星空传媒

Mrs Ali was the tenant of a two-bedroom property where she lived with her husband and their two children (aged 17 and nine). She applied for a transfer to a larger home.

The council operated a points-based transfer scheme and awarded 30 points for overcrowding and nine points for time on the transfer list, but did not award medical points. It relied on the advice of a doctor who had considered reports from the family's GP.

Mrs Ali applied for a judicial review complaining that the refusal to award medical points in respect of any member of the household was irrational.

The judge dismissed her application. There was insufficient evidence that the condition of the children was affected beyond the natural stresses and strains of living in overcrowded conditions and this was deemed to have been already reflected by the 30 points awarded for overcrowding. The medical adviser had found that the medical condition of Mrs Ali and her husband was under control and not exacerbated by their housing circumstances.