We represented a family with a severely disabled young daughter who had been admitted to hospital 15 times over the past three years, often at short notice due to sudden and serious health declines requiring urgent treatment.

The family were living in unsuitable conditions on the 5th floor of a building with no access to outdoor space and were severely overcrowded. Due to her condition, the child had a very limited fluid intake, which significantly restricted her ability to go outside without risking dehydration and fatigue. She was also unable to play in shared communal areas due to complications related to her medical treatment.

The family had requested Band 1 priority on the housing waiting list under the “hospital discharge” criteria. However, Freedom of Information requests revealed that this criterion was not in use by the council, despite being in their allocation scheme for over ten years. There was also no policy or guidance advising staff how or when to apply it.

Our client was assessed as requiring accessible accommodation. However, following this assessment, the council prohibited the family from bidding on general needs accommodation - a restriction we challenged as both discriminatory and inconsistent with the council’s own allocation scheme. The council later agreed to a revised approach, allowing the family to bid on both accessible and potentially suitable general needs accommodation.

We obtained strong supporting evidence from an occupational therapist confirming that the family’s current property was unsuitable and could not be adapted to meet their needs. Following a pre-action letter, the council agreed to award Band 1 priority on the basis of hospital discharge - demonstrating that such priority should be awarded where an applicant is regularly admitted to hospital and their housing is both unsuitable and incapable of being adapted. Based on the information obtained during the case, we believe this was the first family to be awarded the hospital discharge priority.

After further correspondence regarding the family’s additional priority needs, the council eventually made a direct offer of a 4-bedroom accessible council house with a garden, which the family happily accepted.

Our client was represented by Solicitor, Luke Sheldon, assisted by Nick Bano of Garden Court Chambers.