Homelessness Reduction Act Receives Royal Assent

On 27 April, the Homelessness Reduction Bill became an Act of Parliament. The Act places a new duty on local authorities to help prevent the homelessness of all families and single people who are eligible for assistance and threatened with homelessness. Key measures in the Act include:

·         An extension of the period during which an authority should treat someone as threatened with homelessness from 28 to 56 days

·         A new duty to prevent homelessness for all eligible applicants threatened with homelessness, regardless of priority need.

·         A new duty to relieve homelessness for all eligible homeless applicants, regardless of priority need.

·         A new duty on public services to notify a local authority if they come into contact with someone they think may be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Read more on Homeless Link.

Homelessness Bill Passes As Temporary Accommodation Numbers Rise

The Homelessness Reduction Bill cleared its third and final reading in the House of Lords – as new figures confirm the number of households in temporary accommodation in England rose by 10% over the course of 2016 to 75,740 up 58% on the low of 48,010 on 31 December 2010. The CLG figures confirm councils accepted 14,420 households as being statutorily homeless between October-December last year – down 3% on the previous quarter and down 0.4% on the same quarter of last year. These are households that are owed a main homelessness duty to secure accommodation as a result of being unintentionally homeless and in priority need. Read more on 24housing.

Want To Reduce Homelessness?

The Homelessness Reduction Bill heralds a renewed emphasis on prevention: government statistics show that in the last year alone, 59,260 households were accepted as homeless by their local council. That’s a rise of 22% over the last 5 years. And behind these statistics are thousands of families trying to raise children, living through the indignity and worry of being unable to house themselves. When the new legislation is implemented, councils will be legally required to try to prevent homelessness, rather than pick up the pieces. But why is homelessness rising year on year and what can we do about it? It’s rising because of short-term rentals.  Eviction from a private tenancy accounts for 78% of the rise in homelessness since 2011. Read more on the Shelter blog.

Peers Back Homelessness Reduction Bill

Peers have backed the Homelessness Reduction Bill but used the debate to set out concerns over the effect of wider government policy on housing. In the second reading peers voted through the bill but several expressed doubts over whether £61m of funding announced by the government for councils over two years would cover the full costs of the extra responsibilities they will face from the bill. Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Olly Grender questioned the accuracy of the CLG rough sleeping figures, which have previously been criticised by the UK Statistics Authority. Read more on Inside Housing.

Homelessness Reduction Bill Moves To The House Of Lords

The Homelessness Reduction Bill has passed the relevant stages in the House of Commons. It will now move to the House of Lords for its first reading on the 24 February 2017. There have been a number of changes to the Bill since it was introduced, including:

·         Removal of the requirement for local authorities to provide 56-days emergency accommodation for homeless people and rough sleepers with no safe place to stay.

·         Clarification that a local authority’s duty to prevent homelessness begins on receipt of a valid section 21 notice. Local authorities do not need to wait until a court order/bailiff’s warrant has been issued.

·         A limitation on the circumstances in which households can be found to be non-cooperative.

Read more on the Homeless Link website.

Councils Could Provide Homelessness Prevention Support Beyond 56 Days

Councils could be required to work with households to prevent them becoming homeless beyond the 56-day time period set out in the Homelessness Reduction Bill, under an amendment planned by the government. During a parliamentary debate on the bill, the homelessness minister Marcus Jones said the government plans to table an amendment that will require a council to keep supporting a household who has stayed in the same property to prevent homelessness even if 56 days have passed. The bill has already extended a council’s prevention duty from 28 to 56 days. Read more on Inside Housing.

New Funding ‘Fails To Address’ Causes Of Youth Homelessness

The £48 million of funding announced by the Government for Councils to help deliver new and expanded services to prevent and reduce homelessness, fails to address root causes – according to property industry charity LandAid. The new funding will be available to councils in England to meet the costs of the Homelessness Reduction Private Members’ Bill, which if passed by Parliament, will mean anyone at risk of losing their home will get the help they need more quickly. LandAid Chief Executive Paul Morrish said: “Nothing in today’s announcement tackles the biggest twin causes of homelessness among young people; family breakdown and the appalling prognosis facing those leaving the care system.” Read more on 24housing.

Government Backs Homelessness Bill With £48 Million For Councils

Councils are to receive a further £48 million funding to help them deliver new and expanded services to prevent and reduce homelessness. This new funding will be available to councils in England to meet the costs of the Homelessness Reduction Private Members’ Bill, which if passed by Parliament, will mean anyone at risk of losing their home will get the help they need more quickly. Under the Bill, local authorities will be required to help all eligible people – whether they are single or a family - for 56 days before they are threatened with homelessness. Those who are already homeless will get support for a further 56 days to help them secure accommodation. Read more on the CLG website.

