Our client was previously in a violent and abusive relationship. She fled the borough with her children and was placed in another borough in permanent accommodation. Our client approached us as the accommodation was unsuitable for her and her family’s needs. She did not want the instability of pursuing a homeless application and so instead we supported her in applying to the housing register.
The housing allocations rejected her application as she had not lived in the borough for five years and did not meet the residency criteria set out in their allocations policy. We requested a review of this decision; we then submitted representations and evidence in support of the review request, also including relevant medical evidence. We requested that the council waive the residency criteria, in this case, due to our client fleeing domestic violence. We considered that their residency criteria was unlawful as it discriminated against people fleeing domestic abuse, who are predominantly female. The council still would not allow our client onto the register, as they considered that she did not meet the requirements.
We therefore sent a Letter Before Claim, stating that their policy was unlawful and if they did not waive the residency criteria and allow our client onto the housing register, we would issue a claim for Judicial Review. We collected data from other local authorities, who had amended their policy to waive the residency criteria for people feeling domestic abuse. We also included documents and arguments to evidence that our client met the threshold for Band 1 priority.
We later made oral representations in respect of our request that the council waive the residency criteria, and also in support of our client’s eligibility for band 1 priority. We then received confirmation from the local authority that they would quash the review decision and make further enquiries. We then received confirmation that the residency criteria would be waived in our client’s case and the review had been successful. The matter was referred to the allocations scheme and she was awarded band 1 priority; her band date was also backdated to the date of her original application.
This now means that our client will have the highest priority to bid on suitable properties for her and her family.
The client was represented by solicitor Joy Gribbin.
