Housing Newsletter – December 2025: Renters Rights
Ten months have passed since our last Housing Newsletter, and Cornerstone’s Housing Team has been busier than ever.
First, we held our annual Housing Day on 13 October 2025. It was so nice to see so many colleagues and clients in attendance which made for an informative and interesting day. We will shortly be organising our webinar programme for 2026. Our 2025 programme culminated on 2 December with Catherine Rowlands and Andrew Lane speaking about “EU nationals, housing assistance, and the courts: What local authorities need to know”.
Secondly, the Team has been boosted by the recent addition of new members Camille Richards and Max Millington after the successful completion of their 12-month pupillages in Chambers in October 2025 and Luke Decker who joined us as a probationary tenant from 1 December 2025. We are delighted to welcome them to the Team.
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 2025 edition of the Legal 500. In April 2025, our joint head of the Team, Kuljit Bhogal KC was named Lawyer of the Week by The Times.
Fourthly, since the last newsletter members of the Team have been involved in numerous important appeal decisions, including but not limited to:
- Beacon Cymru Limited & Ors v Mitchell & Ors [2025] EWHC 2477 (Ch), the second part of the first case to consider provisions of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, involving six members of the Team: Ranjit Bhose KC, Sarah Salmon, Tara O’Leary, Jack Barber, Hannah Taylor and Camille Richards.
- Abdelrahman v Islington LBC [2025] EWCA Civ 1038, concerning whether, in interpreting the authority’s discretionary succession policy, the Appellant, who was the child of a deceased tenant’s partner by a former relationship, was included within the meaning of “stepchild”, involving Sarah Salmon and Olivia Davies.
- R (Anisa Begum) v London Borough of Tower Hamlets [2025] EWCA Civ 1049 where it was held that neither a database logging the details of homeless applicants requiring a move to suitable accommodation, nor the system within which it operated, discriminated indirectly against women or otherwise breached the public sector equality duty merely because applicants on the database were statistically more likely to be women than men, involving Kelvin Rutledge KC.
- Fertre v Vale of White Horse DC [2025] EWCA Civ 1057, where the Court of Appeal confirmed the judgment of the High Court that a European national who moved to the UK before Brexit, and has pre-settled status, but is economically inactive is not eligible for housing assistance, involving Catherine Rowlands.
- Merryck Lowe v The Governors of Sutton’s Hospital in Charterhouse [2025] EWCA Civ 857, a Court of Appeal tenancy deposit decision in which the provision of unsigned prescribed information was considered adequate in the circumstances, involving Shomik Datta.
- R (on the application of Thye Loi Ho) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 2641 (Admin), where the Administrative Court gave guidance on the interpretation of the Home Secretary’s Accommodation Under Schedule 10 to the Immigration Act 2016 Guidance, version 1.0 insofar as it relates to the suitability of accommodation provided under schedule 10 of the Immigration Act 2016, involving Jeremy Ogilvie-Harris.
- Wandsworth LBC v Young [2025] EWCA Civ 1336, in which the Court of Appeal confirmed that where a homeless applicant refuses an offer of accommodation, local authorities are under no duty to notify them of a separate right to review discharge of duty as well as suitability. It also confirmed that where the homeless applicant has not exercised their right to s.202 review or s.204 appeal, they are not permitted to raise public law arguments as a defence to a claim for possession of temporary accommodation. This case involved Matt Hutchings KC, and is the subject of a recent article by Tara O’Leary.
Finally, this edition of the newsletter focuses on some of the key changes to be brought in by the Renters Rights Act 2025. Readers can find the current Government guidance here and a roadmap for implementation here.
Enjoy the read!
Sarah & Tara
