CM v Westminster CC - Central London County Court - 1/12/16 A judge at Central London Country Court has quashed a decision by Westminster Council which had determined that an elderly lady was not homeless because she could return to India to reside with her children, whom she had not seen for 30 years.
The Council argued that the Appellant was not forthcoming with information about her children and, therefore, it was entitled to conclude that she did have accommodation available to her. Ms Recorder Genn upheld the four substantive grounds of appeal and found that the Council had not made sufficient enquiries and had failed to properly consider whether CM had any legal entitlement to occupy her children's accommodation. The Council had also not considered whether it was reasonable for CM to relocate to India having been in the UK for 16 years and granted British Citizenship (Waltham Forest LBC v Maloba [2008] 1 WLR 2079 followed). The judge also ruled that the Council had failed to properly consider the cultural issues involved and had required the Appellant to prove her case.
The decision was remitted to the council for further consideration.
The claimant was represented by Justine Compton of Garden Court Chambers Housing Team. She was instructed by Gusta Glover of Advice4Renters.
