Introductory tenancies

Ms Laporte was granted an introductory tenancy in November 2001. Full housing benefit entitlement left her to pay only £3 per week for water rates. By June 2002, she owed arrears of nearly £70. The council gave notice of intention to claim possession.

She applied for a review.

A hearing was arranged for mid-July. Before it could take place, the council began to receive reports of alleged antisocial behaviour. It wrote to Laporte with detailed allegations and postponed the review hearing until August so that the allegations could be discussed at the hearing.

Laporte failed to attend.

She was then notified that the reviewers had decided to uphold the decision to seek possession as a result of both the rent arrears and the nuisance allegations.

Laporte was granted a meeting to discuss the matter in mid-August 2002. The council again reconsidered but decided to press on as the arrears had increased and there had been further complaints of nuisance.

Laporte applied for a judicial review of the council's decisions. She complained that if the council wanted to rely on antisocial behaviour to justify a possession claim, it should have given her a second notice of intention to claim possession. The judge agreed that a second notice of intention to claim possession should have been given. That notice should have set out the new grounds. If a review of it had been sought, the reviewers could have considered the review of both notices. But he decided that Laporte had not been prejudiced by the irregularity. She had been given an explanation of the allegations and had had an opportunity to deal with them. In any event, the council was justified in pressing for possession on the arrears alone.