R (on the application of Hayes) v. Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

R (on the application of Hayes) v. Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government involved a challenge to the grant of consent by the Secretary of State under the Housing Act 1985 to a large scale voluntary transfer of Clapham Park Estate from Lambeth LBC to a registered social landlord. The Claimant argued that there was a general duty to give reasons for the grant of consent to such transfers, that there was a duty to give reasons in the specific circumstances of the case where more than twelve months had elapsed since the Council had carried out a ballot of tenants wishes and that the decision breached the Claimants human rights. The Court (Charles J) dismissed the claim, holding that there was no such duty, either generally or in the specific circumstances of the case, and that, to the extent that the decision interfered with the Claimants rights under Article 8 and Article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, any such interference was proportionate. David Blundell appeared for the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.