In this article, Lis Bradshaw looks at the Homelessness Act 2002 and the Code of Guidance which was published shortly before Christmas 2002.

Code of Guidance

The Code was published on 11 November 2002. The following are the more important aspects:-

Allocations

It is the housing authority’s strategic responsibility to meet the district housing need. To meet this responsibility, the authority must: a) work closely with registered social landlords (“RSLs”) and other housing providers, and b) develop working relationships with other organisations, including supporting people teams, social services, the Police and the Probation Service.

Eligibility

When deciding whether an applicant is ineligible because of unacceptable behaviour, the authority should:

• consider whether the applicant or member of his household has been engaging in unacceptable behaviour which would justify the making of a possession order;
• satisfy itself that the behaviour is serious enough that the order would have been outright;
• satisfy itself that the applicant is unsuitable to be a tenant by reason of the behaviour in question at the time the application is considered, i.e. if a length of time has passed and there has been no further antisocial behaviour, the local authority may not be able to satisfy this.

Allocation scheme

Allocation Schemes must provide choice for applicants wherever possible whilst continuing to meet housing needs. Authorities must also consult with RSLs, with whom they have nomination arrangements, before adopting or altering schemes and must ensure that they have reasonable opportunity to comment on the proposals.

The Homelessness Act 2002

The further provisions of The Homelessness Act 2002 were brought into force on 31 January 2003 as follows:

• Section 13 Transfer Applications – including those from assured tenants of RSL’s are to be treated as usual applications.
• Section 14 This abolishes the duty to maintain a Housing Register and inserts a new section, that is that local authorities should only allocate to eligible persons, that is they do not have to allocate to anyone who is ineligible because they have been guilty of unacceptable behaviour serious enough to make them unsuitable to be a tenant.
• Section 15 Authorities must provide free of charge advice and information about the right to make an application for housing and must provide assistance to those who are likely to have difficulty in making such an application.
• Section 16 Allocation schemes must include a statement of the authority’s policy on offering applicants a choice of housing accommodation or the opportunity to express preferences about accommodation allocated to them.

For more information contact Lis Bradshaw on 0845 404 2475 or e-mail elisabeth.bradshaw@cobbetts.co.uk