Housing benefit regulations allow for ongoing payment of benefit while the claimant is absent from home in certain circumstances. The length of time during which benefit can be paid depends on the reasons for the claimant’s absence. A prisoner’s entitlement to continue to receive Housing Benefit while in custody depends on whether the person is on remand or sentenced.
Shelter successfully assisted a client to challenge a letting agent’s refusal to allow her to view a property because the agent did not accept tenants in receipt of housing benefit. So-called “No DSS” policies have never been successfully challenged in court before as the defendants generally settle, with a number of such settlements receiving media attention earlier this year.
In Guiste v Lambeth LBC (2019) WECA Civ 1758 the Court of Appeal in England and Wales once again considered the issue of vulnerability and priority need. The case concerned an application for homelessness assistance by a young man who was alleged to have both physical and mental health issues and who was found not to be in priority need by the council.
In Guiste v Lambeth LBC (2019) WECA Civ 1758 the Court of Appeal in England and Wales once again considered the issue of vulnerability and priority need. The case concerned an application for homelessness assistance by a young man who was alleged to have both physical and mental health issues and who was found not to be in priority need by the council.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in a majority verdict that the application of the bedroom tax to a woman living in a property with a sanctuary scheme constituted unlawful discrimination.
Housing Rights welcomes the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Samuels v Birmingham City Council [2019] UKSC28 in which Lord Carnwath stated that it was “hard to see on what basis the finding of intentional homelessness could be properly upheld” when the mother of four fell into rent arrears.
The High Court in England and Wales has ruled that the government’s Universal Credit migration arrangements for people who had been in receipt of a Severe Disability Premium and who naturally migrated to Universal Credit before 16 January 2019 are unlawful.
The High Court of Justice in England has ruled that the government's Right to Rent scheme breaches human rights law and cannot be rolled out to Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland without further evaluation.
In R (Safi) v The Borough Council of Sandwell [2018] EWCA 2876 the Court of Appeal for England and Wales clarified the factors which are relevant in determining whether a household is homeless for the purposes of section 175(3) of the Housing Act 1996.
