Homelessness & Immigration Status

Mrs Burns came from Nigeria in 1989 on a visitor’s visa. In 1995 she applied for asylum but a decision had yet to be made on her application. In 1997 she met and married Mr Burns, an Irish national. She moved into his flat but the couple later separated.

The Home Office refused her application for a residence permit as the spouse of a European Economic Area citizen. She appealed against this, and then in March 2004 she was evicted for rent arrears and applied as homeless.

The council decided that, as a result of her immigration status, she was not “eligible” for assistance. Although she had a pending asylum application and was challenging the Home Office decision on the residence permit she remained ineligible for housing as a result of that immigration status.

She asked for a review and for accommodation in the mean time. The council declined to provide such accommodation and she applied for a judicial review of that decision. She said the council had simply adopted the Home Office’s view of her immigration status and failed to make its own assessment.

The judge dismissed her claim. He said that in exercising its discretion on whether to award accommodation pending a review of “eligibility”, the council had acted reasonably in taking a Home Office decision at face value. The council had properly considered the legal criteria for exercising discretion and had set out its reasoning in an appropriate letter explaining the decision.