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Permission for Homelessness Judicial Review Granted by Court of Appeal (22 July 2024)

Date: 22/07/2024
Duncan Lewis, Main Solicitors, Permission for Homelessness Judicial Review Granted by Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal has granted a Duncan Lewis client the right to challenge a Council’s refusal to accept a new homelessness application and the dismissal of a critical medical report.

 

Background facts of the Case:

Duncan Lewis’ expert housing team represents the Appellant in this legal challenge concerning homelessness, which is due to be heard at the Court of Appeal later this year. This appeal will address crucial questions about the treatment of new evidence in homelessness cases and the responsibilities of local authorities.

 

The Appellant made her first homelessness application to the Respondent Council in May 2020 and was placed in temporary accommodation under section 188(1) of the Housing Act 1996. Despite being eligible for assistance and in priority need, the Council determined on 18 August, 2020, that the Appellant was intentionally homeless due to her own actions, thereby denying her permanent housing.

 

Following this decision, the Appellant requested a review under section 202 of the Act. The Respondent provided temporary accommodation pending the review under s188 (3). There were two reviews and two appeals thereafter. After two reviews and subsequent appeals, the Council’s third review decision on 27 January 2023 upheld the intentional homelessness finding, citing the Appellant’s actions from around 2015.

 

In response, an expert consultant psychiatrist assessed the Appellant and issued a report on 26 April 2023, concluding that the Appellant was disabled under the Equality Act 2010 and had been suffering from these issues since late 2015. Despite this new evidence, the Council dismissed the expert report and refused the Appellant’s second application for homelessness assistance on 4 September 2023.

 

The Appellant had appealed the third review decision. The appeal was heard and dismissed on 3 August 2023.  

 

The Appellant made a second application for homelessness assistance. On this occasion, she provided the expert report which had not been previously considered because it post-dated the third review decision. Despite this new evidence, the Council dismissed the expert report and refused the Appellant’s second application for homelessness assistance on 4 September 2023.

 

The Respondent Council refused to accept the second application because the Review Officer found no new facts which were not known about at the time of the previous decision; if there were new facts, that they were trivial; and, in any event, it did not change their previous decision.


Legal Proceedings:

The refusal to accept the second application was challenged through judicial review on 2 October 2023. However, Mr. Dan Kolinsky KC, sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court, denied permission for the claim. An application for an oral reconsideration was also refused by Ms. Annette Howard KC on 21 November 2023.

 

On 27 November 2023, this decision to refuse permission was appealed to the Court of Appeal on the basis that the Court was wrong to find that the expert report did not amount to a new fact for the purposes of a fresh homelessness application, wrong to apply a rationality test to the Respondent’s decision and the Court did not consider the second part of the Appellant’s Ground 1 at all, which was that the Respondent acted unlawfully by making enquiries into the expert report to test whether it was a new fact.

 

Court of Appeal

On 24 April 2024, Lord Justice Newey granted our client permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal.  This appeal raises an important issue which is whether an expert report can be a "new fact" which entitles a homeless applicant to make a fresh application for homelessness assistance, and the question as to whether a local authority can refuse to accept a fresh homelessness application, even if it raises a new fact.  Additionally, it also raises an interesting point with regards to a judge’s power to alter their judgment under the slip rule, under CPR 40.12.

 

The team awaits a final hearing date, which is anticipated to be later this year.

 

Representation:  Housing Solicitors, Amandeep Bains and Daljit Singh Shina, and Director Manjinder Kaur Atwal act for the Appellant, instructing Toby Vanhegan and Stephanie Lovegrove of 4-5 Grays Inn Square chambers.

 

About the Author

Amandeep Bains is a housing solicitor at Duncan Lewis. He acts for both tenants and landlords, publicly and privately funded, in a range of cases, including homelessness cases, possession proceedings, suitability reviews, housing litigation, eviction proceedings, disrepair claims, harassment issues, injunction proceedings, and judicial review applications.

 

Amandeep works under housing and property litigation director Manjinder Kaur Atwal, who has more than 15 years’ experience in her field. She is recommended in the Legal 500 directory and tackles a wide variety of housing and property law dispute cases including possession claims and eviction matters, landlord and tenant disputes, homelessness, housing disrepair, appeals relating to local authority housing decisions, boundary disputes, property nuisance/negligence claims and much more.

 

For advice or assistance on a housing matter, contact Amandeep at AmandeepB@duncanlewis.com, or by telephone at 02072752843

 

Duncan Lewis Solicitors

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors can guide clients in any matter or issues arising with local housing authorities, housing applications, tenants, landlords, ownership and repairs. With a niche expertise in Possession and Unlawful Eviction cases the Department holds a significant presence in County Court Possession Duty Schemes throughout London including the Central London County Court. Our housing department also offers representation in all proceedings including reviews, appeals and judicial review proceedings relating to homelessness, disrepair, succession for tenants and neighbourhood disputes against local authorities.

 

If you have any housing related queries or require representation please do not hesitate to contact our team of expert solicitors on 033 3772 0409.

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