McDonnell and Lilly v Northern Ireland Housing Executive

In 2001, two secure tenants of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive tried to separately exercise their rights under the right-to-buy scheme made in Northern Ireland.

In that scheme, ground floor properties of two bedrooms or less, and let to tenants aged 60 or over at the date of letting, were exempted from the right to buy. Both tenants fell foul of those conditions and their applications were refused. They said that the rule was unlawful discrimination against them on grounds of age, and contrary to article 14 of the Human Rights Act 1998. The NIHE said the scheme had been made long before that act came into force.

A judge dismissed their claims for a judicial review and the tenants appealed. The Court of Appeal said that because their claims had been refused in 2001, the tenants were entitled to rely on their human rights even though the scheme had been made before the 1998 act.

But, in order for discrimination to be unlawful, the discriminatory treatment had to be within the "ambit" of another human right. Although there was a human right to "respect" for a home, the claim to "buy" an existing home was not within the ambit of that right. The Human Rights Act did not give a right to a home or a right to buy a rented one.

Alternatively, the evidence of the NIHE had demonstrated that there was "a reasonable, objective and proportionate justification” for the provision in the scheme so any discrimination was not unlawful.