R v Hillingdon LBC, ex parte Puhlhofer [1986] 1 WLR 230

Court of Appeal

Facts: The issue was whether certain individuals were homeless under the Housing Act, which required determining if they had "accommodation" within the statutory definition.

Issue: Whether the determination of "accommodation" was a question of law or fact that could be reviewed.

Held: The Court of Appeal held that the determination of what constituted "accommodation" was a factual issue to be decided by the local authority unless their decision was perverse.

Judicial Statement: Lord Bingham noted that factual decisions made by authorities should be respected unless they were irrational or perverse. This was contrasted with cases where statutory criteria were characterized as jurisdictional but subject to a range of reasonable interpretations.