawyer, 27th July 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Paragraph 11 of Schedule 5 to Housing Act 1985 provides that a property is exempt from the Right to Buy where:
11.—
(1) The right to buy does not arise if the dwelling-house—
(a) is particularly suitable, having regard to its location, size, design, heating system and other features, for occupation by elderly persons, and
(b) was let to the tenant or a predecessor in title of his for occupation by a person who was aged 60 or more (whether the tenant or predecessor or another person).’
Nearly Legal, 25th July 2018
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Milton Keynes Council was won a rare appeal under the right to buy legislation in a dispute over whether the property in question was particularly suitable for occupation by elderly persons.’
Local Government Lawyer, 19th July 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Radical new proposals to provide a fairer deal for leasehold homeowners have been announced by the Law Commission. Following hot on the heels of plans by the Government to ban the sale of houses on a leasehold basis, the independent legal body is outlining a range of measures to help existing leasehold homeowners buy the freehold of their houses.’
Law Commission, 19th July 2018
Source: www.lawcom.gov.uk/
‘A residence qualification set by Hillingdon Council stating that only households with at least 10 years’ continuous residence in-borough could qualify to join the three-welfare-based bands of its housing register was unlawful, a High Court judge has ruled.’
Local Government Lawyer, 16th July 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘TW, SW, and EM, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough Of Hillingdon (2018) EWHC 1791. This was a judicial review of Hillingdon’s allocation scheme and in particular, the thresholds for eligibility for inclusion on the housing list set by Hillingdon.’
Nearly Legal, 15th July 2018
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Doka v Southwark concerned what could amount to ‘settled accommodation’ for homelessness matters, and specifically for ‘breaking the chain’ of intentional homelessness.’
Nearly Legal, 11th July 2018
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘In WB v W DC (2018) EWCA Civ 928, the Court of Appeal revisited the question of whether a person without capacity to make choices about their accommodation can make an application for homelessness assistance. The House of Lords in R v Tower Hamlets LBC ex p Ferdous Begum (1993) AC 509 (linked with Garlick, in which it was argued that an application could be made by minors) held that a person had to have capacity to “comprehend or evaluate” an offer of accommodation and could not be treated as a person in priority need. As Lord Griffiths put it, “In my view it is implicit in the provisions of the Act that the duty to make an offer is only owed to those who have the capacity to understand and respond to such an offer and if they accept it to undertake the responsibilities that will be involved.” There is a personal element to this issue – Ferdous Begum and Garlick were cases which first captured my academic interest in homelessness law back in 1992, mainly because the decision seemed wrong discursively (even then) and also because of the real difficulties which occur in practice in the distinction between homelessness and care duties.’
Nearly Legal, 3rd July 2018
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘The government’s legal aid reforms suffered a new blow today when a High Court judge quashed controversial changes in the way it procures duty contracts for housing. The court was ruling on a judicial review brought by the Law Centres Network (LCN), heard over two days last month.’
Law Society's Gazette, 22nd June 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘A High Court judge has quashed changes introduced by the Ministry of Justice to the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme (HPCDS), it has been reported.’
Local Government Lawyer, 22nd June 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘A family who have seen the value of their London flat slashed from £600,000 to just £90,000 because of Grenfell-style cladding could sue a government agency that helped them buy their home.’
The Guardian, 18th June 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Muloko v Newham LBC, County Court at Central London 6 April 2018. This is from a note of the judgment in June 2018 Legal Action – Housing: Recent Developments. I usually wait a month or two on reporting cases from Legal Action, but I report it now as it has some considerable importance, at least in London, for decisions on what to do about late s.202 reviews.’
Nearly Legal, 13th June 2018
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘A judge has dismissed a claim brought by a woman trafficked into prostitution that a council was responsible for harassment that occurred when she was housed.’
Local Government Lawyer, 14th June 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) has criticised a London borough after an investigation found that a mother and her five children were accommodated in a damp and mouldy single bedroom.’
Local Government Lawyer, 8th June 2018
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
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