Waltham Forest LBC v PO (HB): [2022] UKUT 58 (AAC)
Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals Chamber decision by Judge Ovey on 25 June 2021.
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Judicial Summary
The Respondent was an approved foster parent with Waltham Forest L.B.C. who accepted placements from time to time of girls in their mid to late teens. She lived in a three bedroom house. The council decided that from 2013 onwards she had been overpaid housing benefit because a 14% deduction for under-occupation had been made rather than a 25% deduction. Before the First-tier Tribunal the council presented the case on the basis the real question was whether the Respondent had shown that she was an approved foster parent. The tribunal decided that she had and allowed her appeal. The council appealed. The appeal raised complex questions about the application of the housing benefit rules to a foster parent accepting such placements. The matter was remitted with directions for determination of the issues.