The King (on the application of YR) v London Borough of Lambeth

Hearing dates: 18–19 October 2022

APPROVED JUDGMENT

This judgment was handed down remotely, the date for hand-down is deemed to be on 8 November 2022.

Paul Bowen KC sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court:

Introduction

I am concerned with an application for judicial review of the decision of the London Borough of Lambeth (‘the Defendant’) dated 17 August 2022 assessing the Claimant and her family's housing needs arising out of their homelessness and the steps taken on 18 August 2022 to meet those needs, including by the provision of interim accommodation, under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 (the 1996 Act). The gravamen of the Claimant's complaint is that the interim accommodation is not suitable for her and her family to occupy because of its location so far from her previous home, and the children's schools, in Lambeth. This has required her and her family of seven children to move from Lambeth which has caused, and will continue to cause, significant impact and disruption to her and, in particular, to the children, who will have to move schools if a further offer of suitable accommodation is not made. The grounds of review allege that the Defendant has failed to discharge its duty to carry out a lawful housing needs assessment and to produce a lawful personalised housing plan under s 189A of the 1996 Act (as introduced by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 (the 2017 Act)) taken with s 11(2) of the Children Act 2004; is in breach of its duty to keep that assessment and plan under review, contrary to s 189A(9) and s 11(2); has failed to apply its own homelessness placements policy; and is in breach of its continuing duty under s 188(1), read with s 206 and 208 and in the light of s 11(2), to provide the Claimant and her family with interim accommodation which is ‘suitable’ and which, so far as reasonably practicable, is in or near Lambeth.

This matter came before me on an expedited basis following the grant of permission on 16 September with further directions on 27 September 2022, both by Antony Dunne DHCJ. The case raises some novel questions concerning the duties introduced by the 2017 Act and their interrelationship with existing duties under Part 7 of the 1996 Act. Given the complexities of the issues I reserved judgment. I am grateful to Counsel for their helpful written and oral submissions.

I am satisfied that the anonymity order made by Ockleton DHCJ, Vice-President of the Upper Tribunal, and which I ordered should continue in force during the hearing and until my judgment, should continue indefinitely. The Claimant and her family members have all been anonymised pursuant to CPR 39.2 given the private nature of much of the information and to protect the interests of the seven children of the family which outweighs the public interest in identifying them. The report of this judgment can, however, be published in its current form.

Factual background

The Defendant is a local authority with housing duties under, materially, Part 7 of the 1996 Act.

The Claimant is a homeless single mother responsible for the care of seven children whose ages range between 4 months and 16 years. A, her youngest child, is 6 months old; R is 4; Y is 7; B is 9; H is 12; J is 12; and S is 16. The Claimant is the mother of three of the children, J, B and A; the other four (S, H, Y and R) are children by the Claimant's husband and the Claimant's sister, making the seven children both half-siblings and cousins. Until December 2021 the children were being cared for by the Claimant's sister in the Dominican Republic. The Claimant has power of attorney to make decisions on behalf of her sister's children.

The Claimant was born in the Dominican Republic but is a Spanish national. Her English is poor. She moved to the UK, on her own, in 2018. She has applied for, and been granted, ‘pre-settled status’ under the EU Settlement Scheme and will be entitled to ‘settled status’ in 2023, as will the dependent children. She was in employment in cleaning and hairdressing roles until August 2021 when she became pregnant with her youngest child. The Claimant has lived at a number of addresses in the UK but has been settled in the London Borough of Lambeth since December 2021. At that time, she was joined in the UK by her husband, her two elder children and his (and the Claimant's sister's) four children from the Dominican Republic. The family were unable to stay where the Claimant was then living and became homeless. They were taken in by a lady who lives locally, Ms. GS, who lives in Lambeth. The Claimant and Ms. GS have since become good friends. In January 2022 the Claimant and her family had to move out of Ms. GS's home and were temporarily accommodated by the Defendant in a two-bedroom flat in London SW6 (‘the Lambeth flat’). Six of the children have been enrolled in secondary and primary schools in Lambeth, five since February or March 2022 and one since September 2022. They are reported to have made friends, have positive relationships with their teachers and to be progressing academically. In March 2022 the Claimant's relationship with her husband broke down and she commenced divorce proceedings. Her youngest daughter, A, was born on 10 May 2022. She is now a single mother with seven dependent children.

The Lambeth flat was unsuitable given its limited size for such a large family (two rooms with kitchenettes, two beds, a bathroom and patio). The Claimant's solicitors wrote to the Defendant on 25 July 2022, highlighting the unsuitability of the property and seeking a 3–4 bedroom property in the borough within reasonable proximity of the children's schools and employment opportunities for the Claimant. A formal application for homelessness assistance under s 183 of the 1996 Act was submitted to the Defendant on 29 July 2022, together with a request for interim accommodation under s 188(1). This highlighted the Claimant's eligibility for assistance, the fact that the children were at schools in Lambeth and the family's limited finances. An application was also made for children in need assessments for each of the children under s 17 Children Act 1989. The Defendant's social work department confirmed that s 17 assessments would be carried out on 17 August 2022. I am informed these were completed on 18 October 2022, although I have not seen copies. It appears this process was begun as early as January 2022, as I have seen a document titled ‘CSC Child and Family Assessment’ dated 1 February 2022, which predates the decision in this case and was completed before the children entered school. This document, among other things, had recommended that the family be provided with suitable accommodation and that the children be enrolled in local schools.

On 17 August 2022 the Claimant was interviewed in connection with her housing application by a Housing Adviser with the Defendant, Ms. Scott. The interview took place by telephone, with the assistance of a Spanish speaking interpreter. No face to face interview was carried out. The Claimant states that during the interview no questions were asked about the Claimant's family circumstances or the children's needs. No record of this interview has been produced by the Defendant and there is no evidence from Ms. Scott which contradicts the Claimant's evidence. On the same day, Ms. Scott completed a ‘Relief Assessment and Personalised Plan’ (‘RAPP’), which purported to discharge the Defendant's duty to conduct a housing needs assessment and prepare a personalised housing plan under s 189A of the 1996 Act. The Claimant's first Ground of judicial review relates to the alleged inadequacy of this document in discharging those duties and I will need to consider this in more detail.

According to the Defendant's evidence, there were no suitably sized properties for the Claimant and her family available in Lambeth on 18 August 2022. On that morning, Ms. Scott informed Mr. Varghese that ‘ The placement team have no properties in Lambeth – the family are likely to be housed outside the borough — Romford and Gillingham!’ Later that morning, the Defendant contacted the Claimant to offer her a four-bedroom property in East Tilbury, Essex (‘the Property’) by way of interim accommodation under s 188(1) of the 1996 Act. The Offer Letter stated: ‘We believe that the property is suitable for your occupation. We may take into account the interim nature of a placement when assessing whether or not it is suitable, as accommodation may be suitable for a few days or weeks that would not be suitable for a longer term placement. In making this offer we have taken into account information on your housing file, including our assessment of your housing needs.’ The letter warned the Claimant that if she refused the offer, the Defendant would cease to be under a duty to provide accommodation under s.188(1) and would not provide her with further accommodation whilst her claim was assessed. The letter recorded that because this was interim accommodation there was no statutory right of review under s 202 of the 1996 Act, but that ‘you can request an internal review if you consider the offer is unsuitable’.

East Tilbury is a village with a population of c.6000 in Essex, in the local authority area of Thurrock Council. The Claimant's evidence is that the commute from the village to central London takes over an hour (at a cost of £17.40 for an adult return) and...