You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
High Court rules London council failed to carry out lawful housing needs assessment
A High Court judge has ruled that a council in east London acted unlawfully in its handling of a housing needs assessment and its failure to offer a mother of three accommodation in the borough.
The judicial review brought against Redbridge Council by the mother, named only as UO, succeeded on all four grounds after hearings in March and April this year.
Redbridge Council in part blamed “chronic government underinvestment in social housing” for the multiple failures.
The claimant, Ms UO, was described as a homeless single mother of three children aged three, five and 11.
She brought the case as she believed the council had breached its statutory obligations in assessing her housing needs.
The court heard how the family had been accommodated in a number of different hotels, without cooking or washing facilities, in several instances between one and two-and-a-half hours from the school the children were attending in Tottenham, north London.
READ MORE
The council also offered Ms UO self-contained accommodation in Peterborough, which she said was unsuitable.
The court heard how during several years living in asylum accommodation, the family settled in Tottenham in 2021, where the children were enrolled in a school and nursery in the area.
The children have remained there despite the family being moved again to asylum accommodation in Redbridge in January 2022. This was because Ms UO did not want to disrupt her children’s education.
Part of the mother’s reason for wanting to stay in the area was that she had established connections in and around the London boroughs of Haringey, Redbridge and Newham.
The court heard how Ms UO also volunteered in East Ham and attended English and math courses in Ilford.
When Ms UO was granted refugee status in July 2022, she became entitled to help from the council under the Housing Act 1996 and subsequently made a homelessness application.
It was a result of how the council handled this application and follow-up assessments that the High Court found to be unlawful.
In explaining his decision, Mr Justice Lane said the council’s decision that the hotel and Peterborough accommodation were in each case suitable were based upon a “flawed assessment” and its “failure lawfully to review that assessment”.
He said: “I also accept the claimant’s submission that for her to have to embark upon the review process would inevitably be unnecessary further delay and the consequent unnecessary expenditure of further public monies.”
Additionally, he said the hotel accommodation could “not rationally be regarded as suitable” due to the impact on the children’s travel to school and having nowhere to prepare meals for them and therefore having to subsist on fast food.
In response, a Redbridge Council spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, due to years of chronic government underinvestment in social housing, Redbridge – like the rest of London – is in the grip of a severe housing crisis.
“The stark reality is that demand is by far outweighing supply. We receive over 100 homelessness applications monthly and accommodate more than 3,000 residents in temporary accommodation.
“In the face of this demand and the need for more suitable homes, we sometimes have no alternative but to offer some households accommodation outside London. Hotel accommodation is also one of the temporary measures we are forced to use. While this is not ideal, it can often prevent people from ending up on the streets.”
The council said it accepts the judgement and is working to identify opportunities to improve its assessments and procedures.
It also confirmed that the family has now been moved to a property within the borough.
Sign up for our regulation and legal newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
Sign up to the Regulation and Governance Conference
A brand new housing sector conference shining a light on changing regulation and best practice governance – from financial and ethical governance, to ensuring a fair and good service for tenants.
Bringing together 250 UK housing governance professionals in one setting for the first time, this event is an unmissable opportunity to kick-start critical discussions around regulatory policy, tenant satisfaction, accountability, transparency and financial risk management.
