Glasgow City Council (Respondent) v X (Appellant) (AP) (Scotland)

Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2023/0068

Parties

Appellant(s)

X

Respondent(s)

Glasgow City Council

Intervener(s)

Shelter, the national campaign for homeless people Ltd (Shelter Scotland)

Issue

Whether temporary (interim) accommodation provided by local authorities pursuant to the duty at section 29 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (the “1987 Act”) must meet the specific needs of individual members of the household in order to be suitable for the purposes of section 29(3) of the 1987 Act and article 4(b) of the Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order 2014 (the “2014 Order”).

Facts

This appeal concerns a decision of a local authority in relation to the provision of temporary homeless accommodation under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (the “HA 1987”). The Appellant’s household consists of the Appellant, her husband, three daughters and a son. The Appellant’s son has been diagnosed as autistic and is disabled within the meaning of section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 (“EA10”). On 4 February 2020 the Appellant and her husband were notified that they had been granted refugee status. This mean that they, and their family, were no longer entitled to accommodation provided by the Home Office, they became homeless persons and the obligation to house them passed to the Respondent. The Respondent provided them with a four-apartment property as temporary accommodation (the “Property”). The Respondent investigated the Appellant’s permanent accommodation needs. A report dated 21 July 2021 concluded that the family needed a “5-appartment property in order to accommodate their son’s additional support needs and a garden would also be beneficial with regard to this.” The Appellant, on 10 August 2021, requested that the Respondent review the suitability of the Property and move the family to alternative housing. A senior homeless worker at the Respondent stated that it had not been possible to provide “a further temporary furnished flat at this stage due to a lack of this type of accommodation becoming available.” A caseworker at the Respondent explained in an affidavit that the Respondent depends on registered social landlords (housing associations) to source temporary accommodation. There are very few five-apartment properties and such properties rarely become available. The Appellant brought a judicial review against the Respondent’s failure to provide her and her family five-apartment accommodation. The Outer House of the Court of Session held that the Respondent had acted unlawfully by providing the Appellant with unsuitable temporary accommodation.

Date of issue

13 June 2023

Judgment appealed

Appeal

Justices

Lord Reed

Lord Hodge

Lord Sales

Lord Hamblen

Lady Simler

Hearing dates

Start date

14 January 2025

End date

14 January 2025

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