R ( AA ) v WALTHAM FOREST LBC ( 2025 ) EWHC 1625 ( Admin ) concerns a local housing authority’s duties under Section 189A of the HOUSING ACT 1996. This relates to assessments and personalised plan. If the authority are satisfied that an applicant is homeless ( or threatened with homelessness ) and eligible for ASSISTANCE then Section 189A (1) provides that the authority MUST make an ASSESSMENT of the applicant’s case. Section 189A (2) states what an assessment MUST include. The Judge rejects a submission that there is a remedy alternative to Judicial Review with respect to a challenge to a Housing Needs Assessment and/or Personal Housing Plan.
UNPAID COUNCIL TAX
July 4th, 2025 by James Goudie KC in Council Tax and RatesR ( MORLEY ) v SURREY HEATH BC ( 2025 ) EWHC 1678 ( Admin ) is concerned with the collection of unpaid council tax pursuant to the LOGAL GOVERNMENT FINANCEACT 1992 and Regulation 34 of the COUNCIL TAX ( Administration and Enforcement ) REGULATIONS 1992 . It is held unlawful for the Council to issue a SUMMONS demanding, as a pre-condition for avoiding an Application to a Magistrates’ Court for a LIABILITY ORDER , payment of a sum derived from a calculation which included the costs of applying for Liability Orders.
CROSSOVERS
July 3rd, 2025 by James Goudie KC in Environment, Highways and LeisureWhen an individual has applied, under Section 184 of the Highways Act 1980, to construct a crossover, there is no legal obligation upon the highway authority to consult an adjacent neighbour or obtain their consent before constructing the crossover. Nor is there any breach of ECHR Article 1/1. So held in ANWAR v EALING LBC ( 2025 ) EWCA Civ 813.
CONFIDENTIALITY
July 3rd, 2025 by James Goudie KC in Decision making and ContractsLIME TECHNOLOGY LTD v LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL ( 2025 ) EWHC 1654 ( TCC ) relates to legitimate commercial concerns as to the risk of highly sensitive information being leaked and/or misused and the establishment of a Confidentiality Ring in proceedings challenging a procurement decision by the Council in relation to a services provision contract. The Judge reviews the authorities and identifies points of importance.
PERSON MANAGING HMO
June 26th, 2025 by James Goudie KC in HousingA “ person managing “a house in multiple occupation within the meaning of Section 263 of the Housing Act 2004 is subject to statutory duties in relation to licensing and management, and may be exposed to the risk of sanctions. CETIN v EPPING FOREST DC (2025) UKUT 196 (LC) considers the interpretation of the expression, and rules that it does NOT include a residential letting agent who was instructed on a “ let only “ basis to let a room in an HMO, and who had no further involvement with the property after receiving a single instalment of rent on the day of the letting.
AIR QUALITY POLLUTION
June 18th, 2025 by James Goudie KC in Planning and EnvironmentalR ( CAFFYN ) v SHROPSHIRE COUNCIL ( 2025 ) EWHC 1497 ( Admin ) is a case about the approach taken by the Council as Local Planning Authority to the environmental effect of proposed intensive poultry units on a Shropshire farm. Fordham J finds in favour of the Claimant on some points and in favour of the Council on others. The decisions against the Council include that it was a material error to exclude from assessment post Air Pollution Information System projects subject to Environmental Permit but not planning decision.
HOMELESSNESS
June 17th, 2025 by James Goudie KC in HousingThe issue in NORTON v HARINGEY LBC (2025) EWCA Civ 746 was whether a local authority is precluded from determining the suitability of offered accommodation if it has not prepared a lawful assessment pursuant to Section 189Aof the Housing Act 1996. An assessment of suitability based on an unlawful or otherwise legally flawed assessment under section 189A is itself legally flawed, but what previous cases have not addressed is whether an authority is precluded from independently and lawfully assessing suitability in the absence of a Section 189A assessment or Personal Housing Plan. The Court of Appeal held that the authority was not precluded. The decision on suitability contained no legal flaw.
DELAY IN JUDICIAL REVIEW
June 11th, 2025 by James Goudie KC in Judicial Control, Liability and LitigationSURREY COUNTY COUNCIL v BC ( 2025 ) EWCA Civ 719, a case on Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 and the provision of accommodation, addresses delay in the bringing of judicial review proceedings. The Court says at para 18 that “ in recent times there has been a greater emphasis on the tight time limits in judicial review”; and at para 43 that “ judicial review is not a regime where a claimant is entitled to wait, dotting every available ”i” and crossing every possible “ t “ before making a claim for judicial review.” “ If documents are potentially important and outstanding, then one possibility is for a claimant to issue proceedings, and then seek to delay the hearing of the permission application until after disclosure. What a claimant cannot do is to delay issuing proceedings in the hope that something might turn up on disclosure.”
ASSET OF COMMUNITY VALUE
June 11th, 2025 by James Goudie KC in Land, Goods and ServicesDAIRYGEN Ltd ( trading as “ the Shire Horse “ ) v DERBYSHIRE DALES DISTRICT COUNCIUL ( 2025 ) UKFTT 669 ( GRC ) considered whether the closed Shire Horse pub was a asset of community value under Section 88 of the Localism Act 2011. The issue was whether , given that the user under consideration had already ceased, whether it was “ realistic to think “ that there is a time in the next 5 years when there could be non-ancillary use of the building that would further social interests or social well-being of the local community.
The Tribunal found that the likelihood of use as a pub/restaurant in the near future was not realistic. The prospect of a buyer being found who would purchase the former pub and restore it was unrealistic in light of its troubled trading history and its location within a sparsely populated village.
The DRAGONFLY case ( 2025 ) UKUT 51 ( AA ) was distinguished having regard to the pub there being in a busy urban area rather than rural location.