The Council had taken leases of properties from a Housing Association to provide accomodation to the homeless, satisfying its statutory duties. The tenant B was said to be a non-secure tenant, but the tenancy agreement did not reflect the terms of the 1996 Act. The Council served a notice to quit. B did not leave, and the Council offered temporary alternative accomodation, which B did not accept. The council said it had satisfied its duties to her and after a review at B’s request, it sought possession. On appeal the judge rejected the council’s claim saying that a tenancy of property held by a local authority as lessees from a private landlord fell within paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 of the 1985 Act, if at all, and so could not fall within paragraph 4 of that Schedule. Paragraphs 4 and 6 were mutually exclusive. The Council appealed.
Held: The appeal succeeded. ‘The question in the present case is whether condition (a) – ‘for use as temporary housing accommodation’ – is coextensive with the condition in paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 – ‘in pursuant of any function under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996′. If the condition in paragraph 6 extends beyond the performance of functions under Part VII of the 1996 Act, then paragraph 6 cannot be said to be otiose: it covers circumstances which would not fall within paragraph 4. The fact that paragraph 6 also applies to circumstances which do fall within paragraph 4 is not a sufficient reason for qualifying the plain words of paragraph 4 itself.’ Paragragh 6 does so extend.
Chadwick, Gage, Lawrence Collins LJJ
[2007] EWCA Civ 1339, [2008] HLR 42, [2008] 1 WLR 2408
Bailii
Housing Act 1996, Housing Act 1985 79
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina, ex parte O v The London Borough of Haringey, The Secretary of State for the Home Department CA 4-May-2004
The court considered the duties of local authorities to support infirm asylum seekers with children.
Held: The authority had an obligation to support the adult, but the responsibility for the children fell on the National Asylum Support . .
These lists may be incomplete.
Updated: 02 June 2021; Ref: scu.341671
