Connor Johnston

Connor has a busy practice, which includes advising and representing tenants, occupiers and homeless persons in relation to:

• the allocation of social housing under Part VI Housing Act 1996
• homelessness appeals under Part VII Housing Act 1996
• homelessness related judicial review
• possession proceedings and related appeals
• disrepair
• unlawful eviction
• tenancy deposits
• anti-social behaviour injunctions and committal proceedings

Connor is regularly instructed in homelessness appeals and homelessness-related judicial review proceedings. As the co-author of Housing Allocation and Homelessness: Law and Practice (Lexis, 5^th edition 2018) he is regarded as a specialist in this area. He has acted in a number of cases in the last year on behalf of victims of trafficking seeking homelessness assistance and was recently instructed on behalf of the interveners, Shelter and the Child Poverty Action Group, in the Supreme Court case of Samuels v Birmingham City Council on affordability and intentional homelessness. Judgment is awaited.

Connor has a keen interest in the crossover between housing and public law and is frequently instructed to act in possession proceedings raising public law, human rights and discrimination issues. He is regularly instructed, on behalf of the Official Solicitor, to represent clients who lack capacity, particularly in cases which have a community care element. He was appointed to the EHRC panel of preferred counsel in 2019.

Connor advises and acts in judicial review proceedings relating to:

• the provision of accommodation and support to children and care leavers under the Children Act 1989;
• the provision of accommodation and support to vulnerable adults under the Care Act 2014.

Connor often works on behalf of migrant families who are not eligible for mainstream support. He has represented trafficking victims and understands the challenges victims face when trying to obtain accommodation and support.

He has been instructed in a number of cases, on behalf of the Official Solicitor, to represent clients who lack capacity, particularly in cases which involve concurrent possession proceedings.

Connor has a particular interest in cases that involve the interplay between community care, housing, homelessness and asylum support.

Connor is a volunteer advocate at the First Tier Tribunal (Asylum Support) with the Asylum Support Appeals Project, representing applicants who have been refused support under s4 or s95 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. He accepts instructions in related matters including judicial review challenges to delays in the provision of accommodation by the Home Office. He is particularly interested in cases which involve the crossover between community care and asylum support.

Connor's public law practice underpins and complements his other practice areas. As well as judicial review proceedings relating to homelessness, the allocation of social housing and community care, he has a keen interest in any public law challenge on behalf of persons who find themselves without adequate accommodation or support.

Of note, he was recently instructed on behalf of the Claimant MSM, a homeless Syrian asylum-seeker, in a challenge to the absence of any adequate policy or application process to allow destitute migrants to access support under Immigration Act 2016 Sch 10. The Home Office published new guidance catering for those in MSM's position, shortly before the High Court was due to hear the challenge.

Connor also acted on behalf of the intervener Shelter in the recent Supreme Court challenge to the legality of the benefit cap, in R (DA and other) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2019] UKSC 21. Shelter's intervention focused on the difficulty faced by families affected by the cap in accessing affordable accommodation.