Notification duties on discharge of the main housing duty, and public law defences to possession claims for temporary accommodation (Wandsworth LBC v Young)

Housing, Local Government

The Court of Appeal has ruled on two important points arising from a claim for possession of temporary accommodation, following the cessation of a local authority’s main housing duty to a homeless applicant under s.193 Housing Act 1996.

Firstly, the Court confirmed that local authorities are not under any duty to inform applicants that they have a separate right to request review of a decision to discharge duty, e.g. where the duty ceases because an applicant has accepted or refused an offer of alternative accommodation, in addition to their right to suitability review.

Secondly and in any event, the Court confirmed there were no exceptional circumstances to justify raising a local authority’s alleged failure to comply with duties under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 as a public law defence to possession proceedings, where a defendant has failed to make use of their right to s.202 review or s.204 appeal to pursue those arguments.

Read Tara O’Leary‘s case analysis on LexisNexis (paywall).

The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Wandsworth v Young (by his litigation friend the Official Solicitor) [2025] EWCA Civ 1336

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