Thursday, 24 May 2012

court order needed before homless duty accepted

Posted in: Discussion | Legal debate

19/10/2011 11:39 am

mrkfm

mrkfm

Posts: 29

I have a young person who has been given notice by the landlord. He presented at the council on the day of his eviction but was advised that he had to stay until the landlord gets a court order.

this is despite the fact that the homelessness code of guidance states that they shouldn't do this if the landlord has issued the correct notice; that the council are satisfied that the landlord intends to seek possession and that there would be no defence to a possession.

All these requirements are met.

My question is - the guidance states that this can be ignored if a council are seeking alternative accommodation and therefore that person can stay in the accommodation for "a reasonable period" whilst the accommodation is found.  So what is a "reasonable period"?

Unsuitable or offensive? Report this discussion

Post a reply

Sort: Newest first | Oldest first

Author

Message

Anonymous

Anonymous

19/10/2011 2:24 pm

Councils will do this as part of their ensuring people are really homeless, but ignoring the realities of private tenure.

A case I am aware of was in the same position, but fled after the landlord in question attended the premises with friends and threatened violence if the person did not leave, this was after extracting £850 extra rent from them, and then overseeing their removal that day. What ever the person could not carry was forceably left behind for disposal. The deposit money of course will also never be seen

Such actions are illegal, but gaining enforcement of such a legal right is not possible. The Council in this case followed their guidance. The Landlord followed what he knew he could get away with. Sadly, with the current government policy, this will be ever more common.

Unsuitable or offensive? Report this reply

Anonymous

Anonymous

19/10/2011 4:22 pm

what age is the 'young person?'

Unsuitable or offensive? Report this reply

John Irving

John Irving

Posts: 8

19/10/2011 4:51 pm

A duty will only be accepted if there is a priority need ? if no PN the advice may be to remain as he has a legal right to reside until a court order has been obtained, thus giving more time to seek alternative accommodation.

The LA can not refuse to take a homelessness application but if you are having problems, I would suggest writing a letter or statement explaining that you are making a homeless application to them. Remember to date it and get a reciept.   

Unsuitable or offensive? Report this reply

mrkfm

mrkfm

Posts: 29

20/10/2011 12:10 pm

Thanks for this.

The application went in before his 21st birthday and he was a care leaver. They have avoided making any decisions up to now and little investigations and now are stating that he will probably not be pririoty need as he is over 21.

I've already argued that they cannot do this and will refer him for independent advice. The issue right now is whether what they are doing is reasonable as he was meant to be out last Friday.  Defining reasonable in terms of the length of time he has to stay with the landlord until they house him is the problem - as people have different definitions.

Unsuitable or offensive? Report this reply

Anonymous

Anonymous

20/10/2011 1:40 pm

Have you made application to social services given his age and status and their duties to him?

Unsuitable or offensive? Report this reply

Rate this topic

  • 1 star out of 5
  • 2 stars out of 5
  • 3 stars out of 5
  • 4 stars out of 5
  • 5 stars out of 5

You must be signed in to rate.

Post a Reply

You must sign in to rate this topic or make a post

sign in register

Why not register?

Registration allows you to sign up for newsletters, comment on articles, add posts in the forums, quiz our panel of experts, and save articles and jobs in the My IH section.

Register now

Newsletter Sign-up

More Newsletters

Most active members

People are discussing

tags Accountability, advice, antisocial tenant, comment, consultation, debate, decent homes, freedom of information, harassmennt, house building, housing associations, Knee Jerks are self important ministers, legal, mixed communities, petition, public/private, rebuild, ruling, Service Charges, sound insulation, tenants

Most discussed

Most recent posts

  • From Chris, 30/04/2012 11:57 am in Monitoring costs

    email IH and ask them to pass on the request with your contact details to the contact details that they have on file for Raindrop - if you address the request 'Dear Aunty Tom' it is likely to be dealt with more quickly (that last bit is untrue, but links back to an humourous post from the past!)

  • posted Anonymously, 05/04/2012 11:07 am in Landlords lose grass cutting case.

    There a couple of avenues to consider, firstly you should enquire as to the "reasonableness" of cost, if you feel that the services provided are not provided at a "reasonable cost" this can be challenged.

  • From Sunflower, 15/03/2012 11:50 am in L&Q Court of Appeal case

    Martin has the case been sweeped under the carpet. 

  • posted Anonymously, 03/01/2012 1:04 pm in Police or External Regulatory Organisation to investigate?

    I wonder if the police would get involved - they would if it was a tenant, but a Ceo?... You might have better luck talking to the Daily Mail.  If what you allege is substantial they'll love to hear from you.

  • From Spellbinder , 13/12/2011 12:31 pm in Amending existing council tenancies through the Localism Bill

    Secure tenancies can be changed; there's a statutory process to follow, including opportunity for consultation.

  • From mrkfm, 04/11/2011 4:41 pm in Joint Tenancy

    Thanks for this..

  • From F451, 01/11/2011 5:42 pm in Affordable Rents & Service Charge Management

    The simple answer is: I'm sure that none of this has been thought of by the Minister so the Civil Servants are desparately trying to cobble together a working format that at least looks like the scheme he declared as complete and in place.

  • posted Anonymously, 29/10/2011 10:35 am in LONDON & QUADRANT v VELLA

    "One person's intolerable noise is another person's beautiful music..." So are lack of landlords services?... A fantastic way to justify the suffer, incovenience and ruined lives of thousands of social tenants...  "so defining what constitutes a detrimental environment is tricky."... There is nothing tricky in who suffers detrimental environment.  Surely the so-called victims we talk about should have their voice listened to?   But not if they are social tenants according to you... As for retrofitting old properties - They will have to be retrofit at some stage, have not they?  It is not enough to have social tenants living ...

  • From Nathan Cousins, 28/10/2011 3:10 pm in Service Charges and Whats Eligable For HB - your experience???

    It is quite surprising but very true that LA's do have local authority on eligible services.

  • posted Anonymously, 20/10/2011 1:40 pm in court order needed before homless duty accepted

    Have you made application to social services given his age and status and their duties to him?