Schedule 15 – Ineligible persons from abroad: statutory disregards
1016.Schedule 15 amends section 185(4) of the Housing Act 1996 (“the 1996 Act”), section 119(1) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and Article 7A(4) of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1998. These provisions had previously required local housing authorities in England, Wales and Scotland (and the Housing Executive in Northern Ireland) to disregard ineligible household members when deciding whether an applicant for housing assistance is homeless or has a priority need for accommodation. The effect of Schedule 15 is that the disregards no longer apply in the case of an applicant for housing assistance who is a British citizen, a Commonwealth citizen with a right of abode in the UK, or an EEA or Swiss national exercising an EU Treaty right to reside in the UK.
1017.Schedule 15 also changes the way in which the duty owed to applicants who are found to be homeless and to have a priority need only by reliance on a household member who is a “restricted person” (a person who requires leave to enter or remain in the UK and does not have it, or a person who does have the required leave but that leave was granted on the condition that the person would have “no recourse to public funds”) may be discharged. In such a case, local housing authorities and the Housing Executive in Northern Ireland are required, so far as possible, to bring their duty to secure accommodation to an end by ensuring that an offer of accommodation for a period of at least 12 months in the private rented sector is made to the applicant. If such an offer is made the duty is discharged whether or not the applicant accepts the offer.
1018.Schedule 15 also provides that those applicants who are owed a homelessness duty only because they relied on a restricted person to convey homelessness or priority need do not attract priority for an allocation of social housing.
1019.Part 1 of Schedule 15 makes provision in respect of England and Wales.
1020.Paragraph 2 amends section 167 of the 1996 Act such that applicants who are owed a homelessness duty under Part 7 of the 1996 Act only by reliance on a restricted person do not attract reasonable preference for an allocation of social housing.
1021.Paragraph 3 amends section 184 of the 1996 Act such that where a local housing authority decide that an applicant is owed a homelessness duty only by reliance on a restricted person, they must inform him of that fact, explain the reasons for the decision, and explain the nature of the duty owed to him as a result. Paragraph 3 also sets out the definition of ‘restricted person’.
1022.Paragraph 4 amends section 185 of the 1996 Act such that local housing authorities are required to disregard a housing applicant’s ineligible household members only if the applicant is a person subject to immigration control who is not a national of an EEA State or Switzerland.
1023.Paragraph 5 amends section 193 of the 1996 Act (duty owed to applicants who are eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need). It provides that, where the duty to secure that accommodation is available is owed only because the applicant has relied on a restricted person, the local housing authority must, so far as reasonably practicable, bring the duty to an end with a private accommodation offer. A ‘private accommodation offer’ is an offer of an assured shorthold tenancy made by a private landlord for a fixed term of at least 12 months with the approval of, and by arrangement with, the local authority. The making of such an offer to the applicant brings the duty to an end regardless of whether the applicant accepts it.
1024.Paragraph 6 amends section 195 of the 1996 Act (duty owed to applicants who are eligible for assistance, unintentionally threatened with homelessness and in priority need). It provides that where the duty to secure that accommodation does not cease to be available is owed only because the applicant has relied on a restricted person and the authority discharge the duty by securing alternative accommodation for the applicant, the local housing authority must, so far as reasonably practicable, bring the duty to an end with a private accommodation offer in the same way as for section 193 (see paragraph 5 of the Schedule).
1025.Paragraph 7 amends section 202 of the 1996 Act such that applicants have a right to ask for a review of the suitability of accommodation offered as a ‘private accommodation offer’.
1026.Part 2 of Schedule 15 makes amends the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 and the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 to make changes to the homelessness legislation for Scotland and Northern Ireland which are similar to those made to the 1996 Act for England and Wales.
1027.Paragraph 22 in Part 2 of Schedule 15 amends section 119 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, which makes equivalent provision for Scotland and Northern Ireland as made by section 185(4) of the 1996 Act for England and Wales. The effect is that local authorities in Scotland and the Housing Executive in Northern Ireland are required to disregard a housing applicant’s ineligible household members only if the applicant is a person subject to immigration control who is not a national of an EEA State or Switzerland.
1028.Part 3 of Schedule 15 makes consequential amendments to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.
