Housing and the Localism Act 2011: homelessness

December 2011 LegalAction law&practice/housing 21 Housing and the Localism Act 2011: homelessness This is the first of five articles which review the far-reaching changes to housing law made by the new Localism Act (LA) 2011. Jan Luba QC and Liz Davies outline how the new statute will alter profoundly the way in which local housing authorities deal with the homeless. The remaining articles will appear over the next four months and will consider the impact of the Act on social housing allocation, security of tenure in the social housing sector, the creation of a new housing ombudsman and social housing regulator, and changes to the law on tenancy deposits and other miscellaneous aspects of housing law. Introduction The LA received royal assent on 15 November 2011. Part 7 of the new Act is concerned with housing. Among a wide range of other changes to housing law, Part 7 significantly amends the statutory provisions relating to homelessness presently contained in the Housing Act (HA) 1996 Part 7. The homelessness amendments apply in both England and Wales. The Act will be brought into force, in stages, by commencement orders. When commenced, the primary effect of the homelessness amendments will be that local housing authorities will be able to end the main housing duty (HA 1996 s193(2)) owed to applicants for homelessness assistance by arranging for them to be made an offer of suitable accommodation in the private rented sector (a private rented sector offer ). The offer will bring the main housing duty to an end whether accepted or rejected by the applicant. The current mechanism for using the private rented sector to bring the main housing duty to an end the making of a qualifying offer, which applicants can refuse without fear of adverse consequences is to be repealed (HA 1996 s193(7b) (7E), repealed by LA s148(8)). The policy justification for the change is that homeless applicants, entitled to the main housing duty, currently often remain in insecure temporary accommodation for a considerable time waiting to receive an offer of, or to successfully bid for, a secure or assured tenancy of social housing. 1 Such temporary accommodation is not settled and is often expensive. The government hopes that the period spent in such temporary accommodation will be much shorter if greater use is made of the private rented sector to provide homes for the homeless. But no local housing authority is required to use private sector lettings to bring the main housing duty to an end. The use of such offers will be optional. Critics of this policy change have said that there is a risk of creating a revolving door of homelessness, as homeless applicants take up private rented tenancies which subsequently come to an end and they then make further applications for homelessness assistance (see Alison Seabeck MP, Hansard HC Debates col 421, 18 May 2011). Such repeat applicants might find that even that revolving door to homelessness assistance may be blocked if they no longer have priority need when their most recently held private sector tenancy ends. In response, the new Act provides that where homeless applicants, who had previously accepted a private rented sector offer bringing the main housing duty owed to them to an end, subsequently make a fresh within two years of having accepted the offer, they are to be treated as automatically having a priority need and will be deemed homeless when repossession is sought rather than at the point of eviction. There has also been concern voiced that with the changes being made to housing benefit (HB) many applicants will not be able to afford private rents once they have accepted the new private rented sector offers. When the changes take effect The homelessness amendments are to be brought into effect by order of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in England and by the Welsh ministers in Wales (LA s240). It is understood that the secretary of state intends to bring the amendments into effect in England during 2012. As the amendments are drafted, they would appear to apply not only to any fresh applicants for homelessness assistance but also to any current applicant who, at the date of commencement, has made an application for homelessness assistance and has been accepted as entitled to the main housing duty. However, the government has said that the changes will apply only to new applications made on or after commencement, ie, not to applications made before that date, even though a duty may still be owed to these households. 2 If this is to be the case, and the changes will only apply to new applicants whose applications are made on or after the date of commencement, it is hoped that the commencement orders will make that clear. Although the changes are not yet in force, local housing authorities which may be inclined to use the new mechanisms have been encouraged by ministers to begin making the necessary arrangements with private landlords to ensure that there is a pool of private sector property available when the provisions are commenced. Useful documentation The homelessness changes were first outlined in the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) consultation paper, Local decisions: a fairer future for social housing (November 2010). The responses to that paper indicated that about three-quarters of local housing authorities welcomed the proposals and would use the new powers to offer private sector tenancies to the homeless. Voluntary and community organisations were more hostile to the proposals and in particular argued that a 12-month, fixed-term private sector tenancy would not offer sufficient stability to a homeless household. The government reviewed those responses and announced its decision to pursue the proposed changes in Local decisions: next steps towards a fairer future for social housing. Summary of responses to consultation (February 2011). When the bill was laid, the government published A plain English guide to the Localism Bill. That was updated several times and most recently upon publication of the LA on 15 November 2011. 3 There are a number of other source materials which explore the meaning and effects of the homelessness changes. The Explanatory notes to the LA are likely to be available online. 4 The Localism Bill: a fairer future for social housing. Impact assessment (DCLG, January 2011) deals with the homelessness provisions from page 66

