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Saturday 10th October is World Homeless Day. Homelessness affects many people in Northern Ireland, including people who are no longer able to live in homes they own due to money problems.
A Supreme Court case, Haile v London Borough of Waltham [2015] UKSC 34, decided that Housing Officers should not base decisions on intentionality on the applicant’s circumstances at the time they became homeless.
The Housing Executive and the regional Health and Social Care Trusts have agreed on good practice guidance for assisting homeless young people. The guidance, signed off earlier this year, is an attempt to ensure that young people in crisis receive the assistance they need as quickly as possible. Agencies who provide advice to young people should ensure that they know which agency is responsible for assisting young people in crisis.
Certain decisions made by the Housing Executive can be reviewed by following a procedure laid out in the Housing Amendment Act (NI) 2011. These include decisions on whether or not someone is a Full Duty Applicant and on whether the accommodation offered to a homeless person is reasonable.
The applicant also has a right to appeal to the county court if the review is unsuccessful, but they can only appeal on a point of law.
Our Beyond the Gate project aims to prevent homelessness amongst people leaving prison by ensuring that they have all the necessary support to aid their transition back into independent living. Caoimhe, a support worker with Beyond the Gate discusses a recent success story. The client’s name has been changed.
Recent press reports focused on news that nearly 1,300 incidents of paramilitaries forcing people from their homes have been reported in Northern Ireland in the past three years.
Applicants who wish to review or appeal a negative homelessness decision must observe certain time limits. These limits are set out in the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 (as amended). Carmel Ferguson, solicitor with Housing Rights Service, discusses our recent successful case at the High Court, where we were granted leave to lodge an appeal outside of these time limits.
Carmel Ferguson, Solicitor with Housing Rights, discusses a recent important Judicial Review taken against the London Borough of Southwark. The JR, which was settled on the basis of a consent order, challenged the practices used by Southwark when approached by an applicant requesting housing assistance, claiming that these practices were unlawful.
