May 2023 – Out of Borough Placement Appeal Rejected

Following around a year in temporary accommodation, the appellant was offered a 24-month assured shorthold tenancy of a two-bedroom flat with a private sector landlord in the neighbouring borough of Hounslow. However, the appellant did not take the tenancy, advising the council that the property was a long way from her agency work and that she might lose her job due to the distance. The council took the view that the appellant had refused its final accommodation offer and that its duty to her had come to an end.

The appellant appealed to the County Court where the Judge dismissed all five of her grounds of appeal, finding no evidence to indicate that the council had failed to carry out the appropriate researches of suitable properties, as shown in the review decision that said there was very limited housing stock available with only one property that could be offered. The appellant therefore appealed to the Court of Appeal.

The appeal was dismissed despite the Judge determining that there were flaws in the original County Court judgement. He found that the council could rely on new evidence to confirm its compliance with its TA Placement Policy and its TA Acquisitions Policy that instructs relevant council officers to focus on Zone 1 and Zone 2 areas nearest Ealing and to search for new accommodation on a daily basis.

In addition, Lord Justice Males considered whether the burden is on the Council to show that the property actually offered was closer than anything else which was available and determined that if the accommodation offered is reasonably close to where an applicant was previously living, it should not matter that some other accommodation is marginally closer: a local authoritys obligation is to have regard to the Guidance, which is after all only Guidance.

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