Another busy year for Cornerstone Barristers’ social housing team

By Sarah Salmon & Tara O’Leary
Eight months have passed since our last Housing Newsletter, and Cornerstone’s Housing Team has been busier than ever.
Firstly, we have planned a series of housing webinars for the year ahead. We are already booking up events on injunctions, allocations, shared ownership and the Renting Homes (Wales) Act, with more topics likely to follow during 2024. Our recent webinars are also available to view online, including talks on housing fraud and the Supreme Court decision in Croydon v Imam.
Readers should also mark their diaries for our annual Housing Day which will take place on 14 October 2024.
Members of the team will also be speaking at numerous other events during the year, including the Social Housing Law Association (SHLA) annual conference on 14 March and a Housing Quality Network (HQN) workshop on housing allocations on 6 March.
Secondly, the Team has been boosted by the recent addition of new members India Flanagan and Jackson Sirica. We are also very pleased to welcome Dr Lois Lane, who successfully completed pupillage in chambers in October 2023.
Our current pupils Hannah Taylor and Jeremy Ogilvie-Harris will begin to accept instructions from April 2024. They offer a preview of their stellar knowledge of housing law with an article on out-of-borough homelessness placements in this month’s newsletter.
Thirdly, we are delighted that the Team retains its top rankings as a leading set for Social Housing in both Chambers UK Bar Directory and the 2024 edition of the Legal 500.
This reflects chambers’ successes as a whole, including its recent shortlisting for Chambers of the Year at the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2024. We’d also like to give special congratulations to friend of the Housing Team, Josef Cannon, who will shortly be appointed King’s Counsel.
Fourthly, since the last newsletter members of the Team have been involved in numerous important appeal decisions, including but not limited to:
- The long-awaited Supreme Court decision in Croydon LBC v Imam [2023] UKSC 45, which considered the relevance of local authority resources when the court considers mandatory orders to comply with housing duties, involving Kelvin Rutledge KC and Riccardo Calzavara.
- Hodge v Folkestone and Hythe DC [2023] EWCA Civ 896, concerning the use of supported ‘move on’ accommodation for the homeless, involving Matt Hutchings KC and Tara O’Leary. Ms Hodge is presently seeking permission to appeal this decision to the UKSC.
- Tossici-Bolt v Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council [2023] EWHC 3230 (Admin), a decision dealing with a plethora of issues connected to Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) and protest outside abortion clinics, involving Kuljit Bhogal KC and Tara O’Leary.
- Kyle v Coventry City Council [2023] EWCA Civ 1360, which concerned intentional homelessness and ‘reasonableness to remain’, involving Catherine Rowlands. Mr Kyle is now seeking permission to appeal this decision to the UKSC.
- Waltham Forest LBC v Hussain [2023] EWCA Civ 733, concerning appeals by way of re-hearing under the Housing Act 2004, involving Riccardo Calzavara.
- Global 100 v Jimenez; Global Guardians Management v Hounslow LBC [2023] EWCA Civ 1243, which confirms that premises occupied by property guardians are licensable as HMOs, involving Ranjit Bhose KC and Tara O’Leary.
- Jahangir Hussain v Newham LBC [2023] UKUT 287 (LC), an appeal against a “rogue landlord” banning order, involving Andy Lane and Dean Underwood.
- Welwyn Hatfield BC v Wang [2024] UKUT 24 (LC), offering guidance on the adequacy of reasons in notices of intent under the Housing Act 2004, involving Tara O’Leary.
- The anticipated High Court decision in Lowe v Governors of Sutton’s Hospital in Charterhouse, one of the largest ever tenancy deposit claims under the Housing Act 2004, involving Shomik Datta.
Fifthly, readers can keep an eye out for some new books from the Team being published in 2024: A Practical Guide to Housing Allocation Schemes in England by Sarah Salmon (Law Brief Publishing); and Cornerstone on Gangs by Sarah Salmon and Jack Barber (Bloomsbury).
Finally, this edition of the newsletter offers a fantastic selection of articles on a wide range of subjects. They include Labour’s housing policies ahead of the looming election; the Social Housing (Regulation) Act; housing providers’ duty of candour; out-of-borough homelessness placements; prosecuting corporate actors for housing offences; disrepair in light of Awaab’s law and Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil; and the thorny question of succession and mental capacity considered in Dudley MBC v Mailley.
Enjoy the read!
Sarah Salmon & Tara O’Leary
February 2024