Members of our Housing and Community Care Team specialise in: refusals to provide interim accommodation; allocations policies; eligibility for homelessness assistance; provision of community care support and provision of support and accommodation to families and children.

Invariably such matters require urgent attention on short notice and out of hours and for this reason the team maintains a duty rota to ensure that we are best able to provide such assistance to those instructing us.

Important cases that the Housing and Community Care Team have been involved in include:

Sanneh and R (HC) and others v SSWP and others [2015] EWCA Civ 49 (representing HC, eligibility for welfare benefits for Zambrano carers, application for pta pending in Supreme Court in relation to appellant HC).

Camden LBC v Sharif [2013] HLR 16: Supreme Court (homelessness, meaning of ‘accommodation’; adequacy of discharge of duty)

Yemshaw v Hounslow LBC  [2011] 1 WLR 433: Supreme Court (definition of domestic violence in homelessness cases)

Makisi and others v Birmingham CC [2011] HLR 27: Court of Appeal (requirements to be followed by local authority in homelessness review process).

Akhtar v Birmingham CC [2011] EWCA Civ 383; [2011] HLR 28: Court of Appeal, (provision of reasons in homelessness decisions)