Clause 8 - Review of decisions as to suitability of accommodation
Homelessness Bill
5:30 pm
Ms Sally Keeble (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions; Northampton North, Labour)
Cases such as that to which the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire refers are familiar to several members of the Committee. The clause was introduced to deal with anxieties expressed by Shelter, which welcomed it. This important provision has been included in the Bill in response to a recent judgment in the Court of Appeal in the case of Alghile v. City of Westminster. That judgment provided a new interpretation of the provisions of the 1996 Act that deal with an applicant's right to ask for a review of the suitability of accommodation offered.
The provisions of the 1996 Act are wanting. They give applicants the right to ask for a review of suitability but do not require that authorities notify them of that right, as they are required to do for all the other aspects for which an applicant can ask for a review.
The 1996 Act also provides that the section 193 duty to secure accommodation comes to an end if the applicant refuses an offer of accommodation that the authority considers suitable. However, the Act does not make it clear that the applicant must have the opportunity to ask for a review of suitability and that a review must be carried out before the refusal of an offer can bring the duty to an end.
The effect of the current provisions is a deep lack of clarity. A 1997 High Court decision in the case of Byfield allowed applicants to accept an offer, thus avoiding bringing the duty to an end, and to ask for a review of suitability. That interpretation was overturned in March of this year, when the Court of Appeal ruled that applicants could not both accept an offer and ask for a review of suitability. Currently, therefore, if applicants want to ask for a review of suitability, they must refuse and take a gamble. If they lose and the authority upholds its initial decision that the property offered is suitable, the duty to secure accommodation ends and they will become homeless.
We do not believe that that is right, so we are taking the opportunity to clarify the law and put the matter on a statutory footing. The clause provides that applicants must be informed that they have the right to ask for a review of the suitability of accommodation offered before a refusal of that offer can bring the homelessness duty to an end. The clause also makes it clear that applicants may request such a review regardless of whether they have accepted an offer. Therefore, they can accept the offer and have a review of the suitability of the accommodation.
The clause will restore an important part of the homelessness safety net. It will ensure that applicants can ask for a review of the suitability of accommodation offered to them without taking the risk that the homelessness duty owed to them will be brought to an end if the local authority upholds its initial decision. Crucially, the clause will come into force as soon as the Bill receives royal assent. I hope that this important clause will stand part of the Bill.