Morayo Fagborun Bennett

Introduction & Contact details

Morayo specialises in all areas of housing, residential property, public and administrative law, including those which overlap with welfare benefit and employment law.

In appropriate cases, Morayo is able to provide advice and representation on a direct access or pro bono basis.

She also provides training to legal professionals, housing officers and students in social housing, welfare benefits and employment law.

Qualifications

• BVC (Outstanding)
• CPE (Commendation)
• MA (Westminster) Crime, Human Rights and the International Community (Distinction)
• MA (Oxon) Philosophy and Theology  (2:1)
• Buchanan Prize 2004
• IDS Brief Prize for Employment Law 2004
• Sibel Dedezade Pro Bono Award 2004
• Hardwicke Scholar 2003
• Lord Bowen Scholar 2002

Professional Associations

• Administrative Law Bar Association
• Bar Pro Bono Unit
• Black Lawyers Directory
• Employment Law Bar Association
• Employment Lawyers Association
• Free Representation Unit
• Housing Law Practitioners’ Association
• Human Rights Lawyers Association
• Industrial Law Society
• Legal Action Group
• Social Housing Law Association 
• Social Security Practitioners Association

T:   020 7242 2523 (switchboard)
F:   020 7691 1234
E: morayo.fagborunbennett@hardwicke.co.uk

Landlord & Tenant

Morayo’s practice is in residential landlord and tenant and related public and administrative law, with a particular emphasis on social housing.

Her practice encompasses possession proceedings, disrepair, Leasehold Valuation Tribunal proceedings, community care, judicial review of homelessness and allocation decisions, statutory homelessness appeals, ASBI, injunctions, committals, unlawful evictions and harassment.

Landlord & Tenant - Commercial

Morayo’s commercial landlord and tenant practice comprises both advisory and advocacy work. Recently, she has represented clients in cases concerning breach of covenant, disrepair, trespasser proceedings, rent review, disputed lease renewal, service charge disputes and mortgage proceedings involving allegations of undue influence.

Landlord & Tenant - Residential

Morayo acts in landlord and tenant matters relating to possession of residential property including mortgage possession cases, and warrants of possessions, injunctions, unlawful eviction and disrepair.

Recent Work

• Acting in an urgent unlawful eviction matter against a private landlord.
• Acting in a breach of contract claim involving an injunction against the landlord.
• LVT proceedings and forfeiture hearings.
• Drafting, advising and representing in disrepair matters.
• Injunctive proceedings and claims for damages in unlawful eviction matters.
• Applications for equitable and beneficial interests in premises.
• Representing a landlord's interest in Family Law Proceedings to transfer ownership of residential premises between tenants.

Social Housing

Morayo acts in social housing matters relating to possession proceedings for matters including rent arrears, subletting, nuisance and anti-social behaviour. She also acts in interim possession orders, anti-social behaviour injunctions, committals, unlawful eviction, homelessness, community care and disrepair cases.

Recent Work

• Providing representation in anti-social behaviour, subletting, abandonment cases and succession cases.
• Drafting, advising and appearing in possession proceedings including dealing with disrepair and discrimination counterclaims.
• Drafting , advising and appearing in injunction cases concerning anti-social behaviour and nuisance.
• Advising in and providing representation in a committal application to effect the eviction of tenant following a failed bailiff's appointment.
• Acting in a case concerning the effect of a stock transfer on the possession order obtained by the local authority.
• Providing representation in interim possession proceedings and trespasser actions.

Employment

Morayo’s practice encompasses all aspects of employment law, including unfair, constructive and wrongful dismissal, redundancy, discrimination law (age, race, sex, disability and religious discrimination), transfer of undertakings, part time pension and public interest disclosures.

Morayo has conducted employment cases since 2003, when she became an Employment Law FRU Representative. She has wide experience of preliminary, interlocutory and substantive employment tribunal hearings and has appeared in several multi-day cases. Morayo is also experienced in Employment Appeal Tribunal hearings having appeared in several cases.

