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The Court of Appeal has backed housing policies which prioritise people who have been waiting longest, declaring them as lawful. Newham LBC was taken to court by a tenant with four children – one of whom was disabled and a wheelchair user – who were living in a two-bedroom council property. The tenant applied to the council for more suitable accommodation in 1999. The tenant complained of the unfairness of the policy which prioritised housing applicants according to the length of time they had been on the council's waiting list, and not according to their need. The council accepted the family should be living in a four bedroom, wheelchair-accessible property, but argued such properties were in very short supply in the borough, and the waiting list for them was long. The decision, made by the House of Lords, overturned the Court of Appeal decision made in February. Mayor, Sir Robin Wales, said: ‘This is a significant decision which has major implications for local authorities across the country which administer their social housing allocations through the choice-based lettings scheme. ‘We have long argued that there should be local discretion over housing allocations policies.' Ruling in the council's favour, Lord Scott of Foscote, said: ‘It would be impossible, in my opinion, to challenge the rationality of including waiting time as one of the factors properly to be taken into account by a housing authority when deciding to whom an available dwelling should be allocated.'

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WHITEHALL

Waiting list policy gets legal backing

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