Cases - Barnes v Sheffield City Council

Record details

Name

Barnes v Sheffield City Council

Date

(1995)

Citation

27 HLR 719

Legislation

Housing Act 1985

Keywords

Planning control - Housing Act 1985

Summary

A house was occupied by 5 students. The principal issue for the Court was whether it was in multiple occupation under the Housing Act 1985. Sir Thomas Bingham MR identified 9 factors, in no particular order:

• the origin of the tenancy - whether the residents arrived as a single group or were independently recruited by the landlord;
• the extent to which the facilities were shared;
• whether the occupants were responsible for the whole house or just their particular rooms;
• the extent to which residents can and do lock their doors;
• the responsibility for filling vacancies - whether that of the existing occupants;
• the allocation of rooms - whether by the occupants or the landlord;
• the size of the establishment;
• the stability of the group;
• the mode of living - to what extent communal and to what extent independent.

Sir Thomas Bingham also referred to the judgment of Lord Hailsham in Erin v Pizzey (1979) to the effect that there is no single factor the presence or absence of which is by itself conclusive.