17.16R (PB) v Haringey LBC [2006] EWHC 2255 (Admin), (2007) 10 CCLR 99
A local social services authority could not use section 2 of the LGA 2000 to provide ordinary accommodation to a person to whom it was prohibited from providing accommodation under the Housing Acts
Facts: Ms PB was an unlawful overstayer, with an outstanding application for LTR under a child concession policy: she had five children and, although one lived with the father and four were in foster care and subject to care proceedings, she had regular contact with them all. Ms PB was destitute but Haringey refused to provide her with accommodation under section 21 of the NAA 1948, in part on the ground that the sole cause of her need for ‘care and attention’ was destitution and/or its physical effects.
Judgment: Deputy High Court Judge Nicol allowed the application for judicial review on the basis that Haringey’s refusal of accommodation under section 21 of the NAA 1948 was legally flawed. However, he also held that, given the express prohibitions on the provision of accommodation under section 21 of the Housing Act 1985 and Parts 6 and 7 of the Housing Act 1996, Haringey could not have provided Ms PB with housing or housing assistance under section 2 of the LGA 2000.