Supreme Court to hear next week appeal by council over mandatory orders and failure to comply with homeless duty

The Supreme Court will next week consider when a court should make a mandatory order against a local housing authority to enforce a duty owed to a homeless individual under s193(2) of the Housing Act 1996 (the "1996 Act").

At issue in particular in R (on the application of Imam) (Respondent) v London Borough of Croydon (Appellant) is whether the court take account of either: (a) budgetary constraints imposed on the housing authority; or (b) the availability of housing under a non-secured tenancy under Part VII of the 1996 Act (as opposed to a secured tenancy under Part VI of the 1996 Act).

The background to the case is that the respondent is disabled within the meaning of s6 of the Equality Act 2010.

The appellant local housing authority has provided the respondent housing since 2014. The council has accepted that (a) the property provided is not suitable accommodation, within the meaning of the 1996 Act; and (b) it is in breach of s193(2) of the 1996 Act by not offering suitable alternative accommodation.

The respondent judicially reviewed Croydon's failure to provide suitable alternative accommodation.

In the High Court, the Deputy Judge declined to exercise his discretion to award a mandatory injunction to require the appellant to provide suitable alternative accommodation.

In the Court of Appeal in Elkundi, R (On the Application Of) v Birmingham City Council [2022] EWCA Civ 601, this decision was overturned on the basis that the Deputy Judge had wrongly taken into account budgetary constraints imposed on the local housing authority in the exercise of his discretion and in the analysis of the steps taken by the authority to fulfil its statutory duty.

In January 2023 Croydon was given permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Crisis has been given permission to intervene.

The appeal will be heard on 3-4 May 2023 by a Supreme Court panel comprising Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Sales, Lord Hamblen, Lord Leggatt and Lord Richards.