CURD v LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL (2024) UKUT 218 (LC) concerned an Improvement Notice served under Section 12 of the Housing Act 2004. It is held that the FTT can vary an Improvement Notice only if it satisfied that a hazard exists. It cannot substitute a requirement for further investigation on the question of hazard in place of a requirement for specified remedial work.

The Government has published a Policy Statement on a new generation of New Towns.  These would be large scale communities of at least 10, 000 new homes each. Locations will be recommended within 12 months.

There will be a NEW TOWNS CODE. This will be a set of rules that developers will have to meet to make sure New Towns are well connected, well designed, sustainable and attractive.

In FERTRE v VALE OF WHITE HORSE DC ( 2024 ) EWHC 1754 ( KB ) it is held that pre-settled status granted to an EU national, who had moved to the UK before Brexit, and was economically inactive, had not conferred unconditional rights, including a right to housing assistance. She was not residing in the UK on the basis of the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU.

In NEWCASTLE CITY COUNCIL v ABDALLAH ( 2024 ) UKUT 140 ( LC ) the Upper Tribunal ( Lands Chamber ) rules that Section 233 of the Local Government Act 1972, on service of notices by local authorities, applies to aa authority’s request for information to be provided in compliance with licence conditions under the Housing Act 2004.

In FERTRE V VALE OF WHITE HORSE DC ( 2024 ) EWHC 1234 ( KB ) the Court refuses the authority’s application to strike out an appeal against its decision that an EU national was not eligible for housing assistance. She had made a second application, based on changed circumstances. She had conceded that she was no longer homeless. She had not abandoned her appeal. It was not an abuse of process. It was not academic. If there had been error of law during the initial application the applicant would have the enduring benefit of a determination of threshold eligibility for assistance. Also there was a public interest in the point in issue.

The points of principle are that ( 1 ) the mere fact of making a fresh application does not automatically or impliedly constitute the abandonment of a prior application subject to an extant appeal; A successful fresh application might render the appeal pointless, and liable to be struck out as academic, but it could not, without some clear expression of interest or unequivocal conduct, amount to an abandonment of the appeal; ( 3 ) When there is a change of circumstances the Court has to consider whether the appeal has become academic; ( 4 ) A risk of future homelessness could be a sufficient interest such that an appeal is not academic; and ( 5 ) a point in issue can be of considerable public importance with broader ramifications where the legal issues are of wider significance affecting most income-related welfare benefits which could affect a large cohort of EU nationals.

Part 3 of the Equality Act 2010 relates to Services and Public Functions. Part 4 relates to Premises. In R ( FG ) v KENSINGTON & CHELSEA COUNCIL ( 2024 ) EWHC 780 ( Admin ) a question is which Part is applicable to a  disabled person’s claim under the Act with respect to an alleged failure by the local authority landlord to deal with noise and smell issues. The Judge holds that it is Part 4.

MASTERMAN v INFORMATION COMMISSIONER ( 2024 ) UKFTT 289 ( GRC ) concerns a request for the licence conditions for a house in multiple occupation. The question arises whether the information sought from the local housing authority was “ environmental information “ subject to the Environmental Information Regulations rather than the Freedom of Information Act. The Tribunal held that it was the former. It was ( paras 47-51 inclusive ) about “ conditions of human life “. That includes conditions in which human beings live.

A Report by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales upholds a Complaint that the Welsh Government had failed to ensure that local authorities are taking sufficient action to meet the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers, as required by the 2014 Act.

A letter by the Regulator of Social Housing to social housing landlords reminds them of the changes to social regulation coming into force on 1 April 2024, and the new standards they must now meet. The rules require (1) an accurate record of the condition of every home, based upon checks of the properties, (2) clear timelines for the completion of works, and (3) clear communications with tenants.

A joint Regulator of Social Housing and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities document sets out the arrangements for a local authority to apply to the SoS for agreement that it would be inappropriate for the Government’s Policy Statement on Rents for Social Housing to apply, because this would cause the authority unavoidable and serious financial difficulty. If the SoS agrees to the Application the effect would be that the rent standard would no longer apply to the accommodation in question and a Memorandum of Understanding will be agreed.

The SoS will expect to be provided with evidence that (1) the authority’s HRA is at risk of deficit in either the current or subsequent financial year, (2) complying with the Rent Standard requirements would jeopardise the authority’s ability to meet legal obligations and (3) all possible steps have been taken to avoid the need to make an Application. Normally short term cash flow issues would not justify an Application.