Housing & Community Care

Eleri has a busy and varied practice across the range of housing law matters. She is ranked in Chambers and Partners and has experience in the County Court, High Court and Court of Appeal litigation.

Eleri’s practice encompasses homelessness cases, judicial review, unlawful eviction, possession proceedings, and anti-social behaviour injunctions. She has also acted in complex injunction matters under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in the housing context. She has a particular interest in homelessness and is regularly instructed in judicial review claims involving applications for interim relief. She has substantial experience with statutory homelessness appeals.  Eleri undertakes extensive drafting and advisory work and particularly welcomes cases involving public law challenges, matters arising under the Equality Act 2010. Earlier experience as a Senior Debt Adviser enables her to find creative solutions to broader issues facing clients.

Notable recent cases include:

• R(Coleman) v LB Harrow [2023]: Secured mandatory order to rehouse the family of an exceptionally disabled child in a case where complex PSED issues arose, Led by Martin Hodgson.
• GT v WS [2023]: Represented the defendant in a possession claim brough by a private landlord. The Defendant counterclaim and secured an order for specific performance, £25,000 in damages for disrepair and £22,500 in penalty payments for non-protection of tenancy deposit, consisting of the maximum three times the deposit penalty for 8 breaches.
• R(HA) v LB Redbridge [2022]: Secured interim relief at contested hearing requiring the local authority to rehouse a single mother and her children from a single room.
• Omar v Hackney LBC [2022]: Represented the Appellant in Court of Appeal litigation in which a County Court Judge’s finding that a Care leaver’s conviction necessarily meant he was bound to be intentionally homeless was set aside by consent post-permission, led by Martin Hodgson.

She has authored several articles on Welsh housing law and provided consultancy and advice on the same.

Eleri is a member of the Executive Committee for the Housing Law Practitioners Associations (HLPA). She has presented at a number of conferences and events on English or Welsh law including for Legal Action Group (LAG), Young Legal Aid Lawyers, and Law Friends Society and Legal Action Group and HLPA. She is available to provide bespoke training.

Asylum & Immigration

Eleri represents clients in a broad range of asylum and immigration matters including: international protection and human rights appeals, entry clearance, family reunion, deportation, EEA appeals, Modern Slavery cases, cessation and revocation of refugee status and exclusion, and immigration bail or unlawful detention.  She also accepts instructions in judicial review.

Notably, Eleri represented the Appellant in AEB v SSHD [2022] EWCA Civ 1512 in which the Court emphasised the constitutional importance of a right of a fair hearing at all levels in the immigration appeals framework, led by David Chirico.

Eleri has substantial experience representing exceptionally vulnerable and traumatised client including those with serious and enduring mental health conditions and those who lack litigation capacity.  Eleri has successfully represented many clients in statutory appeals which involve earlier adverse findings (Devaseelan cases) and has particular interest in these cases.

Public law, human rights and civil liberties and civil actions against public authorities

Eleri is regularly instructed to act in judicial review claims, and has a thriving public law practice. Her cases often involve untested and complex points of law. She is regularly advising and acting in cases involved human rights breaches and civil liberties.

Eleri is a member of Chambers’ Civil Actions against Public Authorities team. She advises and acts in false imprisonment claims against the Home Office, including those involving issues of discrimination or breach of human rights.

Background

Eleri has over 10 years experience in social welfare law litigation. Prior to coming to the bar she had experience both in solicitors firms and a homelessness charity in Wales, where she was the Senior Debt Adviser. Outside of her practice, Eleri is an Independent School Admission Appeals panel member which involves deciding statutory appeals brought by parents against school admission refusals. She has acted as panel chair when required, particularly when hearings were conducted in the Welsh language.