Can someone help me with a situation I have with a closure order case.
The situation is that on 13/4/06 the Housing Department obtained a ‘closure order’ for a council tenancy and the tenant could not return to the property for 3 months pending a court case. The Housing Benefit was cancelled from 17/4/06 and a decision issued on 16/6/06 as it was considered that he would not return within 13 weeks. This was based on the fact that the intention to return was without any form of qualification, i.e. it is not enough for the persons intentions to be dependent on the outcome of an event.
The customer did not appeal within the 1 month but a solicitor has now requested a late appeal on his behalf and the reasons are likely to be supported by the LA. This was received recently following a court case which has allowed the tenant to return to the property 5 months later as the judge found that there was not enough evidence to allow the closure.
The main issue I have with this is that the solicitor is concerned that The LA is both the landlord and administrator of benefit and that the benefit regulations do not make any provision to prevent the abuse from an LA trying to remove unwanted tenants.
Can anyone offer any advice please, thank you in anticipation. 😕
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