The King (on the application of Amina Ahamed) v London Borough of Haringey
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Lord Justice Newey,Lord Justice Underhill,Sir Geoffrey Vos |
| Judgment Date | 11 August 2023 |
| Neutral Citation | [2023] EWCA Civ 975 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
| Docket Number | Case Nos: CA-2022-000408 |
[2023] EWCA Civ 975
Sir Geoffrey Vos, MASTER OF THE ROLLS
Lord Justice Underhill
(Vice-President of the Court of Appeal (Civil Division))
and
Lord Justice Newey
Case Nos: CA-2022-000408
CA-2023-000291
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
KING'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Upper Tribunal Judge Ward (sitting as a Judge of the High Court)
[2022] EWHC 1086 (Admin)
AND ON APPEAL FROM A DECISION ON A REVIEW UNDER SECTION 202 OF THE HOUSING ACT 1996
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Rea Murray (instructed by Lawstop) for the Appellant
Stephen Evans (instructed by London Borough of Haringey Legal Services) for the Respondent
Hearing date: 19 July 2023
Approved Judgment
This judgment was handed down remotely at 10.30am on 11 August 2023 by circulation to the parties or their representatives by e-mail and by release to the National Archives.
The appellant, Ms Amina Ahamed, has since December 2021 lived at Northumberland Park Hostel (“the Hostel”) in Tottenham, where she has a room of her own (“Room 7”) but shares bathroom and kitchen facilities. The accommodation is provided on half board terms.
In these proceedings, Ms Ahamed contends that the respondent, the London Borough of Haringey (“the Council”), has failed in its responsibilities under the Housing Act 1996 (“the 1996 Act”). More specifically, she contends that Room 7 does not amount to “suitable” accommodation and that it is not reasonable for her to continue to occupy it, with the result that she is “homeless” for the purposes of the 1996 Act.
Basic facts
Ms Ahamed, who is single and now aged 48, came to the United Kingdom from Somalia in 2010. In August 2021, she was granted leave to remain and, as a result, told that she would have to leave the accommodation provided through the National Asylum Support Service (“NASS”) in which she was living.
On 3 November 2021, a homelessness application was submitted to the Council and a housing needs officer (“the Officer”) was allocated to her case. On 17 November, the Officer spoke to Ms Ahamed with the assistance of an interpreter and recorded that the NASS accommodation would be ending on 2 December and that Ms Ahamed had “blood pressure, hearing impairment – hearing aid, diabetes 2, high cholesterol”. On 30 November, the Officer told Haringey Migrant Support Centre, which had been corresponding with the Council on Ms Ahamed's behalf since 11 November, “Eligibility and homelessness confirmed, it is the priority need threshold I am unable to ascertain”.
On 1 December 2021, the Officer received Ms Ahamed's medical records and also interviewed her, again with the help of an interpreter, and a “vulnerability questionnaire” was completed. This included questions on “Physical and/or mental health issues” and “Management of day-to-day activities (ability to fend)”. Ms Ahamed explained that she had “diabetes type 2, cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart pain”. Asked how her health affected her on a daily basis, she explained that her eyesight had been affected and that she wore glasses. She further confirmed that she was able to prepare meals for herself and to go food shopping.
Following this interview, the Officer recorded in the case notes for Ms Ahamed, “No overt reason to believe more vulnerable than the average person”. She said the same in an email to Haringey Migrant Support Centre of 1 December, but added:
“With this being said. I have contacted Northumberland [P]ark hostel as Amina is over 35 yrs old and receiving UC [i.e. universal credit]. They advised to call tomorrow for vacancies.”
On 2 December 2021, the Officer wrote to Ms Ahamed enclosing an “Assessment and Personalised Housing Plan”. She explained that she had found Ms Ahamed to be homeless and eligible for assistance and that the Council therefore had a duty to make an assessment of her case and to take reasonable steps to help her to secure that suitable accommodation became available for her occupation. The “Assessment and Personalised Housing Plan” recorded as regards “Clients' needs”:
“Support needs:
— Somali interpreter is needed
— Can read in Somali but struggles with writing as she never attended school
— Benefits have been applied for on behalf of client, who is now in receipt of UC”
Also on 2 December 2021, the Officer told Haringey Migrant Support Centre in emails that the Hostel had proved to have vacancies and that Ms Ahamed could “make her way now”. The Officer further explained that the room in the Hostel which Ms Ahamed was to have was single occupancy, that it was “not temporary accommodation or supported”, that the Hostel provided a licence agreement rather than an assured shorthold tenancy, that the Hostel provided three meals a day for which a service charge would be payable and that the Council would pay the first month's service charge. Ms Ahamed moved into the Hostel that same day. It is to be noted that the reference to the Hostel “provid[ing] three meals a day” was a mistake: it in fact supplies breakfast and dinner, but not lunch.
