Christopher Baker defends the interpretation and operation of a local authority’s housing allocation scheme in the Court of Appeal, in relation to an applicant in statutorily overcrowded accommodation
CHRISTOPHER BAKER defends the interpretation and operation of a local authority’s housing allocation scheme in the Court of Appeal, in relation to an applicant in statutorily overcrowded accommodation.
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R (Flores) v Southwark LBC [2020] EWCA 1697 (Civ)
Court of Appeal, 15 December 2020, Floyd, Baker and Males LJJ
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Agreeing with the Administrative Court, below, the Court of Appeal held that the words “deliberate act” in Southwark’s housing allocation scheme were to be read in an ordinary way and without reference to other provisions in the Scheme which did not apply in this case. The words meant an intentional act, which need not be culpable or planned. Reversing the Judge’s dismissal of the claim, however, the Court granted declaratory relief as to the level of priority to be awarded to a family living in accommodation which had become statutorily overcrowded as a result of children growing older.
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