Robert Latham

Robert Latham is the senior member of the Housing and Social Welfare Team at Doughty Street. He specialises in housing law, administrative law and human rights. He is named as a leader in the field of social housing in Chamber UK ("a forceful and imaginative advocate"); in civil liberties & human rights and administrative and public law in Legal 500 and in civil liberties, administrative and public law in Legal Experts.

Robert is a member of the Bar Council's Civil Legal Aid Committee and assisted in formulating the Bar's response to "New Focus for Civil Legal Aid", the "Fundamental Legal Aid Review" and the "Carter" Review. He has been instructed in a number of CLS funding disputes including R (Southwark Law Centre) v Legal Service Commission [2007] 4 All ER 754.

Robert is an acknowledged expert on Choice Based Lettings schemes. His most recent challenge in R (Ahmad) v Newham LBC [2007] EWHC 2332 (Admin) is currently before the Court of Appeal on a range of issues including whether the Newham scheme rationally reconciles the twin policy objectives of choice and housing need. In April 2007, he drafted HLPA's response to the C.L.G. consultation on statutory guidance on Choice Based Lettings (click here to view). Two articles surveying the allocation schemes adopted by 12 London housing authorities was published in Legal Action (March and May 2005). He has advised Shelter Cymru on the legality of the allocation schemes adopted by a number of Welsh housing authorities. Legal challenges include R v Islington LBC, ex p Reilly & Mannix (1998) 31 HLR 651; R v Westminster cc, ex p Al-Khorsan (2001) 33 HLR 77; R (Maali) v L.B.Lambeth [2004] HLR 12 and R (Heaney) v Lambeth LBC [2006] EWHC 3332 (Admin).

Recent challenges under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 (homelessness) include Waltham Forest LBC v Maloba [2007] EWCA Civ 1281 and R (Lynch) v Lambeth LBC [2007] HLR 15. Robert has been instructed in a number of cases challenging the assessment of "priority need" by local housing authorities. He successfully challenged the manner in which medical assessments are made in R (Ghandali) v L.B.Ealing [2006] All ER (D) 134 (Jul).

Robert was recently instructed by the Disability Rights Commission to intervene in Malcolm v Lewisham LBC [2007] TLR 253, a case which is currently before the House of Lords. This was one of the most important housing cases in 2007 and has major implications for all possession claims against disabled people. Robert was instructed in Williams v Richmond Court [2007] HLR 22, the first case under the Disability Discrimination Act to challenge the refusal by a management company for consent by a long lessee to install a stairlift in the common parts.

Barristers at Doughty Street acted for a significant number of the 1,400 destitute asylum seekers who were caught by the provisions of section 55 of the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. The Act highlighted the importance of establishing whether an asylum seeker is a child. Robert was instructed in the key decision of R (B) v Merton LBC [2003] 4 All ER 280 in which Stanley Burnton J gave guidance on the minimum requirements for a lawful assessment. He subsequently revisited these issues in R (T) v Enfield LBC [2004] EWHC 2297 (Admin), and R (C) v Merton LBC [2005] EWHC 1753 (Admin). He was a member of an ILPA Research Advisory Group which led to the report "When is a Child not a Child: Asylum, Age Dispute and the Process of Age Assessment" (Heaven Crawley, May 2007).

In the private law field, Robert has been instructed in a number of the leading cases involving the troubled status of the "tolerated trespasser" including Bristol CC v Hassan [2006] 1 WLR 2582; Lambeth LBC v O'Kane [2006] HLR 2 and Aston v Swindon BC [2003] 35 HLR 42. His articles in Legal Action (May and August 2006) anticipated the recent changes which have led to the new "postponed possession order" (Form N28A). He drafted the HLPA response to the C.L.G. consultation paper "Tolerated Trespassers" (November 2007) (click here to view) which has been described as "a devastating critique of the tolerated trespasser doctrine". Recent training for the Chartered Institute of housing has been highly regarded.

Early Human Rights Act challenges include St.Brice v Southwark LBC [2002] 1 WLR 1537 - compatibility of procedures in respect of warrants of possession with Articles 6 and 8 as a result of which the LCD introduced procedural changes to protect occupants); R (McLellan) v Bracknell Forest BC [2002] QB 1129 - the leading CA authority on the compatibility of the regime of introductory tenancies with Articles 6 and 8; and L.B.Merton v Williams [2003] 35 HLR 20 - the Court of Appeal identified important procedural rights for introductory tenants. More recently, in Southwark LBC v Onayomake [2007] TLR 289, Robert persuaded the Court of Appeal that the use of case management sanctions in a possession action had been "disproportionate".

Robert is an executive member of the Housing Law Practitioner's Association (HLPA) and a member of ALBA and HRLA. He has recently lectured and conducted workshops on housing allocations, homelessness, the Disability Discrimination Act, tolerated trespassers and age assessments. Course notes are available on the DSC and HLPA websites. In November 2006, he conducted workshops for the Chartered Institute of Housing entitled "Oops my Allocations Scheme isn't Legal".

Chair of Victim Support (1997-2002). Camden Borough Councillor (1982-90). Health Authority Member (1985-90). In April 2005, he visited Syria on behalf of the Bar Council's Human Rights Committee to present a paper on developing civic society in Syria. In January 2007, he visited Sylhet (Bangladesh). The interaction between poor housing, poverty and health remains a particular interest.

last updated January 2008

Year of Call

1976

Education

MA (Cantab)

Email Address

r.latham@doughtystreet.co.uk

Specialist Teams

Robert Latham is a member of the following specialist law teams:

• Housing and Social Welfare
• Human Rights
• Public and Administrative Law