22 LegalAction law&practice/housing December 2011 onwards. 5 There is a separate Localism Bill: discharging the main homelessness duty. Equalities impact assessment (DCLG, January 2011). 6 It is likely that before the homelessness provisions are commenced, the government will use its powers to make further secondary legislation to prescribe standards for the purpose of determining whether private sector properties are suitable for offer to the homeless: HA 1996 s210(2). In short, new regulations can be expected. It is not yet clear whether there will be a new statutory code of guidance for English local housing authorities available in time for commencement of the new provisions: HA 1996 s182. The current Homelessness code of guidance for local authorities in England was published in July 2006. In Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government is in the process of drawing up a new code of guidance on both homelessness and the allocation of social housing and is consulting on a review of the whole range of homelessness legislation. 7 The current law The main housing duty is the duty owed by local housing authorities to secure accommodation for applicants who are homeless, eligible for assistance, have a priority need and have not been found to have become homeless intentionally: HA 1996 s193(2). Unless the local housing authority can refer the applicant to another local housing authority (under one of the conditions for referral at HA 1996 s198, most commonly the local connection provisions), it must secure suitable accommodation for the applicant and members of his/her household until one of a list of specified events occurs: HA 1996 s193(5) (7AA). For most applicants this means that they remain in temporary accommodation until they have been offered, or successfully bid for, a secure or assured tenancy of social housing under the arrangements for allocation of social housing contained in HA 1996 Part 6 (s193(6)(c) or 193(7)). Under the current law local housing authorities can, and frequently do, use the private rented sector to accommodate applicants for homelessness assistance. It is widely used in order to perform the main housing duty, ie, to secure accommodation for applicants while they wait for a Part 6 offer. Currently, if an applicant refuses a suitable offer of private sector accommodation, offered in performance of that duty, s/he can find the main housing duty has come to an end (HA 1996 s193(5)). Since 2009, applicants who are restricted cases (as defined by HA 1996 s193(3b)) 8 may be made offers of private accommodation which are designed to bring the main housing duty to an end (HA 1996 s193(7aa) (7AD) inclusive). If such an offer is considered by the local housing authority to be suitable for the applicant s needs and reasonable for him/her to accept, the main housing duty will come to an end whether the offer is accepted or refused (HA 1996 s193(7aa)). A private accommodation offer is defined as: an offer of an assured shorthold tenancy made by a private landlord to the applicant in relation to any accommodation which is, or may become, available for the applicant s occupation; one made, with the approval of the authority, in pursuance of arrangements made by the authority with the landlord with a view to bringing the authority s duty to an end; and a fixed-term tenancy (within the meaning of HA 1988 Part 1) for a period of at least 12 months (HA 1996 s193(7ac)). Applicants who are not restricted cases currently have more flexibility when it comes to considering offers of private sector accommodation which are made with a view to bringing the main housing duty to an end. A qualifying offer of a suitable 12-month, fixedterm assured shorthold tenancy in the private rented sector can be made to an applicant (HA 1996 s193(7b) (7E) inclusive) and if the applicant accepts the qualifying offer, the main housing duty comes to an end (HA 1996 s193(7b)). However, an applicant who is not a restricted case can refuse a qualifying offer without any risk that the local housing authority will find that the main housing duty has come to an end by reason of that refusal (HA 1996 s193(7b) and (7C)). The changes to the homelessness provisions The new way of ending the main housing duty The effect of the amendments made by LA Part 7 is that all applicants who are owed the main housing duty can potentially be treated in the same way as restricted cases are currently treated. In other words, they can be made an offer of suitable private rented sector accommodation which, if they refuse it, may result in the local housing authority deciding that the main housing duty has come to an end in their case (HA 1996 s193(7aa) (7AC) as amended by LA s148(5) (7)). A private rented sector offer has the same definition as that used in respect of a private accommodation offer which can currently be made to households that are restricted cases (HA 1996 s193(7aa) as amended by LA s148(5)). A new private rented sector offer will therefore be: an offer of an assured