Homeless Applicants with Dissatisfactory Decisions, Appropriate Dispute Processing and Access to Justice

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This short article examines the situation of the homeless applicant in relation to unsatisfactory decisions when attempting to secure temporary accommodation from local government in England. The issues of appropriate dispute processing, or methods of redress, and whether in practice legal and other remedies are available to applicants, should be analysed in the context of power imbalance in the applicant and local government officer relationship. Additionally, the applicant’s vulnerability, which led to the request for assistance in the first place, would need to be considered. Given that applicants are more likely not to challenge unsatisfactory decisions, socio-legal tools could assist in acquiring an insight into why this might be the applicant’s default position.