The Court of Appeal heard a council's appeal on whether the personal plan it must prepare for a homeless applicant can include steps connected with applying for social housing, a question affecting applicants and local authorities.
Key facts
- Who: People who apply to a council as homeless, and the councils that assess them
- From: Judgment of 19 May 2026
- Source: AA, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Waltham Forest [2026] EWCA Civ 626
When someone applies to a council as homeless, Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 requires the council to assess the person's case. Under section 189A, it must also identify the steps it will take to help the person have and keep accommodation. Those steps are recorded in a personal plan. Social housing is allocated separately, under Part 6 of the same Act. Homeless applicants may apply under both Parts.
Background
In AA, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Waltham Forest [2026] EWCA Civ 626, decided on 19 May 2026, the Court of Appeal (Lord Justice Lewis, Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing and Lord Justice Jeremy Baker) heard the appeal on 6 May 2026.
AA has refugee status in the United Kingdom. She applied for housing help, and Waltham Forest accepted that it owed her the duty under section 193(2) to secure suitable accommodation. She was given temporary accommodation.
The dispute was over what permanent accommodation would end that duty. AA argued that private rented housing would not be suitable and that only social housing would do. The council considered that private rented accommodation, with reasonable adjustments, would meet her needs. Her personal plan, dated 22 August 2024, set out steps to identify suitable private rented accommodation.
The question
AA brought a claim for judicial review. The High Court (Deputy High Court Judge Susie Alegre, [2025] EWHC 1625 (Admin)) dismissed the grounds challenging the council's view that private rented accommodation would be suitable, and there was no appeal on that point.
The judge did, however, find that the council's failure to include in the plan steps to support AA's application for social housing was unreasonable. She declared the council had acted unlawfully and ordered it to produce a fresh plan.
The council appealed. Its main argument was that Parts 6 and 7 deal with separate matters. It said a personal plan covers only steps taken "under this Part", meaning Part 7, and so cannot include steps relating to an application for, or allocation of, Part 6 accommodation. Alternatively, it said that even if such steps could be included, it was not irrational to leave them out of AA's plan.
AA's case was that steps concerning Part 6 applications and allocation were steps taken under Part 7, and that excluding them was unlawful. The Court of Appeal identified the principal issue as what steps, if any, connected with Part 6 allocation may be included in a section 189A personal plan.
What this means for homeless applicants
A personal plan sets out what the council says it will do to help you secure accommodation. If you have applied as homeless, read the plan carefully and check that it matches your circumstances and what you have been told.
Whether a plan should include steps about social housing is the kind of question this judgment addresses. Anyone who thinks their plan is incomplete or wrong should get legal advice promptly.
Sources
- AA, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Waltham Forest [2026] EWCA Civ 626, Court of Appeal (Civil Division), 19 May 2026: https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewca/civ/2026/626