Domestic violence and transfers

Ms Bilverstone fled her council home because of domestic violence and applied for a transfer. Her application was not put to the council's Exceptional Circumstances Panel because she had not provided "corroborative evidence" of the violence.

When she started legal action against the council, it agreed the panel should consider her transfer request.

Bilverstone also applied for help as a homeless person. The council initially decided she was not "homeless" as she still had a tenancy but, following termination of that tenancy by the council's own notice to quit, it decided on review she had become unintentionally homeless and had priority need. It provided a temporary single room, but said it would take about four years for permanent social housing to become available.

The panel then decided that the favourable homelessness decision and the tenancy's termination meant it could not offer a transfer. The judge quashed this decision. He decided allocations law did not preclude consideration of a transfer application from a tenant who had been accepted as homeless.

The council could not rely on its tenancy termination, because the panel should have dealt with the original transfer application when Bilverstone was still a tenant.