Homelessness For LawWorks Tony Martin Supervising Solicitor, Legal Advice Clinic tonymartin@bpp.com BPP LAW SCHOOL BPP LAW SCHOOL
Homelessness Allocations Legal Aid BPP LAW SCHOOL
Legal Aid is available in homelessness cases to: • Review a homelessness decision (including decisions about Housing Needs Assessments and Personal Housing Plans); and • Review the suitability of accommodation; and • Appeal a decision to the county court; and • Advise on the failure of the Council to take an application, make a decision or provide interim accommodation (“Gatekeeping”). BPP LAW SCHOOL
Homelessness and Allocations • A homelessness application is an application for homelessness assistance which may lead to the provision of accommodation; • It is therefore a safety net provision; • It is not an application for Social (Council or Housing Association) Housing. BPP LAW SCHOOL
Allocations • Applications for Social Housing are made under Part 6 of the Housing Act 1996, to the Housing Register; • The fact that a person is homeless should give them reasonable preference on a Housing Register, regardless of the outcome of any homelessness application; • The Localism Act 2011 gave Councils a wider discretion in deciding who to admit to the Housing Register and what priority to afford people. BPP LAW SCHOOL
Homelessness legislation • Part 7 Housing Act 1996, recently amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 • New online Homelessness Code of Guidance • Regulations • Councils are required to have a Homelessness Strategy April 18, Slide no: 6 BPP LAW SCHOOL
S179 Advice Local authorities must provide free of charge to anyone in their district information and advice on: • preventing homelessness; • securing accommodation when homeless; • the rights of people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, and the duties of the authority; • any help that is available from the authority or anyone else for people in the authority’s district who are homeless or may become homeless (whether or not they are threatened with homelessness); and, • how to access that help. • Advisory services have to be designed with certain specified vulnerable groups in mind. April 18, Slide no: 7 BPP LAW SCHOOL
The starting point • If a local authority have reason to believe that a person may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, they shall make enquiries as to: • (a) whether s/he is eligible for assistance, and • (b) if so, what duty (if any) is owed to him/her. April 18, Slide no: 8 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Homelessness – s175 There are a number of ways in which a person can be legally homeless: • No accommodation anywhere in the world that s/he has a legal right to occupy; or • The accommodation is not available; or • The applicant cannot gain entry to the accommodation; or • The accommodation is not reasonable to continue to occupy, including on grounds of violence, domestic or otherwise. April 18, Slide no: 9 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Threatened Homelessness – s175 • A person is threatened with homelessness if it is likely that s/he will become homeless within 56 days. • A person is also threatened with homelessness if they have been served with a valid s21 notice and that notice will expire within 56 days (s175 (5)). April 18, Slide no: 10 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Eligibility A complex mixture of immigration law, EU/EEA Treaty rights and the habitual residence test April 18, Slide no: 11 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Definitely Eligible 1 • A British citizen, who is habitually resident in the common travel area • A Commonwealth citizen with a right of abode, who is habitually resident in the common travel area • A person who is in the UK as a result of being deported, expelled or otherwise forcibly removed by law from another country to the UK April 18, Slide no: 12 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Definitely Eligible 2 An EEA National who is: • A worker (includes part time and seasonal workers, those workers who are temporarily incapacitated, and many people who lost a job and are looking for another) • A self-employed person • A close family member of the above 2 categories • A person with a permanent right to reside in the UK by virtue of Reg 15 (c) (d)(e) of the 2006 Immigration (EEA) Regs April 18, Slide no: 13 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Definitely Eligible 3 • a person with refugee status • a person with exceptional leave to remain or humanitarian protection which is not subject to a “no recourse to public funds” condition • a person who has indefinite leave to remain (settled status) and who is habitually resident in the CTA, other than a person who has been given leave on the basis of a sponsorship undertaking and who has been resident for less than 5 years (unless the sponsor has died) • a person who has limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom on family or private life grounds under Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention, which is not subject to a “no recourse to public funds” condition April 18, Slide no: 14 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Homeless and Eligible Where the Council are satisfied that a person is homeless or threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, they must: • Carry out a housing needs assessment; and • Draw up a personal housing plan (PHP); and • Continue to investigate the homelessness application. If they decide that a person is either not homeless or not eligible, they must issue a written decision (s184) giving reasons April 18, Slide no: 15 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Housing Needs Assessments -s189A • The content of the assessment must include: o circumstances that caused the applicant to become homeless or threatened with homelessness, o housing needs of the applicant including, in particular, what accommodation would be suitable for the applicant and any persons with whom the applicant resides or might reasonably be expected to reside (“other relevant persons”), and o what support would be necessary for the applicant and any other relevant persons to be able to have and retain suitable accommodation. • There is a duty to notify the applicant, in writing, of the assessment April 18, Slide no: 16 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Personal Housing Plans (PHPs) • On completion of the assessment the LA must try to agree with the applicant: o any steps the applicant is to be required to take to secure that the applicant and any other relevant persons have and are able to retain suitable accommodation, and o the steps the authority are to take. • The agreement must be recorded in writing. • Where an agreement cannot be reached then the authority must record in writing the reasons why they could not agree and set out the steps above. • There is also a requirement to keep the assessment under review until the LA ceases to be under any duty. BPP LAW SCHOOL
Prevention duty - s195(8) • Requires Councils to help any eligible applicant to secure that accommodation does not cease to be available. It ends when: o Suitable accommodation likely for 6 months; o After 56 days (except in s21 cases) o Applicant has actually become homeless o Refusal of an offer of suitable accommodation; o IH from and accommodation made available o No longer eligible for assistance o Application withdrawn o Deliberate and unreasonable refusal to cooperate April 18, Slide no: 18 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Relief Duty - s189B(7)) • Requires councils to take reasonable steps to secure accommodation for any eligible homeless person. It ends when: o Suitable accommodation likely for 6 months; o After 56 days (except in s21 cases) o Applicant has actually become homeless o Refusal of an offer of suitable accommodation; o IH from and accommodation made available o No longer eligible for assistance o Application withdrawn o Deliberate and unreasonable refusal to cooperate April 18, Slide no: 19 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Deliberate & unreasonable ss193B/C Where a council decides that an applicant has deliberately and unreasonably refused to cooperate, the Council needs to be satisfied that: • Steps in PHP are reasonable in the context of the applicant’s particular circumstances and needs; and • Applicant understands what is required of them and is therefore in a position to make a deliberate refusal; and • Applicant is not refusing to co-operate as a result of a mental illness/other health need/difficulty communicating; and • Applicant’s refusal to co -operate with any step was deliberate and unreasonable in the context of their particular circumstances and needs. April 18, Slide no: 20 BPP LAW SCHOOL
Two steps Step 1 Step 2 • Issue a warning • Issue a section letter 193B (2) notice. • The warning must • This notice must explain the explain why the consequences of housing authority a notice being are giving notice given and the and its effect, and housing authority inform the must allow a applicant of their reasonable period right to request a after the warning review of the is given before decision to issue issuing a notice. the notice and the timescale. BPP LAW SCHOOL
Notification to end Prevention/Relief • Written notice must be given; • The notice must specify which of the circumstances (in either section 195(8) or section 189B(7)) apply; and • inform the applicant that they have a right to request a review of the housing authority’s decision to bring the duty to an end; • and of the time frame within which such a request must be made. April 18, Slide no: 22 BPP LAW SCHOOL
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