The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 significantly reformed England’s homelessness legislation by placing duties on local housing authorities to intervene at earlier stages to seek to prevent homelessness, and to provide homelessness services to all those who are eligible.
Additionally, the Act introduced a duty on specified public authorities to refer service users who they think may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to local authority homelessness/housing options teams.
With effect from 1 October 2018, the Schedule to the Homelessness (Review Procedure etc.) Regulations 2018 SI 2018/223 listing public authorities subject to the duty to refer under section 213B Housing Act 1996 comes into force.
A specified public authority, is now under a duty to notify a local housing authority where one of its service users is either homeless or at risk of homelessness.
However, it is important to note that a referral cannot be made without the consent of the service user. The government has issued ‘A guide to the duty to refer’, which provides guidance when making a referal to a local housing authority. Additional guidance for local authorities can be found in the Homelessness Code of Guidance.
The following organisations are now under a statutory duty to refer:
probation servies
job centre plus
prisons
youth offender insistutions
hospitals including A&E and urgent treatment centres
It is important to note that a referral made by a public authority under its duty to refer does not constitute a homeless application. The housing authority receiving the referral must always respond to the referral by making contact with the individual.
The new duty to refer which took effect on the 1st October 2018 placed an important duty onto specified public authoriy’s to ensure that services are working together effectively to prevent homelessness by ensuring that peoples’ housing needs are considered when they come into contact with public authorities.
By Isabelle Alajooz who is head of the housing team at Abbotts Martin Solicitors and is based at our Brixton office. She is renowned for giving excellent advice and an outstanding level of service of her clients.