shorthold tenancy made by a private landlord to the applicant in relation to any accommodation which is, or may become, available for the applicant's occupation; one made with the approval of the local housing authority in pursuance of arrangements made by the authority with the landlord with a view to bringing the authority s duty to an end; and a fixed-term tenancy, within the meaning of HA 1988 Part 1, for a term of at least 12 months (HA 1996 s193(7aa) (7AC) as amended by LA s148(5) (7)). There is power for the secretary of state (in England) or the Welsh ministers (in Wales) to make regulations increasing the length of the fixed term for an offer of accommodation to be a private rented sector offer (new HA 1996 s193(10) (12) inclusive as inserted by LA s148(11)). The fixed term cannot be reduced to less than the statutory minimum of 12 months. It is not known whether the two governments will be inclined to use the power although, as indicated above, the Welsh Assembly Government has an extant review of the whole legislative regime for the homeless and its decisions are likely to turn on the outcome of that review. A private rented sector offer must be made to the applicant in writing (HA 1996 s193(7ab) as amended by LA s148(5)(b)). The written notice must inform the applicant of the possible consequences of refusal or acceptance of the offer and of the right to request a review of the suitability of the offered accommodation. In most cases, the applicant must also be informed that s/he may make a further application to a local housing authority within two years of acceptance of the offer if the accommodation comes to an end (new HA 1996 s193(7ab)(c) as inserted by LA s148(6)(b)). This provision does not apply to applicants who are restricted cases. There is no specific provision that the applicant must also be informed of his/her right both to accept the private sector accommodation offered and simultaneously request a review of its suitability, although this might be considered to be good practice. All offers of accommodation in the private rented sector made with the intention of ending the main housing duty will in future be made under these new provisions. There will no longer be any need for qualifying offers and the provisions relating to them are therefore to be repealed (LA s148(8)). As explained more fully below, the offered accommodation must be suitable. The applicant has the right to request a review of the suitability of a private rented sector offer (HA 1996 s202(1)(g) as amended by LA s149(9)). It is not clear what will happen if the applicant accepts the private rented sector

December 2011 LegalAction law&practice/housing 23 offer, enters into a fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy and later the reviewing officer finds that the offer was of unsuitable accommodation. It would be prudent for local housing authorities to ensure that all fixed-term tenancies offered and accepted contain break clauses in order to deal with that situation. The new duty if the private rented sector accommodation comes to an end New special provisions are made for the situation in which an applicant makes a fresh within two years of that applicant s acceptance of a private rented sector offer which ended the main housing duty owed on an earlier application. The key point here is that on the new application made within that two-year window, the applicant will not be required to have any priority need in order to be entitled to the main housing duty again. If s/he is homeless, eligible for assistance and has not become homeless intentionally, the local housing authority will owe a new main housing duty to the applicant and his/her household, irrespective of any absence of priority need. This is achieved by a new HA 1996 s195a inserted by LA s149(4), dealing with Re-application after private rented sector offer, which creates a new route to being owed a main housing duty (again). For such an applicant, the local housing authority will owe an immediate duty to secure interim accommodation when s/he makes the new application for homelessness assistance, if the authority has reason to believe that the duty under section 193(2) may apply in relation to an applicant in the circumstances referred to in section 195A(1)... regardless of whether the applicant has a priority need (new HA 1996 s188(1a) inserted by LA s149(2)). In other words, if the local housing authority has reason to believe that an applicant may be homeless, may be eligible and may be a person to whom the new section 195A will apply, accommodation must be secured while the local housing authority makes its inquiries, irrespective of the absence of priority need. The test of reason to believe is a low threshold so that if there is any doubt about whether or not the applicant falls into this category, interim accommodation should be provided (see R (Aweys) v Birmingham City Council [2007] EWHC 52 (Admin); [2007] HLR 27). The duty to secure this interim accommodation continues until the applicant is notified of the local housing authority s decision about what duty, if any, is owed to him/her (HA 1996 s188(3)). Where the applicant had accepted a private rented sector offer less than two years before s/he made a fresh application for homelessness assistance and the local housing authority is satisfied that the applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance and is not satisfied that s/he became homeless intentionally, the main housing duty will be owed again (new HA 1996 s195a(1) inserted by LA s149(4)). If the applicant is simply threatened with homelessness, the highest duty owed to those threatened with homelessness will again be owed irrespective of the absence of priority need (section 195A(3)). The local housing authority must secure accommodation for the applicant and his/her household until one of the events occurs which can end these duties. A likely such event is, of course, another private rented sector offer. While applicants who fall within this new provision need not show that they still have a priority need in order to be entitled to the main housing duty, they will be subject to the test of whether or not they became homeless intentionally. The main housing duty will therefore only be owed if the local housing authority is not satisfied that they became homeless intentionally from their last settled accommodation. This new route to a main housing duty through section 195A only applies once (section 195A(6)). If an applicant becomes homeless from a second private rented sector offer, s/he would make any further in the usual way but the main housing duty will only be owed if s/he has a priority need (in addition to being homeless, eligible for assistance and not having become homeless intentionally). In deciding whether or not an applicant who is applying under this new provision is homeless, the applicant is to be treated as homeless if s/he is: an assured shorthold tenant; has been served with a valid HA 1988 s21 notice; and the date for possession stated in the notice has passed (section 195A(2)). Similarly, if the date for possession in the section 21 notice is less than 28 days after the date of the homelessness application, the applicant is to be treated as being threatened with homelessness (section 195A(4)). The applicant does not have this special right to re-apply and acquire a main housing duty through the new section 195A if s/he is only entitled to the main housing duty (or the equivalent duty owed to those threatened with homelessness) because of the presence in his/her household of a restricted person (section 195A(5)). The following aspects of the operation of the new route to the main housing duty must be noted: The key dates for calculating the two-year window through which the new route may be accessed are: the date that the private rented sector offer was accepted (and not, for example, the date when the tenancy commenced or the tenant moved in); and the date of the making of the re-application (and not, for example, the date of the termination of the section 21 notice or the decision on the homelessness application). There need be no direct link between the new situation of homelessness and the loss of the previously accepted private rented sector offer. So, for example, the applicant may have left the private rented sector offer accommodation at the expiry of a 12-month fixed term and then found his/her own accommodation elsewhere. If s/he is homeless or threatened with homelessness from the later accommodation and applies to a local housing authority before the second anniversary of the acceptance of the earlier offer, the new route to the main housing duty will be available (although the applicant must, of course, meet all the usual qualifying conditions except priority need). There is no requirement that the new homelessness application, made during the two-year window, be made to the same local housing authority as arranged the earlier private rented sector offer. Although the statutory provisions use the term re-apply, the re-application need not be to the authority to which the first application was made. It is only one person (the original applicant) who may take advantage of the new route to the main housing duty. It is therefore essential that any re-application within the two-year window is made by the same person and not by a different member of the household. Attempts to persuade the government to extend the window under this new rule to five years from the date of offer were unsuccessful (Hansard HL Debates col 38, 5 September 2011). Anti-dumping provisions Critics of the policy changes now enacted (as described above) had been concerned that some local housing authorities (particularly in areas where rents are high) would routinely make private rented sector offers of accommodation outside their own districts in areas where rents are cheaper: in effect, dumping the homeless in other council areas. In parliamentary debates, government ministers were keen to emphasise the existing restrictions that require accommodation to be provided in-district whenever reasonably practicable: HA 1996

24 LegalAction law&practice/housing December 2011 s208 (see Andrew Stunell MP, Hansard HC Committee Stage col 408, 18 May 2011). Strengthening the effect of that existing provision, amendments are made introducing new conditions for referral of an application back from a geographic host authority to the authority to which the applicant initially applied (new HA 1996 s198(2za) as inserted by LA s149(6)). These additional conditions for referral are thus designed to prevent local housing authorities avoiding future responsibilities for homelessness applicants by placing them outside their own districts. If an applicant has accepted a private rented sector offer from local housing authority A, and the offer is in the district of local housing authority B, and then the applicant makes an to local housing authority B within two years from the acceptance of the private rented sector offer, local housing authority B can refer the applicant to local housing authority A provided that neither the applicant nor any person who might reasonably be expected to reside with the applicant will run the risk of domestic violence in the district of local housing authority A. Suitability and reasonableness of offers Much of the debate in parliament on the homelessness amendments was over the standard of accommodation that might be made