ABOUT HOMELESSNESS
English Legislative Framework

BACKGROUND

The legislation referred to in this section applies to Wales as well as England. For more detail on the specific framework applied in Wales, see the Wales Legislative Framework page.

KEY LEGISLATION

The original duties to homeless people were placed on local authorities by the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977. The current duties are set out in the 1996 Housing Act and amended by the 2002 Homelessness Act. A household which meets the legal definition of homelessness only gains rights if they apply and are successful in being officially recognised as homeless by their local authority. All households which are officially recognised as homeless are entitled to advice and support from their local authority under the 2002 Homelessness Act, which also stipulates a minimum level of advice to be given.

If a household is officially recognised by their local authority as homeless then the local authority also decides whether the household is in priority need or not in priority need. This is important because the authority only has a duty to provide accommodation to those it classifies as unintentionally homeless^[1] in priority need and with a local connection^[2]. A household which is found to be in priority need, but intentionally homeless, must be provided with temporary accommodation under the 1996 Housing Act, for a period that will provide them with a reasonable chance of finding accommodation themselves. While the precise categorisations of priority need differ somewhat between England and Wales, all households with dependent children are classified as in priority need and households without dependent children are generally classified as not in priority need unless they have one or more ‘vulnerabilities'.

Until 2002, the priority need groups for households without dependent children comprised pregnant women, victims of emergencies (such as fires and floods) and people deemed to be vulnerable as a result of "old age, mental illness or handicap or physical disability or other special reason" ^[3]. The 2002 Homelessness Act extended priority need to include 16- and 17-year-olds other than those who social services are responsible for accommodating, care leavers under the age of 21 who were looked after by social services when they were 16 or 17, people who are vulnerable as a result of violence or threats of violence, and people who are vulnerable as a result of experience of prison, the armed forces or statutory care.

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It follows that all households who are officially recognised as homeless but not in priority need are households without dependent children. Local authorities do not have a duty to provide accommodation to such households but the 2002 Homelessness Act does require that they be provided with advice and guidance. In 2006, around half of these households officially recognised as homeless, without dependent children, were classified as not in priority need.

It also follows that not all legally homeless households are also officially recognised as homeless. More specifically, there are at least two groups of people who are legally homeless but not recognised as such:

• those who were officially recognised as homeless but not in priority need in previous years (many of whom, because they have typically received no accommodation from their local authority, will still meet the legal definition of homelessness);

• those who meet the legal definition of homelessness but have not applied to be recognised as such by their local authority. This may be because - if judged not to be in priority need - they would typically not be provided with accommodation and so lack a clear incentive to apply.

Finally, note that while there are comprehensive government statistics about households owed a main homelessness duty (those recognised as unintentionally homeless, in priority need and with a local connection^[4]), there are very few statistics about those officially recognised as homeless but not in priority need. Nor are there any statistics on what advice and guidance this latter group received nor what its impact was.

 

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End notes

[1] A household is considered to be intentionally homeless where they are considered to have brought homelessness on themselves through a deliberate action or omission (non-action) unless they were not aware of a relevant fact. Back to text

[2] The local connection clause has meant that applicants can be denied help from the local authority if they are deemed to have a stronger local connection with another local authority. A local connection is determined by whether a person is or was a resident in the area, because the person is employed in the area (in both cases for 6 of the previous 12 months), whether the person has family associations there, or whether the person has special circumstances that require them to be in the area (e.g. health needs). Back to text

[3] From the 1996 Housing Act. Back to text

[4] See DCLG Publications on Homelessness Data. Back to text

 

 

Page last modified on 20/06/2008 at 16:48