OK to be rehoused anywhere during homeless assessment says High Court

According to Inside Housing:

Titina Nzolameso and her five children were made homeless when they refused an offer of accommodation in Milton Keynes from Westminster Council in November 2012.

Ms Nzolameso challenged the decision, arguing that Westminster had failed to examine all the available housing available in and nearby Westminster, including on the open market.

But in a Court of Appeal judgement handed down today, Judge Lord Justice Moore-Bick dismissed her case.

He said the borough was allowed to take ‘a broad range of factors’ into account, including the ‘pressures’ on the council, in deciding what housing was available.

Giles Peaker, a partner at Anthony Gold solicitors and an expert in housing law, said the case ‘neutured’ guidance from 2012, which suggested an offer of a home outside of the borough would not be acceptable if a suitable home was available closer.

‘It enables local authorities to take a fairly broad brush approach when dealing with these cases, and it makes it harder for a challenge to succeed,’ he said.

The decision letter sent by the reviewing officer to Ms Nzolameso did not refer specifically to the availability of properties closer to Westminster.

But Justice Moore-Bick said while local authorities should not provide out-of-borough accommodation in a ‘routine and unthinking manner’, the review officer ‘cannot be criticized’ for not having expressly referred to the availability of housing closer than Milton Keynes.

‘In my view there is no basis for inferring she did not have it mind… it was not necessary for her to explain in detail what other accommodation was available,’ he said.

Had Westminster lost the case, it could have forced councils to expressly consider all the housing in their area and nearby before moving a tenant away.

Ms Nzolameso had refused the Milton Keynes offer on the grounds that it was not suitable for her to leave her support network and for her children to move schools and on health grounds.

Permission for appeal to the Supreme Court was refused. Ms Nzolameso’s temporary accommodation will cease tomorrow.

Daniel Astaire, Westminster City Council cabinet member for housing, said: ‘This is a victory for common sense. Councils have a raft of considerations to take into account when finding accommodation, not least their duty towards other people who are already waiting for a home.

‘Had this ruling gone the other way, it would have forced local authorities to disregard the needs of those who had a more pressing need to stay in their area. It would also have required councils to scour every neighbouring borough until they found an available property – whether or not it was suitable – imposing an unreasonable burden on local authority resources.’