available as a private rented sector offer capable of bringing the main housing duty to an end. The government was at pains to emphasise that any such accommodation must be suitable (HA 1996 s206(1)) and that factors such as statutory housing health and safety standards and overcrowding are already matters that must be taken into account in determining suitability: HA 1996 s210(1). During the passage of the Act, the government was already consulting with local housing authorities about whether it should exercise its order-making powers to specify certain further minimum standards that would have to be met before a private rented sector offer could be considered to be suitable, and in particular whether an order should specify minimum physical property standards and/or that landlords should be fit and proper: HA 1996 s210(2) (Baroness Hanham, Hansard HL Debates cols 63 64, 5 September 2011). It is understood that a draft order will be circulated for consultation with relevant stakeholders before the relevant provisions of the LA are commenced. There was also concern in parliament that applicants might be considered to have become homeless intentionally if they lost the private rented sector accommodation because HB changes made it unaffordable. Andrew Stunell MP, Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State, said that the definition of becoming homeless intentionally: Clearly... would not include a person who ceased to occupy accommodation as a result of a reduction in financial resources that was beyond their control (Hansard HC Committee Stage col 809, 3 March 2011). Amendments designed to require parliament to reconsider the operation of the new arrangements in three years time, in the light of changes to the HB scheme, were defeated (Hansard HL Debates col 55, 5 September 2011). It follows that if a private rented sector offer is not affordable for the applicant, even taking into account all HB to which the applicant is entitled, at the date of the offer, it should not be considered a suitable offer. If the private rented sector offer is affordable at the date of the offer but subsequently becomes unaffordable (for example, through changes in HB entitlement), and the applicant loses the accommodation, the accommodation should not be considered reasonable to continue to occupy and the applicant should therefore not be found to have become homeless intentionally. There will no longer be an additional condition that any offer of accommodation made under HA 1996 Part 6 or as a private rented sector offer must be not only suitable but also reasonable for [the applicant] to accept (HA 1996 s193(7f)(b) repealed by LA s148(9)(c)). In the debates in the House of Lords, the minister, Baroness Hanham, said... there will be no change to or lessening of protection as a result of what we propose and that any risk of violence, including domestic violence and racial harassment, would have to be taken into account when local housing authorities decide whether accommodation is suitable (Hansard HL Debates col 64, 5 September 2011). But this interpretation is not necessarily correct. The Court of Appeal in Slater v Lewisham LBC [2006] EWCA Civ 394; [2006] HLR 37, held that the concepts of (1) suitability of accommodation and (2) whether it was reasonable for an applicant to accept, were actually different. The test of whether accommodation was reasonable for a particular applicant to accept took into account the applicant s subjective reasons for refusing the accommodation, to be considered objectively by the local housing authority. Once the homelessness amendments are in force, everything will need to be addressed through the prism of suitability alone. However, one small aspect of the current regime will be retained in a new form. If an applicant is under contractual or other obligations in respect of his/her existing accommodation and is not able to bring those obligations to an end before being required to take up an offer of private rented sector accommodation, then the main housing duty cannot come to an end by reliance on that offer (HA 1996 s193(7f) and (8) as amended by LA s148(9) (10)). This is one of the factors that might make it unreasonable for an applicant to accept accommodation under the existing law. Under the amended HA 1996 Part 7, the test of reasonable to accept survives only in this limited and revised form. Notification of offers of accommodation It is obviously of crucial importance that an applicant owed the main housing duty should know whether the accommodation being offered is: offered in performance of the duty; or offered in order to bring the duty to an end. The current wording of the statutory provisions does not have that effect and it has fallen to the courts to encourage such clarity (see Griffiths v St Helens Council [2006] EWCA Civ 160; [2006] HLR 29, para 42). The point is now to be dealt with by the statute more directly. The provision which allows a local housing authority to bring the main housing duty to an end where an applicant refuses an offer of suitable accommodation made in performance of the main housing duty (HA 1996 s193(5)) is reworded. The rewording provides that before a refusal can bring the duty to an end the applicant must have been informed by the local housing authority of the possible consequence of refusal or acceptance and of the right to request a review of the suitability of the accommodation offered. The applicant must have refused an offer of accommodation that the authority was satisfied was suitable. The offer must not have been an allocation of social housing accommodation made under Part 6 and nor can it have been a private rented sector offer. If all those conditions are fulfilled, the duty comes to an end when the local housing authority notifies the applicant that it regards itself as ceasing to be subject to the duty (HA 1996 s193(5) as amended by LA s148(3)). Where applicants are made final offers of suitable Part 6 accommodation, which, if they refuse, may result in the main housing duty coming to an end, they will have to have been informed in writing of the possible consequences of refusal and acceptance (HA 1996 s193(7) as amended by LA s148(4)). A consequence of acceptance of a social housing offer is, of course, that the applicant

