London borough wins appeal over housing policy favouring working families

The London Borough of Ealing has won an appeal over to its policy of reserving certain homes for ‘working families’ and ‘model tenants’.

This had been successfully challenged in the High Court in April 2016 on the grounds that it was unlawfully discriminatory contrary to sections 19 and 29 of the Equality Act 2010 and Article 14 in conjunction with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

It was also argued then that Ealing was in breach of its public sector equality duty and section 11 of the Children Act 2004.

The challenge had been brought by two families which Ealing had a duty to house - a disabled single mother and her youngest child, and an older disabled couple with a disabled daughter and her young son.

Ealing in 2012 changed its housing policy to reward applicants from working households and model tenants, and an equality impact assessment found no evidence this would be discriminatory.

The Master of the Rolls said in the Court of Appeal judgment that the original judge had wrongly drawn comparisons with other boroughs’ housing policies and had not taken account of the details of Ealing’s operation.

Davis LJ and Underhill LJ agreed but both said the working household priority scheme was not within the ambit of Article 8, and so also not within the reach of Article 14.

There was not a right to settled or permanent accommodation protected by or within the reach of Article 8, Davis LJ said.

Mark Smulian