New Homelessness Duties Could Cost London Councils Millions

New duties introduced through proposed homelessness laws will cost town halls millions, councils in London have calculated. The Homelessness Reduction Bill would require councils to support more homeless people, such as single people and those likely to become homeless within 56 days. Lewisham Council alone estimates the new duties could cost it £2.38m a year. A spokesperson said it might need 40 additional staff to handle the extra workload, which would include creating personal housing plans for an estimated 2,165 additional people. The new laws would also make it easier for homeless people to appeal council decisions to refuse housing applications. Read more on Inside Housing.

Homelessness Reduction Bill: Policy Factsheets

The CLG have published a set of ten factsheets to provide further background information on the measures within the Homelessness Reduction Bill. These policy factsheets cover:

1.       advice and information

2.       assessment and personal plans

3.       prevention

4.       relief

5.       help to secure and suitability

6.       cooperation

7.       reviews

8.       duty to refer

9.       codes of practice

10.   local connection

Download the factsheets from the CLG website.

Government Backs Homelessness Reduction Bill

The government will support the Homelessness Reduction Bill, the communities secretary has announced. Sajid Javid has confirmed ministers will back the bill, which would impose duties on councils to prevent homelessness. Ministers had previously said they would consider options, including legislation, to prevent homelessness but until today had stopped short of supporting the bill. The bill, tabled by Conservative backbench MP Bob Blackman, has been supported by homelessness charities. It is made up of 12 measures. Read more on the CLG website.

New Homelessness Reduction Bill Published

A duty on councils to temporarily house homeless people who are not in priority need has been stripped out from a new bill that aims to reduce homelessness. A new version of the Homelessness Reduction Bill was published, following negotiations with interest groups including the Local Government Association (LGA). The bill would place duties on councils to take actions to prevent homelessness. The original bill included a new duty on councils to provide emergency temporary accommodation for 56 days to people with a local connection but who are not in priority need and who have nowhere safe to stay. Councils have said that such a duty would place too much pressure on local authorities. Read the Bill on the Parliament website.

MPs Urged To Ensure Homelessness Bill Vote

MPs are being urged to attend a crucial debate on a bill to reduce homelessness, to prevent the legislation falling short of a vote. At least 90 MPs have pledged privately to attend the second reading of the Homelessness Reduction Bill on 28 October, but more are expected to sign up. Under parliamentary rules, a minimum of 100 MPs need to attend to bring the debate to a vote – a ‘closure motion’ – which would stop the bill being talked out by MPs opposed to the bill’s proposed new duties on councils. The bill would introduce a duty on councils to prevent homelessness for households who are 56 days away from losing their home. Read more on Inside Housing.

Ministers Consider Backing New Law To Prevent Homelessness

Ministers are considering backing a new law to strengthen local councils’ duties to stop people becoming homeless. The Homelessness Reduction Bill, put forward by Tory backbencher Bob Blackman, would require councils to help people deemed likely to become homeless within 56 days. Crucially, a so-called “section 21” notice – effectively an eviction notice – would be deemed in law to put someone at risk of homelessness. Currently many councils in practice do little to stop people becoming homeless until they are literally evicted by bailiffs and present themselves to authorities as homeless. Read more on the Independent website.

Homelessness Bill 'Will Not Work', Say Councils

A homelessness bill that imposes increased duties on councils “will not work”, the Local Government Association has said. The chair of the LGA, Lord Gary Porter, said the Homelessness Reduction Bill put forward by Conservative backbench MP Bob Blackman, which includes measures to help councils intervene earlier to prevent people becoming homeless “is not the answer to tackling homelessness”. Instead councils say they need to be able to build more homes and the government needs to address a gap between incomes and rising rents. The LGA said the availability of social rented council housing has halved since 1994 and 69,000 people are already living in temporary accommodation. Read the briefing on the LGA website.

Select Committee To Scrutinise New Homelessness Law

A parliamentary committee has launched an inquiry into a private members’ bill that aims to reduce homelessness. The CLG Committee has announced a pre-legislative inquiry into the Homelessness Reduction Bill, tabled by Conservative MP Bob Blackman. Mr Blackman’s bill includes measures to help councils intervene earlier to prevent people becoming homeless, as well as providing help for single homeless people. The committee will examine whether the bill will “achieve its aim of reducing levels of homelessness”. Mr Blackman is a member of the select committee. Read more on Inside Housing.