The extent to which the council has been not been properly acting within the law by not offering accommodation to people claiming to be homeless is unclear.
And so too is the exact effect the new ruling from the High Court against Southwark Council will have on our overstretched housing stock and budgets.
Law firm Hansen Palomares, who sought the judicial review which resulted in the latest High Court slap on the wrist for Southwark, says they had numerous cases over a number of years. Southwark Council maintained that they did not act illegally and that it was always a mistake by some rogue officer. However the court found that council leaflets handed out suggested that people had to prove they met the criteria before getting accommodation.
How long it takes the council to prove this is important. So too is the amount of cases the council has to deal with. The News will investigate further to see how much it cost residents generally and how it impacts on the 18,000 people currently on the housing waiting list.
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