Fri 02-May-08 11:45 AM by SARLOUALD

Hello I hope someone ca assist on this one

I have a client who lost a tribunal last year, she is renting from her parents and it was deemed that the tenancy was not a commerical one. To cut a long story short the parents are now retiring due to ill health, and need the income from their second home. The mortgage payments are still high and they are no longer able to afford it. My client has been served with a S21 notice as parents want to rent the property out for an extra income. My client re-applied for HB as she is due to lose the property and has nowhere else to go. The local authority advised her that as the tribunal was lost she cannot re-apply. My understanding is that as it is a change of circumstances the case could be heard again.

It sounds like though it was possibly not a commmercial agreement before, it has to be one now due to the reduced income of the parents.

Am I right to say we can appeal this deicsion?

Any help gratefully received, if I was picking this up as a new case that had not previously been heard at tribunal I would have been quite confident that we could prove the tenancy is in fact a commercial one and not contrived.

Sarah

In terms of whether someone can apply for HB again, the LA is incorrect. Where a claim has been unsuccessful, anyone can make a fresh claim at any time - irrespective of whether or not the circumstances have changed.

Based on the information given by you, the following case law may be particularly relevant:

R v LB Sutton HBRB ex p KEEGAN (1992) QBD 27 HLR 92

Thanks, I will look at this

Sarah