Iris Ferber

Iris has been a Housing specialist throughout her time at the Bar, ever since she completed her pupillage in Housing law in 2006.

She deals with all aspects of Housing law, and has long experience in dealing with complex anti-social behaviour cases, including mental health issues, on behalf of both landlords and tenants.

She is particularly good at dealing with vulnerable clients and witnesses, and managing the complex legal arguments involved in Equality Act and Human Rights cases. Her expertise in discrimination law generally (including her Employment Law practice) makes her particularly adept at handling Equality Act defences.

Iris has extensive experience of homelessness litigation, including s204 appeals in the County Court, judicial review in the High Court, and appeals to the Court of Appeal. She regularly trains local authorities on homelessness law and procedure.

Iris also delivers very popular workshops in Chambers, and in-house, on all aspects of Housing litigation, and writes regularly for 42BR’s Housing Bulletin.

Recent Work

Iris has recently been dealing with a number of complex possession claims involving mental health issues and Equality Act defences.  She has both argued, and defended, counterclaims under sections 15 and 20 of the Equality Act, and is familiar with the difficulties faced by both parties in arguing such cases in the County Court.

Selected Housing Cases

• Lambeth LBC v Ossei: A possession claim based on the tenant not occupying the property as her only or principal home, involving public law and disability discrimination counter-allegations by the tenant. Possession was successfully obtained, after the judge found that the tenant was not living at the property at the time of the expiry of the NTQ, and had not lived there for some years previously. Her rights under the Equality Act and Article 8 were therefore not engaged at all. She appealed, and we also won the appeal.
• R (Sambotin) v Brent LBC [2018] EWCA Civ 1826: Appeal against a JR decision about a local authority’s power to reconsider a homelessness decision already communicated to an applicant, but still subject to an incomplete local connection referral
• R (Farah) v Hillingdon LBC [2015] 1 WLUK 650: High Court decision, upholding local authority’s decision to refuse an extension of time for requesting a s202 review
• Link Lending Ltd v Bustard [2010] EWCA Civ 424: The Court of Appeal considered actual occupation of a property under paragraph 2 of schedule 3 to the Land Registration Act 2002, where the occupier was involuntarily resident in a care home

Professional memberships

• Social Housing Law Association
• Discrimination Law Association
• Chancery Bar Association
• Property Bar Association

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