Can I appeal a homeless review decision in the County Court?

You can appeal to a County Court if the council’s review decision if:

• The decision is legally wrong, or
• The council do not give you a final decision within the time limit.

You must issue the appeal at Court within 21 days of getting your review decision or as the case may be, of the date on which he should have been notified of a decision on review.

It’s possible to request the court’s permission to bring an appeal after this time if there is good reason for being unable to bring the appeal in time. In our experience, only in exceptional circumstances will the court entertain such applications.

What would make a decision “legally wrong”?

This is a complex legal question that requires consideration from a specialist housing solicitor. Some examples may well include:

• Failure to make appropriate inquiries
• Ignoring relevant factors
• Taking into account irrelevant factors
• Failure to put basic issues to the applicant
• Failure to follow the statutory review procedure
• Comes to a decision which is so unreasonable that no reasonable authority could have come to it.

The Court’s role

The County Court’s role is limited to considering whether the review officer has reached a lawful decision, not to make its own finding of facts.

This means that in the majority of successful appeals the Court will not change the decision, but order the council to make a new decision.

If you have received a review decision that you think is wrong and wish to know if you merit to appeal to a county court, please get in touch with our specialist housing team on 0330 822 3451 or request a call back by completing our contact form.