A High Court judge has dismissed a challenge to Lambeth council’s decision to take back more than 160 former council homes being rented in the private sector and use them to house homeless families in urgent need of support.
The council said today (18 June) that it decided last year to reclaim homes on six council estates, that had been lost through “right to buy”, for use as emergency accommodation for homeless families.
The properties had been privately let at close to market rate, on assured shorthold tenancies by the council’s wholly owned private company, Homes for Lambeth (HfL).
The private tenants say that, if evicted, they will become part of the homeless problem the council says its actions are designed to tackle.
One of the private tenants applied for a judicial review of the decision; if a judicial review is granted, a judge considers the lawfulness of a decision or action by a public body.
In March, the tenant was refused permission to apply for a judicial review. Yesterday (17 June), Mr Justice Linden dismissed their appeal against this decision.
In the original refusal on 19 March, Robert Palmer KC, sitting as a deputy judge of the High Court, ruled that the council had been entitled to establish Homes for Lambeth Group Ltd and its three subsidiary companies, and that it was “plain that the defendant (the council) is not the claimant’s landlord”.
The appeal judge found that the council had been acting lawfully throughout.
The tenants seeking a judicial review moved into estates that had been selected for demolition and rebuilding and were run by HfL.
The council is in the process of winding up HfL after a 2022 report, commissioned by the council, was critical of both HfL and the council.
One of the HfL tenants facing eviction under the “section 21” no-fault procedure – which the Labour government has pledged to abolish – is Jules Zakolska.
She told the council’s investment and scrutiny committee in September last year that, two months after moving in, she found out the estate she lived in was due to be demolished.
“No Homes for Lambeth tenants were notified of that before moving in, nor were we told that our landlord was essentially Lambeth council,” she said.
In 2017 the council had begun to buy back properties that had been purchased under right to buy rules on estates including Central Hill in Crystal Palace, Fenwick in Clapham North, and Cressingham Gardens in Tulse Hill, prior to demolishing the estates. The council has put some of the planned estate demolitions on hold.
Some of these homes were then let to private tenants after the council set up Homes for Lambeth. The homes were advertised and let by local estate agents, Inside Housing reported.
The council contends that the residents were told that their assured shorthold tenancies were for a fixed term.
Welcoming yesterday’s decision to confirm the rejection of a judicial review of the council’s conduct, Cllr Danny Adilypour, council deputy leader (housing, investment and new homes), said: “Lambeth is on the front line of a national housing crisis, and we are doing everything we can to provide the most disadvantaged and vulnerable families in Lambeth with a safe, decent home.
“It is right that we are taking back former council homes that were lost through right to buy.
“We need to use these properties to provide safe, secure homes for our most vulnerable residents in urgent need of housing, rather than leaving them to be rented on the private market to those who have the means and resources to pay market rent.
“The number of homeless households supported by the council has increased by 50% in the last two years, and Lambeth is now providing temporary accommodation for over 4,700 homeless households every night.
“The cost of housing homeless families in overnight accommodation has risen to more than £100m a year. This is why we have to use all of the properties available to us to support these homeless households and bring these costs down.”
The council said that, so far, more than 70% of the properties have been returned to the council, and Lambeth is working as quickly as it can to make them available to families in the most need. It said 71 properties are in the process of being let, with 57 properties already relet to residents who had been in unsuitable temporary accommodation.
Cllr Adilypour said: “We need to use these homes for those with most urgent need for housing. Where a household in one of these homes on an assured shorthold tenancy is owed a housing duty, we will assess their needs and work with them to ensure their homelessness is relieved.”
Private tenants facing eviction have said that there are many empty homes on affected estates that have been boarded up for months or even years.
The council said it is committed to exploring all options available to deliver more affordable homes that local people desperately need. Alongside its new affordable homes programme, it is identifying existing empty homes in the borough that could be used as affordable housing.