Morayo is particularly well placed to deal with employment cases complicated by property and welfare benefit matters.

Public Law

Morayo's specialises in housing, and public and administrative law areas including welfare benefits.

She undertakes public law work, including those arising from her housing and her welfare rights practice. She has been involved in judicial review cases in homelessness and community care cases and has undertaken work for law centres, citizen advice bureaus and solicitors in welfare benefits cases.

Morayo has provided advice and representation in education cases, including those concerning special needs and negligence cases.

She is able to provide representation in environmental matters, including challenging Abatement Notices.

Morayo also undertakes civil action against the police and other public authority cases.

Allocation and Homelessness

Morayo's experience encompasses of advising in, drafting and representing clients in homeless decisions appeals in the county courts and through judicial review. Morayo also undertakes urgent out of hours applications for interim accommodation.

Recent Work

• Acting in community care cases involving children, the elderly and prisoners.
• Acting in cases involving children ineligible for social housing through the Housing Act 1996.
• Acting in applications seeking judicial review of homelessness and allocation decisions (applications seeking a review decision and interim accommodation pending review).
• Acting in statutory homelessness appeals (section 204 Housing Act 1996 homelessness appeals and section 204A Housing Act 1996 appeals for interim accommodation pending appeal)

Benefits & Social Welfare

Morayo has been undertaking welfare benefits cases since 2002, when she joined the Free Representation Unit (FRU).

Morayo is particularly interested in presumption of marriage, overpayment, right to reside and habitual residence cases. Her practice includes overpayments of benefits, income support, job seeker’s allowance, bereavement benefits, disability living allowance, attendance allowance and housing benefit cases. She has represented clients in both civil and criminal proceedings in overpayments cases.

She continues to be involved in pro bono work through the Bar Probono Unit and gives training in social security law to FRU representatives.

Recent Work

• Acting in the Pensions Appeals Tribunal to determine the commencement date of an award and the interim assessment of disablement case.
• Advising in a judicial review against the Parliamentary and Health service Ombudsman.
• Acting in a presumption of marriage case in which the Appellant had undergone an Islamic marriage.
• Acting in overpayment cases involving substantial sums of money.
• Advising on the welfare benefits implicaitons of decisions in family law and community care cases.
• Representing clients in council tax, housing benefit, disability living allowance and other appeals at the first tier and upper tribunals.

Community Care

Morayo continues to develop her community care practice. She has advised and acted in cases relating to individuals with substantial mental and physical disabilities, the adequacies of the local authorities assessments of need and issues surrounding lack of capacity.

Discrimination

Morayo has experience of discrimination matters arising in the context of employment, social housing and welfare benefits cases. She has acted in possession claims in which the Human Rights Act and issues of race and disability discrimination were raised as defences to the proceedings. She has also acted in right to reside cases raising issues of discrimination on the grounds of nationality and Article 8 of the European Court of Human Rights. In employment law, she has acted in multi-day cases involving discrimination on grounds of race, sex, age, disability and religion.

EU law

Through her housing, employment and welfare benefits practice Morayo deals with EU law and its impact domestically. In particular, she has acted in welfare benefits cases on right to reside and the application of the habitual residence test.

Healthcare law

Morayo has advised and acted in cases relating to individuals with substantial mental and physical health issues, their interactions with local authority providers and issues concerning lack of capacity to conduct litigation.

Human rights and civil liberties

Morayo's academic background in human rights law is very valuable to her in dealing with human rights issues which arise across her practice.

Human rights issues often arise from her social housing and welfare benefits practice, whether as defences in possession claims or as challenges in right to reside cases.

Judicial review

Morayo has wide experience of advising upon and conducting judicial reviews, many of which have risen from her social housing and welfare benefits practice.

This includes advising upon the merits of and making urgent out-of-hours judicial review applications.

Morayo has acted in cases to judicial review local authority homelessness and allocation decisions and also the provision of community care.

Mental health

Morayo deals with issues arising from proceedings involving the Mental Health Act including capacity, litigating for and against patients and issues arising from disability discrimination.