Homelessness in England

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All local authorities have a legal duty to provide 24-hour advice to homeless people, or those who are at risk of becoming homeless within 28 days.

One of the homeless residents of London. Covent garden area. Southampton street (a side treet of the Strand).
One of the homeless residents of London. Covent garden area. Southampton street (a side treet of the Strand).

A local authority must accept an application for assistance from a person seeking homelessness assistance if they have reason to believe that the person may be homeless or threatened with homelessness. They are then duty bound to make enquiries into that person's circumstances in order to decide whether a legal duty to provide accommodation and assistance is owed. This duty to accept an application arises irrespective of whether the applicant became intentionally homeless or has a local connection with the district of the authority.

If the local authority has reason to believe that an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance and falls into a priority need category then it is under a legal duty to provide 'interim accommodation' for the appicant and those residing with him, pending a decision as to what, if any, duty is owed.

Certain categories of persons from abroad (including British citizens who have lived abroad for some time) may be ineligible for assistance under the legislation.

A person does not have to be roofless for qualify legally as being homeless. For example it may not be legally reasonable for a person to occupy by virtue of its condition, location, if it is not available to all members of the household, or because an occupant is at risk of violence or threats of violence which are likely to be carried out.

The extent of the duty owed by a local authority towards a homeless applicant shall depend on his or her circumstances, and in particular whether they are homeless (or threatened with homelessness), eligible for assistance, in priority need, and intentionally homeless.

If the applicant qualifies under the four criteria then the local authority has a legal duty to provide accommodation for the applicant, those living with them, and any other person who it is reasonable to reside with them. However, if the applicant does not have a local connection with the district of the authority then they may be referred to another local authority with which they have a local connection (unless it is likely that the applicant would suffer violence or theats of violence in that other area).

If the local authority decides that a person is homeless but does not fall into a priority need category, or became homeless intentionally then a lesser duty shall be owed which does not extend to the provision of permanent accommodation. The local authority shall still however be lawfully obliged to offer advice and assistance.

People will have a "priority need" for being provided with permanent housing if any of the following apply: pregnant, have dependent children, homeless because of an emergency such as a flood or a fire, aged 16 or 17, elderly, are vulnerable due to a physical or mental illness or disability, are at risk of exploitation or have been in care, are at risk of domestic violence or other threats of violence, homeless after leaving hospital, prison or the armed forces.

The accommodation may not necessarily be provided by the council and even where the 'full' duty is owed the housing provided may at first be temporary accommodation: often bed and breakfast hotels are used for temporary accommodation, and Housing Associations for permanent accommodation.

Practical advice regarding homelessness can be obtained through the websites listed below. The Citizens Advice Bureau and some other charities also offer advice in person, by telephone, or by email.The Shelter provides advice about homelessness and other housing problems from the telephone number given on their website. In an emergency, a person contacts a local council. Thames Reach runs the London Street Resue Service which provides support to people sleeping on the streets of the capital.

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[edit] Statistics on homelessness

The official figures[1] from the Department for Communities and Local Government for England (not including the rest of the UK) are that on average 498 people sleep rough each night, with 248 of those in London. There are a total of 84,900 households (which may contain more than one person) that are classified as homeless. Some homelessness workers have claimed that these figures are manipulated to give a lower number of people sleeping rough [2].

[edit] Gatekeeping

In April 2006 the Housing Minister Yvette Cooper MP wrote to local authorities in response to criticism that a gatekeeping approach (whereby local authorities do not take homelessness applications) [3] to homelessness applications was taking place. [4] The letter reminded local authorities of their statutory duty in this regard.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Homelessness Statistics September 2007 and Rough Sleeping – 10 Years on from the Target"September 2007 Department for Communities and Local Government: London
  2. ^ Branigan, Tania, "Rough sleepers unit 'is fixing figures'", Saturday November 24, 2001, Guardian (UK)
  3. ^ "Warning over homelessness figures: Government claims that homelessness numbers have fallen by a fifth since last year should be taken with a health warning, says housing charity Shelter", BBC News, Monday, 13 June, 2005.
  4. ^ "Effective Homelessness Prevention", by Yvette Cooper, MP, letter archived at Homeless Link UK.

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links