Liam joined Chambers at One Pump Court in Autumn 2024 after finishing pupillage. He has already been instructed in a range of family law work, including applications under the Family Law Act 1996, private law children’s cases and finance cases. During his second six, Liam has also undertaken a variety of housing law work: from possession proceedings to claims for disrepair.

In this talk, Liam introduces family law, highlighting family law issues that arise in Part VII cases. He then overviews the relevance of the Children Acts 1989 and 2004 in relation to housing cases. He refers to essential case law and official guidance throughout. 

Key words/topics:

The Children Act 1989 

Child arrangements order

Prohibited steps order

Specific issue order

Welfare

Early help

Child-in-Need plans

Care order

Supervision order

Special guardianship order

Homelessness

Duties of local authorities

Right to request review

Domestic violence

“Reasonable to continue to occupy”

Holmes Moorhouse v London Borough of Richmond upon Thames [2009] UKHL 7

Bull v Oxford City Council [2011] EWCA Civ 609

El-Goure v The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea [2012] EWCA Civ 670

The Children Act 2004

London Borough of Hackney v Williams [2018] UKSC 37

Nzolameso v City of Westminster [2015] UKSC 22

R (on the application of AN) v London Borough of Barking and Dagenham [2025] EWHC 2265 (Admin)

Davies v Hertfordshire County Council [2018] EWCA Civ 379

Public law defences

Newport County Council v McDonagh [2021] EW Misc 9 (CC)