Christian is a partner in our Housing and Public Law and Human Rights teams.
Christian often acts for large residents’ groups in claims against developers, freeholders, and landlords. He has particular expertise in fire safety claims against developers and freeholders requiring the replacement of unsafe cladding, insulation, and cavity barriers, and requiring significant payments of damages.
Christian has a strong public law practice representing individuals, campaign groups, and charities, with particular expertise in homelessness, community care cases for social services users, and welfare benefits. He represented clients in the Supreme Court in both 2017 and 2018.
Christian has over two decades’ experience in acting for clients at all court levels. He often acts for vulnerable clients, including those without capacity to litigate. He is frequently instructed by the Official Solicitor.
He continues to advise and represent clients across all residential landlord and tenant matters, including disrepair, unlawful eviction, possession, harassment, and all tenancy related disputes.
Christian was co-chair of the Law Society Housing Law Committee from 2021 to 2024.
Experience
Christian’s significant areas of work include:
Building defects
- Richmond House
- Damages claim of more than £3 million on behalf of leaseholders against constructor, Berkeley Goup PLC, and freeholder, MTVH, because of fire safety defects in the construction of the building discovered after fire destroyed the building.
- The Exchange
- Claim on behalf of 76 leaseholders and residents against freeholder NHG, and their constructor, United Living. Extensive fire safety works completed to development of 5 large residential buildings at no cost to leaseholders and residents and settlement reached including payment by United Living of £550,000 damages and costs to leaseholders.
Landlord and tenant
- Crown Estate Commissioners v (1) Governors of the Peabody Trust (2) Margaret Poplak [2011] EWHC 1467 – Established the status of Rent Act tenants following large scale transfer of their homes
- Advised several ‘short-life’ residents’ associations and successfully defended possessions claims by Lambeth Council
- Successful challenge to lawfulness of housing co-op’s re-possession policy
Public law – homelessness
- Poshteh v Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea [2017] UKSC 36 – Appeal relating to Article 6 ECHR and the extent of local authority duties under Part VII of Housing Act 1996. The court’s decision widened the threshold for intervention in local authority decisions
Public Law – Welfare Benefits
- DA and DS v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2019] UKSC 21 – Acted for the intervenor, Just Fair, regarding the ambit of Art 8 ECHR and the application Art 14 and the ‘best interests of the child’ doctrine
Recent directory and client quotes
Chambers and Partners UK 2025
- Christian is listed as a “Associate to Watch” in Social Housing: Tenant.
Legal 500 2025
- Christian is listed as a “Leading Partner” in Social Housing: Tenant.
- “Christian Hansen is a brilliant housing lawyer who specialises in complex civil claims.”
Chambers and Partners 2024
- Christian was ranked as an ‘Associate to Watch’ in Social Housing: Tenant.
- “Christian Hansen is very good, very thorough.”
- “Always a pleasure to work with. He is completely organised and knows where a case is going.”
Legal 500 2024
- Christian was featured as a ‘Leading Individual’ in the Social Housing: Tenant.
- “Christian Hansen and Paul Ridge are great solicitors.”
- “Devoted to their clients’ cause, they ceaselessly fight the clients corner and are creative in their approaches.”
Recent press, media and publications
Christian has been quoted extensively in the press. These include:
- ‘We live in fear’ – Trying to rebuild in a home devastated by fire – BBC – Aug 2025
- NHG and United Living pay south London residents £550,000 in cladding case – Property Week – Jun 2025
- Notting Hill Genesis and United Living pay £550,000 to residents to settle High Court cladding case – Housing Today – Jun 2025
- NHG residents win £550,000 in compensation in cladding remediation case – Inside Housing – Jun 2025
- London residents win £550,000 compensation in cladding defects case – The Guardian – Jun 2025
- Settlement reached for victims of Richmond House fire – PBC Today – Jan 2025
- MTVH reaches settlement with residents over 2019 fire – Housing Today – Jan 2025
- Residents affected by 2019 Richmond House fire reach settlement with housing association and construction company – LocalGovernmentLawyer – Jan 2025
- Residents settle court claim with housing association and developer over estate block fire – Inside Housing – Jan 2025
- More than 50 residents who lost their home due to fire begin High Court claim – Inside Housing – April 2024
Education and career
- Christian graduated with a degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester in 1997
- He then completed the GDL in 1998, the LPC in 1999, and qualified as a solicitor in 2002
- He has been an LSC/LAA supervisor of housing cases since 2006
- Christian was Head of the Housing team at another London law firm from 2011 – 2018
- He joined Bindmans LLP in September 2018
