Supreme Court to rule next week on decisions about intentional homelessness

The Supreme Court will rule next week (20 May) in a key case on when a local authority should consider whether an individual is intentionally homeless or not.

The case of Haile v London Borough of Waltham Forest UKSC 2014/0185 was heard by Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Clarke, Lord Reed and Lord Carnwath on 29 January 2015.

The appellant, Ms Haile, was a tenant of a bed-sitting room at a hostel on Lea Bridge Road, Leyton.

On 25 October 2011 she left the property and on 15 February 2012 she gave birth to a child, an event which would have prevented her from remaining in the property.

The London Borough of Waltham Forest subsequently decided that Ms Haile was intentionally homeless, a decision which was upheld by the council’s reviewing officer and the county court.

In June 2014 the Court of Appeal also upheld the original decision. Lord Justice Jackson said the ruling in Din v Wandsworth London Borough Council [1983] AC 657 required the decision maker to consider whether homelessness was "intentional" at the date when the appellant quit her accommodation, not at the date of the council's decision.

The issue before the Supreme Court was therefore whether Waltham Forest should have considered whether Ms Haile’s homelessness was intentional on the date she left the accommodation (and became homeless), or on the date of Waltham Forest’s decision.