Housing—Homeless person—Duty of housing authority to provide accommodation
Housing—Homeless person—Duty of housing authority to provide accommodation
Boreh v London Borough of Ealing, [2008] EWCA Civ 1176, [2008] All ER (D) 291 (Oct)
Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Lords Justices Wall, Toulson and Rimer, 29 October 2008
The suitability of accommodation offered to homeless people is not to be judged exclusively by reference to the condition of the accommodation at the time of the offer, but rather the assessment should take into account any proposed adaptations or alterations.
Christopher Jacobs (instructed by White Ryland) for the claimant. Barbara Neitler (instructed by Sylvia Ashleigh) for the authority.
The claimant became intentionally homeless. It was agreed that she was eligible for housing assistance from the defendant local authority and that she had a priority need pursuant to Pt VII of the Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996). It was also agreed that the accommodation had to be suitable for her, bearing in mind that she suffered from various disabilities, was a wheelchair user and couldn’t climb stairs.
The authority offered a house, which the claimant declined as being unsuitable. The authority
