Appeal court judges have overturned a controversial decision that had added to councils' difficulty in meeting government targets on the use of B&Bs to house homeless people.
The Court of Appeal decided it was not unlawful for Newham council to refuse homeless people living in B&Bs the chance to view homes before deciding whether or not to accept them.

The judges decided the policy of allocating flats without viewing did not involve "anything that might reasonably be called oppression at the council's hands".

In one case the policy is understood to have led to a Muslim woman being housed in a flat above a pub.

Newham argued that the policy had been developed as the most efficient way of meeting the government's target of ending B&B use by April. The judges agreed that Newham's practice of obtaining details about each applicant – including family size, health issues and risk of domestic violence – before deciding whether to offer the property, was suitable in the circumstances.

The decision overturned a High Court decision given by Mr Justice Newman last October. At the time he called Newham's handling of its allocations "coercive and unfair".

Source

Housing Today