The Supreme Court grants Shelter permission to intervene in case concerning the end of the main housing duty

Shelter, the national housing and homelessness charity, has been granted permission by the Supreme Court to intervene in the forthcoming hearing in R (on the application of Bano) v London Borough of Waltham Forest.

The case concerns the circumstances in which a local authority's duty to house homelessness applicants under section 193 of the Housing Act 1996 (the main housing duty) comes to an end, and in particular:

1. Whether the main housing duty ends automatically by operation of law; or,

2. Whether the local authority is required to make a decision that the duty has ended.

Last year, the Court of Appeal (Peter Jackson, Newey and Warby LJJ) held that the main housing duty owed to the Appellant had ended automatically on the rejection of an offer of private rented sector accommodation, and did not require the local authority to inform the Appellant that the duty had ceased ([2025] EWCA Civ 92). The Appellant, Ms Bano, was granted permission to appeal.

The case raises important questions regarding the construction of the Housing Act 1996 and the procedural rights afforded to homelessness applicants under both the statutory scheme and requirements of procedural fairness.

Justin Bates KC, Siân McGibbon and Claudia Hyde are acting pro bono for Shelter, instructed by James Roberts (partner), Molly Lewis (senior associate) and Akshaya Kalaiyalahan (associate) of Freshfields LLP. 

The Supreme Court will hear the appeal on 17 March 2026.