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Families threaten council with legal action over allocation policy
A group of families is preparing to take a London council to court as they claim the authority’s housing allocation policy discriminates against homeless people.
The families, some of which claim to have been in temporary accommodation for more than 10 years, said the amount of time they have been left waiting for permanent accommodation in the borough of Camden is “indefensible”.
In correspondence, seen by Inside Housing, Camden Council denied that its policy is discriminatory and said it has met its statutory duty in all the families’ cases.
However, Derek Bernardi, the solicitor who is representing the families, told Inside Housing that the council’s allocation policy means many homeless families that are placed in temporary accommodation are “more or less stuck there indefinitely”.
This is partly because it is difficult for homeless families to earn enough points to be offered social housing through Camden Council’s system, the families have claimed.
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Mr Bernardi, who works at Camden Community Law Centre, said he is representing roughly 18 families, of which 13 or 14 have been in council-owned temporary accommodation since 2012 or earlier.
He said the “best-case scenario” is that they are housed in tiny studio flats. However, roughly two-thirds are forced to share kitchens and bathrooms, he claimed.
While it is illegal for families with children to be housed in temporary accommodation for over six weeks, an exception is made if the local authority owns the accommodation.
Mr Bernardi also accused the council of keeping a “secret” social housing allocation document for homeless people.
All local authorities are required by law to publish their allocation policy and are not allowed to deviate from this policy when making housing offers.
In its response to the families’ pre-legal action letters, Camden Council said the document in question is an “internal guidance document” to “assist officers in understanding”.
The council also said some of the families in question have previously rejected offers of alternative accommodation, however, Mr Bernardi’s clients deny this.
Camden Community Law Centre will now seek to secure legal aid funding for the cases before pursuing a judicial review.
Mr Bernardi said he hopes the legal action will result in the families being offered suitable accommodation and force the council to create new policies and avoid “this rabbit hole of living in temporary accommodation for a decade plus”.
A Camden Council spokesperson told Inside Housing: “The council’s allocation scheme was introduced in 2016 following extensive public consultation.
“We work hard to ensure that we are providing the best possible advice and services to people in housing need at all times.
“We do not consider it appropriate to make comments about individual cases which are still in the pre-action stage and which may become the subject of legal proceedings.”
