R (Z) v Hackney London Borough Council (Supreme Court)

In brief

The Supreme Court held that a Jewish housing charity (Agudas Israel Housing Association) that restricted housing allocations to members of the Orthodox Jewish community lawfully exercised the charities exception in EA 2010 Sch.3 para 18. The exception permits a charity to restrict benefits to persons sharing a protected characteristic where this is within the charity's objects and is proportionate. A positive act of giving priority to those sharing a characteristic is not the same as excluding others. The court also confirmed that Hackney LBC's allocation arrangements, which deferred to the charity's criteria, did not breach the public sector equality duty.

Key provisions

• charities-exception — Sch.3 para 18 charities exception — genuine purpose + proportionality is sufficient (not 'necessity'): A charity may lawfully restrict benefits to persons sharing a protected characteristic where (a) this is within the charity's stated objects, and (b) the restriction is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. The proportionality test does NOT require demonstrating 'necessity'; positive prioritisation of a sharing-characteristic group is distinct from exclusion of others.
• psed-deference — Public-authority deference to single-characteristic charity criteria does not breach PSED: A public authority (Hackney LBC) routing service users to a single-characteristic charity (housing association restricted to Orthodox Jewish members) does NOT breach the public sector equality duty merely by deferring to the charity's protected-characteristic criteria.

When relevant

Cite when: (a) a single-characteristic charity is restricting service access to members of the shared characteristic group; (b) the proportionality threshold for the EA 2010 Sch.3 para 18 charities exception is being analysed; (c) need to argue that 'necessity' is the wrong threshold (proportionality is); (d) a public authority's deference to single-characteristic charity criteria is being PSED-challenged; (e) faith-based or single-sex service provision context (women-only refuges, faith schools, religious charities) — including the SPA-2026 charities-exception analysis (fn 72, fn 77).