CAMPAIGNERS cried victory yesterday after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of single homeless people no longer having to prove they are more vulnerable than others in order to get support. The “landmark decision” came after a long-running legal challenge to the way councils process housing applications.

Until recently councils would request candidates to pass the Pereira Test, which assessed how “vulnerable” a homeless person is. But charities Crisis and Shelter considered it a “scandal” that any homeless person would be deemed not vulnerable as a result.

Crisis chief executive Jon Sparkes said: “During our intervention in this case, the court heard evidence of just how horrific a homeless person’s life has to be before they qualify for council help. “They are over nine times more likely to commit suicide and 13 times more likely to be a victim of violence.

“It’s a scandal that someone facing this kind of life can be told they’re not vulnerable enough for help.”

He added that “while councils are often under huge financial strain, this must not be used as an excuse for avoiding their legal duties.”

The Housing Act 1996 defined people in “priority need” of housing as those “vulnerable as a result of old age, mental illness, handicap or physical disability.”

But under the Pereira Test, council workers would be made to judge whether applicants to housing support “suffer greater harm from homelessness than an ‘ordinary homeless person’?”

In the hearing, Lord Justice Neuberger and four other judges agreed that the word “‘vulnerable’ carries a necessary implication of relativity.

“It can fairly be said that anyone who is homeless is vulnerable.”

They also added that the current “approach would be more likely to lead to arbitrary and unpredictable outcomes.”

Despite welcoming the day’s result, soup kitchen network Streets Kitchen founder Jon Glackin said: “We must remember the many many people who have died unnecessarily on our streets due to the government’s harsh refusal to use common sense when dealing with those that find themselves homeless.

“Many more will continue to die due to the lack of adequate funding and inhumane policies employed by many councils across the UK.”