Burton v Camden LBC [2000]

A joint tenancy was granted by the council to joint tenants in 1994. In 1996, the claimant joint tenant gave notice to the council’s housing benefit department that her joint tenant would be leaving, and asked for her housing benefit to be increased so that it covered all of the rent. The council refused to either increase the benefit or to treat the claimant as a sole tenant of the property, as the flat had three bedrooms and was needed to accommodate families. However, the departing joint tenant completed a deed of release, releasing her interest to the claimant tenant. The claimant tenant then sought a declaration that she had become the sole tenant of her council flat.

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