Sadaf Mir

I am a Solicitor in the housing department at Duncan Lewis Solicitors.

I am deeply committed to promoting social justice and work predominantly under legal aid in order to represent those most in need. I qualified as a solicitor in December 2011 and have extensive experience in possession, homelessness, disrepair, and judicial review matters. Many of the housing cases I deal with concern overlapping duties owed under other legislation including the Children Act, Care Act and Equality Act. I frequently assist those with no recourse to public funds, asylum seekers and victims of trafficking with accessing suitable accommodation.

I have a particular interest in the area of homelessness and obtain successful outcomes in many such cases at the review or appeal stage. A case where I successfully challenged a negative review decision which found my client, a domestic abuse survivor to be intentionally homeless concerned the local authority’s failure to follow its own policies and the national strategy on domestic violence. The local authority overturned its decision in September 2018, and on 12 September 2019 the local authority apologised to my client on a BBC show for the delay in accepting the full homelessness duty towards my client.

• Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test - BPP Law School, London
• Bar Vocational Course - BPP Law School, London
• Bachelor of Laws (LLB Hons) - University of Keele, Staffordshire
• Awarded Blackstone Exhibition Scholarship by Middle Temple Inn

• Duncan Lewis Solicitors, 2020-present
• Tower Hamlets Law Centre December, 2018-2019
• Shelter March, 2018
• Deighton Pierce Glynn, 2014-2018
• Admitted as solicitor, December 2011

• "I am very impressed with how Sadaf Mir communicates with clients, especially the kindness and compassion she shows them"Legal 500 UK 2023
• "Sadaf is able to explain to the clients about their case in a way that they understand and provides them with opportunities to ask questions"Legal 500 UK 2023
• "Thank you so much for all your efforts it is greatly appreciated. Honestly you’ve been a lifesaver. Once again I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your efforts. You’ve been an absolute super star so far." - Client, October 2020
• "I am incredibly happy and grateful for your help. I don't know how to describe how I feel when I come "home" here and not need to worry something bad will happen Many many thanks." - Client, October 2020
• "Thank you for all your time and advice with this matter and may I wish you every success in the future. I will highly recommend you and your firm." - Client, October 2020
• "Thanks for all your good work. Surely, you will be rewarded. My warm greetings and thanks to your team." - Client, September 2020

• Recommended Lawyer - The Legal 500, 2023-2022 editions

Court of Appeal

• Thames LBC v Kubicek [2012] EWCA 3292 (QB) - Acted for the Respondent, Ms Kubicek. The Court of Appeal laid down guidelines for circumstances in which material facts giving rise to unfairness may be admissible in section 204 appeals.

High Court

• Ersus v London Borough of Redbridge [2016] EWHC 1025 QB - This matter concerned an appeal on the issue of costs. An appeal under the Housing Act 1996 s.204 had become academic and discontinued, on appeal the court held that if it if it could not be said with certainty without the court spending disproportionate amount of time that there had been a causal connection between the bringing of the housing appeal and the local authority's subsequent offer of suitable accommodation, then no order as to costs was the appropriate order to make.

Civil Court

• Ratcliffe v Patterson, County Court at Luton, 17 March 2020 - Successfully defended possession claim whereas counterclaims based on disability discrimination, disrepair and failure to protect the deposit were also successful. In respect of the disability discrimination counterclaim the court held that the means chosen by the landlord were more than necessary to accomplish the objective of restarting the income stream and it was disproportionate for the landlord to proceed on mandatory grounds at the earliest opportunity, without taking certain steps to help the tenant reduce the arrears. The court also held that the s8 notice was invalid because it was not signed in accordance with s44 of the Companies Act which requires the signature of two directors or a director and an attesting witness.
• Letting International Limited v Frater, County Court at Clerkenwell and Shoreditch, October 2018 - Successfully defended a possession case concerning tripartite agreements provided to homeless applicants where it was unclear whether the landlord was the local authority or accommodation provider.

• Housing team wins personal injury damages for child affected by housing disrepair (28 January 2025)
• Landlord Discovers True Cost of Instructing Unauthorised Advisers (12 July 2022)
• Rotten housing eligibility assistance decisions are ripe for challenge (17 June 2022)
• Ratcliffe v Patterson: rare victory of a defence and counterclaim based on disability discrimination against a private landlord (23 March 2020)