Marcel Akumah v Hackney LBC

Hackney had adopted a parking scheme on its Woodberry Down housing estate. Residents needed permits for their own parking and could buy parking vouchers for their visitors. Mr Akumah, a tenant on the estate, did not get a permit and his use of visitor vouchers led to three penalty notices. He refused to pay the third one and his car was towed away. He sued the council for the return of his car, a refund of the charges he had paid and for additional compensation.

He claimed that Hackney’s parking scheme was unlawful.

There is a specific legal power to make by-laws dealing with estate parking but no relevant by-laws had been made. The House of Lords decided that a local housing authority has broad powers to make parking schemes on housing estates as part of its general “management” of social housing. It said it was inherent in the management of an estate that parking should be regulated.

The council had a legal right to do anything properly incidental to its functions, including creating a parking scheme. No ministerial consent was required.

Source

Housing Today

Reference

(1) Council parking schemes are now legally sound. But this case does not cover parking schemes made by registered social landlords. With stock transfer, the purchasing RSL will need to think carefully about how best to continue any current parking scheme.

(2) The Lords gave a very broad interpretation to housing “management”, which may help in seeking a similarly wide approach to “housing management functions”, in the law relating to antisocial behaviour injunctions.