1. Homelessness Law:

2. First Interview
Has the client submitted a homeless application to the Local
Authority?
It will often assist the client if the advisor assists him or her to
complete the homeless application form or provides a letter
setting out the basis of the application.
Has the Local Authority accepted the application?
The Local Authority has a duty to accept the application and
is susceptible to judicial review procedings if it refuses to do so.

3. First Interview (2)
Has the Local Authority agreed to accommodate the client
pending the making of a section 184 decision?
The Local Authority has a duty to accommodate the applicant
until the applicant has been issued with a section 184 decision.
Has the Local Authority agreed to look after the client's
belongings?
The Local Authority has a duty to protect the client's
possessions and belongings until a section 184 decision is
made.

4. The Five Tests:
1. Eligibility;
2. Local Connection;
3. Priority Need;
4. Intentionality;
5. Homelessness.

5. Test One: Eligibility
Is the Applicant Eligible for assistance?
1. Was the client born in this country? Or
2. Does the client have indefinite leave to remain? Or
3. Is the client an EC citizen pursuing treaty rights? Or
4. Is the client the parent of an EC citizen pursuing treaty
rights?

6. Test Two: Local Connection
Has the client lived in the area for 6 months in the last 12
months or 3 years in the last 5 years?
Note 1: Refugees do not have to show a Local Connection as
NASS accommodation is not accommodation of choice.
Note 2: Local Connection Rules do not apply in cases of
domestic violence (and I would also suggest in other cases of
violence).

7. Test Three: Priority Need (1):
Is the client in priority need? It has to be shown that the client is
vulnerable if homeless.
The vulnerability test was set down in R v Waveney DC ex p
Bowers and R v Camden LBC ex p Pereira as:
"less able to fend for oneself so that injury or detriment will
result where a less vulnerable man will be able to cope
without harmful effects."

8. Test Three: Priority Need (2)
Generally the client will meet at least one of the following
categories:
● Pregnant
● Dependent Children
● Old age, mental illness or disability
● Natural disaster
● 16 or 17 years old
● Under 21 and "in care"
● Member of the armed forces
● Custodial sentence
● Fleeing violence
In some cases more than one...

9. Test Four: Intentionality
Has the client deliberately done or deliberately failed to do an
act as a consequence of which he or she has become
homeless?
The word "deliberately" imports the legal doctrine of "good faith"
eg: a woman fleeing domestic violence could be said to have
deliberately fled her her home but she would be acting in good
faith and would not therefore fail this test.
Housing officers will generally find an applicant with rent arrears
to be intentionally homeless. This is not necessarily the case.

10. Test Five: Homelessness
An applicant can be homeless without necessarily being in the
position that he or she is actually sleeping rough.
For example the applicant would be homeless in the following
scenarios:
● Threatened with homelessness in 28 days (eg received a
bailiff's warrant);
● Living in accommodation that is unfit for human habitation;
● Living in accommodation that is unfit for the applicant's
continued occupation (eg the client is disabled and
occupying the property requires climbing stairs);
● Applicant fears violence at the property; and
● Applicant has no security of tenure in the property and has
been asked to leave by the tenant or owner of the property.

11. Procedure: Pre Section 184 decision
letter
A Local Authority may accommodate families in Bed and
Breakfast accommodation:
"Where there is no alternative accommodation available
for occupation by the applicant, the authority may house
them in bed and breakfast accommodation provided any
such period, or total of periods, does not exceed six
weeks"
Bed and breakfast is carefully defined so as to exclude
accommodation managed by Housing Associations or Local
Authorities.

12. Procedure: Section 184 decision letter
The Local Authority must provide the client with a section 184
decision and this must be in writing.
The section 184 decision must advise the client of his or
her right to request a section 202 review of the decision.
There are two possible outcomes which I shall refer to as a
positive decision (where the Local Authority accepts a duty to
house the client) and a negative decision (where it does not).
The advisor should be aware that the client will often think that
because the letter comes from a Local Authority it must be right
- it rarely is...

13. The Negative section 184 decision
Provided that there are grounds to challenge the section 184
decision (the Local Authority's refusal to accommodate the
applicant) the applicant must request a section 202 review
decision within 21 days that the date that he or she received the
section 184 decision or that his or her solicitor received it.
(It is not necessarily 21 days from the date that the letter is
actually dated.)
The advisor should, as a general rule of thumb, request the
Local Authority's Housing File at this stage.

14. Accommodation pending a section 202
review decision
The Local Authority no longer has a duty to accommodate the
Client but they have a discretion to accommodate the Client.
If the Local Authority refuses or declines to exercise its
discretion it is susceptible to judicial review proceedings.
The Local Authority must at this stage consider what are known
as the "Mohamed criteria" and the criteria must be applied
fairly. "Fairly" is a legal concept rather than what the
Authority or what the Client consider to be fair.

15. How long should it take for a section
202 review decision to be made?
The Local Authority should notify the Client of the section 202
review decision within 8 weeks of the Local Authority receiving
the request for the review.
This deadline can be extended by consent between the Local
Authority and the Client.

16. The positive section 184 decision
The Local Authority has admitted a duty to house the Client and
must therefore provide suitable accommodation for the client
and his or her family.
The applicant has 3 options when offered accommodation:
● Accept the offer;
● Refuse the offer and challenge the suitability of the offer; or
● Accept the offer and challenge the suitability of the offer.
The third of these options is generally the best option (the "Have
your cake and eat it" option) even where the Client is not happy
with the offer made.

17. Refusing an offer of accommodation
The client should be advised to only refuse an offer in extreme
circumstances as there is a serious risk that the Local Authority
will find the offer to be suitable and discharge its duty to
accommodate the client.
The Client will then need to establish an error of law in order to
be able to successfully chalenge the decision such as
"Wednesbury unresonableness".

18. The Section 202 Review decision letter
There are three potential outcomes to a section 202 review
decision.
These are:
1. It supports the original section 184 decision.
2. It quashes the section 184 decision and accepts a duty to
house the client.
3. It quashes the section 184 decision and remits the matter to
the original decision maker for a further decision.

19. The Section 202 Review Decision (2)
If the Local Authority issues the client with a negative section
202 review decision (ie: one where the Authority's decision
make supports the original section 184 decision) the Client has
21 days from receiving the decision letter to issue a section 204
appeal in the County Court.
(The Local Authority retains a discretion to review a section 202
review decision but cannot be demanded to review a section
202 review decision.)
Again the Local Authority has a discretion to accommodate the
client pending the outcome of the section 204 appeal but a
challenge to the failure to exercise this discretion is by way of
section 204A appeal rather than judicial review proceedings.

20. The section 204 appeal
A section 204 appeal is far faster than ordinary litigation and will
take no more than 3 months to conclude.
The Judge will normally either approve the section 202 decision
or quash the decision and send it back to the Local Authority for
a further decision.

21. The End