R v Kensington and Chelsea (Royal) London Borough Council, ex parte Bayani
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 16 May 1990 |
| Date | 16 May 1990 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Before Lord Justice Neill, Lord Justice Nicholls and Lord Justice Butler-Sloss
Housing - intentionally homeless - council's inquiries
A local housing authority was entitled to decide that a Filipino, working and living for part of every year in the United Kingdom, was intentionally homeless by reason of her giving up other accommodation available to her in Manila.
Even though the housing officer should perhaps have made inquiries about the applicant's situation in the Phillipines, there was no failure by the authority to comply with the statutory duty imposed on it by section 62 of the Housing Act 1985.
The Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Butler-Sloss dissenting, so held in a reserved judgment in allowing an appeal by Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council from Mr Justice Rose who in July 1989 had in judicial review proceedings quashed the decision reached by the authority that the applicant, Mrs Erlanda Bayani, was intentionally homeless.
The applicant, a citizen of the Phillipines, for a long time had come to the United Kingdom for some months each year to work here. She was married and her husband and son lived in Manila in a house owned by the applicant's mother and where she also was welcome.
In September 1988 the applicant, who was pregnant and unable to obtain work, came to the United Kingdom so as to preserve her visa permitting her re-entry into the country.
It was not disputed by the local authority that the applicant was homeless and had a priority need for accommodation. However, in March 1989, a housing officer having obtained information from the applicant's mother, wrote to the applicant refusing her application for assistance, being satisfied that she was homeless intentionally because "you gave up accommodation at 14 Cattlaya Street, Manila, which was available for your occupation and reasonable for you to continue to occupy".
Mr Justice Rose quashed that decision on the ground that the local authority's inquiries were inadequate as they had not included investigation into the applicant's finances, her contribution to her family's income or her non-employability in the Phillipines.
Section 60 of the Housing Act 1985 provides: "(1) A person becomes homeless intentionially if he deliberately does or fails to do anything in consequence of which he ceases to occupy accommodation which is available...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
The London Borough of Croydon v Ms Vanda Lopes
...The scope of the inquiries required to be made is, absent perversity, for the council to decide: see R v Kensington and Chelsea Royal London Borough Council, ex p. Bayani (1990) 22 HLR 400 and Cramp v Hastings Borough Council [2005] 4 All ER 1014. The judge did not refer to these cases and ......
-
The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago v Dr. Keith Rowley the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
...made that it possessed the information necessary for its decision (per Neill LJ in R (Bayani) v. Kensington and Chelsea Royal LBC (1990) 22 HLR 406). 4. The court should establish what material was before the authority and should only strike down a decision by the authority not to make furt......
-
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee v The Secretary of State for Health
...made that it possessed the information necessary for its decision ( per Neill LJ in R (Bayani) v. Kensington and Chelsea Royal LBC (1990) 22 HLR 406). (4) The court should establish what material was before the authority and should only strike down a decision by the authority not to make fu......
-
R DK v Secretary of State for the Home Department
...made that it possessed the information necessary for its decision ( per Neill LJ in R (Bayani) v. Kensington and Chelsea Royal LBC (1990) 22 HLR 406). (4) The court should establish what material was before the authority and should only strike down a decision by the authority not to make fu......