In a letter dated 14 December 2021, the Officer informed Ms Ahamed that the Council's “relief duty” under section 189B of the 1996 Act had come to an end because Ms Ahamed had “accommodation that is available to you for at least 6 months and which is suitable for your household to occupy”. The Officer further said that, under section 184(3) of the 1996 Act, she was notifying Ms Ahamed that “the S193 main duty does not apply to you as you are not homeless” and that Ms Ahamed could request a review of the decision under section 202 of the 1996 Act.
On 21 January 2022, Lawstop solicitors sent the Council a letter pursuant to the judicial review pre-action protocol asking that Ms Ahamed be provided with “alternative, suitable accommodation, pursuant to section 188 of the Housing Act 1996”. Replying on 4 February, the Council said that Ms Ahamed's accommodation “was not provided under s.188 but offered to end our relief duty”. It further said that it would treat Lawstop's letter as an out-of-time request for a review.
On 7 February 2022, Ms Ahamed applied for permission to proceed with a claim for judicial review, contending that the “decision to accommodate [Ms Ahamed] in the accommodation was unlawful because the accommodation is unsuitable”. That application came before Upper Tribunal Judge Ward, sitting as a Judge of the High Court, on 24 February. In a judgment given that day, Judge Ward refused permission to apply for judicial review, agreeing with the Council that Ms Ahamed had an appropriate alternative remedy through the review procedure and, potentially, an appeal to the County Court pursuant to section 204 of the 1996 Act.
In the meantime, on 22 February 2022, the review officer, Mr Minos Perdios, had sent Ms Ahamed and Lawstop a letter in which he had explained that he was “minded to” conclude that the Council had been entitled to end its relief duty under section 189B of the 1996 Act and that Ms Ahamed was no longer homeless. Explaining why he considered the accommodation in the Hostel to be suitable for Ms Ahamed, Mr Perdios said, among other things, that he was satisfied that the accommodation was affordable and that it was suitable in terms of cooking facilities, Ms Ahamed's medical conditions and sharing facilities. Mr Perdios said, however, that he would like to invite further representations before he made his final decision.
Lawstop made written representations on 8 March and 1 April 2022. In the course of those of 8 March, Lawstop suggested that Mr Perdios “contact Ms Ahamed's GP for information about the specific diet plan and what he has advised her”. On 8 March, Mr Perdios spoke to the surgery and, on 15 March, he spoke to the practice's Health Care Assistant.
Mr Perdios gave his final decision in a letter dated 7 April 2022 (“the Decision Letter”). He confirmed that he was satisfied that the Council's section 189B duty to Ms Ahamed had come to an end as she had accommodation that was available for her for at least six months and which was suitable for her household to occupy and, hence, that section 189B(7)(a) of the 1996 Act applied to her.
With regard to the availability of the accommodation, Mr Perdios said in paragraph 3 of the Decision Letter:
“The legislation does not state that an applicant needs to have a particular licence or tenure in order to be able to bring to an end the relief duty on the basis that they have six months accommodation. The only stipulation is that there is a reasonable prospect of it being available for at least six months and suitable. Homes for Haringey has an excellent working relationship with the hostel and we know very clearly the nature of the agreement and how long a person can occupy it. Irrespective of the fact that the Accommodation Agreement states that only 13 weeks of accommodation is guaranteed the reality is that, as long as you adhered to the terms of the Accommodation Agreement, the accommodation would remain available to you not just for six months but indefinitely.”
Turning to affordability, Mr Perdios noted that Ms Ahamed had asserted that she received £324 each month from universal credit and that, having paid service charges of £156 per month, she was left with only £168 per month, equivalent to £38.76 per week. However, Mr Perdios observed that the rent and service charge between them covered “rent, utilities, water, food (breakfast and dinner), tv licence, council tax” and he then addressed in turn the costs of clothing, laundry, travel (in respect of which he allowed £5...
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Joseph Kyle v Coventry City Council
...continue to occupy”. 37 I touched on one aspect of this in paragraph 47 of my judgment in R (Ahamed) v Haringey London Borough Council [2023] EWCA Civ 975 (“ Ahamed”), with which Sir Geoffrey Vos MR and Underhill LJ agreed. I said there: “[Counsel for the appellant] pointed out that Barone......