Council ‘unfairly rejected’ disabled man’s home claim
THe High Court of Justice has ruled a West London council “unfairly rejected” a disabled man’s housing request after failing to contact his lawyers.
Judge Kirsty brimelow KC said Kensington and Chelsea Council should have provided the claimant with temporary accommodation while its decision to reject his homeless application was being reviewed.
The council said it was reasonable for the man to continue living in his Truro, Cornwall, flat while a statutory review was under way and used its discretion under the Housing Act 1996 to refuse the request. The man, who we are calling Mr X to protect his identity, then filed a judicial review which landed in the High Court.
The courtroom heard how Mr X, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and uses a wheelchair, became a social housing tenant in Truro in 2016 but from 2018 made two housing applications to Kensington and Chelsea because he feared being assaulted by his neighbours.
Mr X described a neighbour drilling through his door while he was inside and being pulled out of his wheelchair outside. He also described not trusting the police and being “terrified” to pass the police station.
The incidents left him so shaken that in December 2022, he travelled to London and slept in Kensington High Street car park before approaching the council for housing for a second time, according to the ruling.
In November 2022, he was driven to London by an acquaintance with “a couple of hundred kilograms of belongings” and in March 2023, the council’s social care department completed a care assessment which found Mr X was eligible for care because of his mental and physical conditions and risked deteriorating unless he was linked with local services. The council later said the man was not homeless because he had accommodation in Truro.
A review found “in the absence of any compelling evidence” the council’s decision should stand. but Mr X said the review failed to take in his admission to hospital in June 2023 and breached the public sector equality duty. His lawyers also claimed the council carried out “inadequate inquiries” and failed to contact them.
Judge brimelow agreed, ruling there had been “deficiencies of inquiries” by the council into Mr X’s safety in Truro. Kensington and Chelsea Council said it spoke with police and the Truro housing team which found no instances of Mr X complaining about the issues.
The council said it had attempted to contact Mr X multiple times to speak with him. Ms brimelow said: “The [council] does not seek assistance from [the claimant’s] solicitors to gain his view of the information from the social housing landlord in Truro and reasons for lack of police reports.
“This lack of inquiry means that the merits of the claimant’s case are strong as the reliance on the Truro information has not been balanced. If it was balanced, the judgement itself is a fine balance.
“The complexities of [the claimant’s] mental and physical conditions are not reflected as having been considered, beyond their description, in the approach to the inquiries.”
She said the council questioned the man’s dependence on a wheelchair that “is not supported by medical evidence or further inquiry”.
but Judge brimelow said the council did not consider Mr X’s fear of the authorities may have stopped him from engaging with Kensington and Chelsea Council, adding phoning him or pushing a note under his door “may well have been difficult for [the claimant] to cope with due to his mental health struggles”.
She said the council also failed to inquire about the impact of refusing accommodation would have on the claimant following his hospitalisation.
Judge brimelow said the decision had been unfair and ordered Kensington and Chelsea Council to provide suitable accommodation until the review was complete.
A Kensington and Chelsea spokesperson said: “Homelessness places huge pressure on local authorities across London, and Kensington and Chelsea is no exception.
“each month, we receive an average of 131 homelessness inquiries and have to find temporary accommodation for 40 new households. We are committed to supporting vulnerable residents to whom we have a duty of care and it’s crucial that our decisions also make the most of the council’s resources so that we can help as many people as possible.”
According to London Councils, onein-50 Londoners is now homeless and living in temporary accommodation, equating to 169,393 people as of last August. This comes as the availability of temporary accommodation is falling, with a 120 per cent drop in London landlords offering properties for rent.