Requests for review of local authority decisions can be refused, requests for interim temporary accommodation can be refused, and when we judicially review decisions or appeal to the county court, this litigation can be unsuccessful. This results in disappointed, grumpy and homeless clients.

Explaining the law to these individuals can be tricky. The Court of Appeal and Supreme Court often struggle with the various Acts of parliament and cases on this subject matter. The law is complex, ever-developing and not easy for the lay person to comprehend. Concepts such as priority need, vulnerability and local connection are challenging to understand and even more difficult to explain. There are also tight time-lines to adhere to, and getting these wrong can be fatal to a claim.

So when commentators talk about the need to get advice online and the beauty of internet advice services, I do get a little upset. Homeless people often do not have access to a computer. Those that do would be unable to understand how to achieve success in a homelessness case.

A myriad of hurdles are thrown up by such cases, such as the need to obtain often lengthy and precisely worded medical reports, and when seeking a review of a local authority decision there is a need to write a long and quite detailed letter setting out precisely why the local authority has got it wrong. Having been writing such letters for over 25 years, I am still finding this a difficult skill. To write such a letter when English is not your first language or if you are suicidal and depressed beggars belief.

Sure there is a time and a place for the internet. Anyone Googling ‘homelessness’ will come up with thousands of pages of advice. But to the homeless family struggling with ill-health, young children and a multitude of other problems, they are not able to cure their plight by simply tapping into a computer. The need for face-to-face advice across the desk in such cases will never be trumped by a website or mobile App.

Homeless people have an uphill battle to climb. This ascent is not made any easier by taking away access to experienced legal advice. Getting divorced is tough. Losing your job is extremely miserable. But being homeless is as bad as it gets.

Homeless people must continue to be able to get free legal advice across the table from lawyers who know what they are doing. Fobbing them off with a website is simply justice denied.

■ LAG/Arden Chambers ‘Homelessness Conference’ will take place on 15 April 2014 in London. The keynote address will be delivered by Andrew Arden QC. See also page 3 and the back page of this issue.