December 2011 LegalAction law&practice/housing 25 will not be able to re-apply under the new route described above if his/her secure or assured tenancy comes to an end within two years. Access to social housing Since many more applicants for homelessness assistance can now expect to find themselves placed in the private rented sector, it becomes less important for those applicants to know whether or not the local housing authority operates a choice-based lettings scheme for the allocation of its social housing. Therefore the current requirement to give those applicants who are owed the main housing duty (or the similar duty owed to those threatened with homelessness) a copy of the local housing authority s statement on whether it offers choice within its allocation scheme is repealed (HA 1996 ss193(3a) and 195(3A) repealed by LA ss148(2) and 149(3)(a)). Applicants for homelessness assistance will remain entitled to apply for consideration under local housing authorities allocation schemes. Those being provided with temporary accommodation in performance of the main housing duty will continue to have a reasonable preference for an allocation while they remain in such accommodation (HA 1996 s167(2)(b)). However, once the applicant moves into the private sector, having accepted a private rented sector offer, there will be no entitlement to a reasonable preference through the homelessness route. tenancy in the private rented sector. Unless the offer is unsuitable, the offer will end the main housing duty and the applicant will be expected to fend for him/herself in seeking a longer-term, more secure home. Local housing authorities may choose not to use these new powers and to retain the existing system whereby most applicants who are owed the main housing duty will be accommodated until they receive an offer of, or successfully bid for, a secure or assured tenancy. However, given the response by local housing authorities to the proposal when it was consulted on, this seems unlikely, particularly in areas of high demand for social housing. One purpose of the publication of this article ahead of the commencement of the homelessness provisions is to provide the material for an informed debate about whether, when and in which cases the new powers should be used once LA Part 7 comes into force. 1 An average of three years in London and 11 months in the rest of England: Localism Bill: a fairer future for social housing. Impact assessment, Department for Communities and Local Government, January 2011, page 69, available at: www.parliament.uk/documents/ impact-assessments/ia11-010aa.pdf. 2 See note 1, page 72. 3 Available at: www.communities.gov.uk/ publications/localgovernment/localismplain englishupdate. 4 The LA states that Explanatory notes have been published with it; at the time of writing these are not yet available online, but will be available at: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/20/contents in due course. 5 See note 1. 6 Available at: www.parliament.uk/documents/ impact-assessments/ia11-010an.pdf. 7 See: http://wales.gov.uk/newsroom/ housingandcommunity/2011/111024housing leg/?lang=en. 8 These are cases where the main housing duty would not be owed to an applicant without having regard to a restricted person in the applicant s household. A restricted person is defined at HA 1996 s184(7) as being a person who is not eligible for assistance under HA 1996 Part 7; who is a person subject to immigration control; and who either does not have leave to enter or remain in the UK or whose leave is subject to a condition of no recourse to public funds. Jan Luba QC and Liz Davies are both barristers practising in the Housing Team at Garden Court Chambers, London. They are joint authors of Housing Allocation and Homelessness (Jordans, 2nd edn, 2010). Conclusions As long ago as 1995, the House of Lords made it clear that homelessness legislation was not an automatic passport for any homeless person to a permanent home, ie, to a secure or assured tenancy from a social landlord (see R v Brent LBC ex p Awua [1996] AC 55; [1995] 3 WLR 215, HL). In 1996, the then Conservative government enacted HA 1996 Part 7 to ensure that homelessness duties were in future only to be an emergency safety net. The 1997 2010 Labour governments changed the terms of that safety net to some extent and gave applicants who were entitled to the main housing duty a little more assurance of access to a longerterm home in social housing. The amendments contained in the LA make it clear beyond any doubt that homelessness assistance in future will be no more than an emergency safety net. While an applicant for homelessness assistance who has a priority need and has not become homeless intentionally will be entitled to accommodation and so have an immediate roof over his/her head s/he will very quickly be made an offer of an assured shorthold ORDER YOUR COPY NOW! Housing Law: an adviser s handbook Second edition Diane Astin This is a superb reference book covering all aspects of housing law and any adviser or legal practitioner acquiring the book will have a complete housing resource at their disposal... 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