Clause 68 - Designations under section 67: further considerations
Housing Bill
2:30 pm
Ms Yvette Cooper (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Pontefract and Castleford, Labour)
Clause 68 sets out further requirements that the local housing authority must consider in exercising the power to make designations under clause 67. Under clause 68(2), a local housing authority must ensure that the use of selective licensing is in accordance with the local housing authority's overall housing strategy. In using that power, subsection (3) requires a local authority to adopt a co-ordinated approach when dealing with homelessness, empty properties and antisocial behaviour by combining licensing measures with other measures taken by it and other agencies.
Amendments Nos. 287 and 288 would insert a provision requiring a local authority, having regard to its homelessness strategy, to make provision for advice and assistance to those likely to be affected by the designation. The local authority already has obligations relating to homelessness under part 7 of the Housing Act 1996. It is true that people who become homeless as a result of an eviction because of their deliberate behaviour are likely to be considered intentionally homeless if they apply for help under the homelessness legislation. Even in those circumstances, the housing authority would be required to provide them with advice and assistance to help to them find accommodation for themselves. Additionally, if the household fell within a priority need group—for
example, a family with children—the authority would have to ensure that they had accommodation available for a short period.
More generally, all housing authorities are required to have a strategy for preventing homelessness in their district and ensuring that accommodation and support are available for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. That must embrace all homeless groups, including people who become homeless intentionally. Those who become homeless unintentionally are clearly covered by the local authority's usual obligations for support for the homeless, which includes advice and assistance.