London Borough of Hounslow v Powell [2011] UKSC 8: Judgment handed down 23rd February 2011

Kevin Gannon appeared as junior counsel for Ms Powell.

Hounslow accepted a homelessness duty to Ms Powell and granted her a non-secure licence of accommodation. A gap occurred in her entitlement to Housing Benefit and arrears accrued. The authority served notice to quit and brought possession proceedings. The county court judge granted Hounslow a possession order on the basis of the law as it was then understood to be. The Court of Appeal held it was bound by previous authority and upheld the possession order.

The Supreme Court unanimously allowed the appeal and held that a court must have the power to consider the proportionality of making a possession order in these circumstances. Ms Powell’s case was heard with two others, both introductory tenancies. The Supreme Court held that the principle from Manchester City Council v Pinnock [2010] UKSC 45, [2010] 3 WLR 1441 applied to the homelessness and introductory tenancy regimes. The Court set out some guidance as to how these cases should be dealt with in practice by the courts. The Court held that the restriction on a court’s discretion under s89 Housing Act 1980 still applied but Lord Phillips said at paragraph 103 that one of the options available to a judge is to refuse to make an order on the ground that it would infringe Article 8.

The case is essential reading for any lawyer dealing with possession cases. Download it here.