Key Facts
- •Rabbi Weintraub and his late wife had a secure tenancy of a council flat since 2002.
- •After his wife's death, he struggled to find overnight companions and started sleeping elsewhere (mostly at his daughter's house).
- •He applied to buy the flat under the Housing Act 1985, but the council refused, stating he didn't reside there as his principal home.
- •He brought a claim, which was dismissed, leading to this appeal.
Legal Principles
A tenant must occupy the dwelling as their only or principal home to qualify for a right to buy under the Housing Act 1985.
Housing Act 1985, s.81
Absence from a dwelling doesn't automatically mean cessation of occupation as a home; intention to return and outward signs are key factors.
Islington LBC v Boyle [2011] EWCA Civ 1450, Dove v Havering LBC [2017] EWCA Civ 156
To determine a dwelling is not a principal home, another property must be identified as the principal home.
Inferred from the court's reasoning
Intention to return must be a ‘real hope coupled with the practical possibility of its fulfilment within a reasonable time.’
Robert Thackary’s Estates Ltd v Kaye (1989) 21 H.L.R. 160, Tickner v Hearn [1960] 1 WLR 1406
Outcomes
Appeal allowed.
The judge erred in finding the flat wasn't Rabbi Weintraub's principal home, failing to adequately consider his intention to return after completing the right-to-buy process. The court determined his daughter's house was his principal home during the period in question.