Parkins v City of Westminster [1997]
A licensee did not have a secure tenancy.Teachers at a voluntary aided school were treated as within the council’s affordable housing scheme. The council granted a licence of a single room within a shared flat to a teacher at this school. When he was dismissed from his employment at the school by the governing body (his employer), the council served on him notice to leave the flat, within four weeks. The teacher claimed that rather than a licence he had a secure tenancy under the Housing Act 1985, and the County Court judge agreed.
HELD: The Court of Appeal allowed the council’s appeal, holding that the teacher did not have a secure tenancy. The accommodation provided to the teacher did not satisfy the statutory requirement of 'exclusive possession of essential living rooms of a separate dwelling house', as required in order for there to be a secure tenancy.
Citation: Parkins v City of Westminster [1997] EWCA Civ 2775