7.1 Homelessness

1. Introduction

The Homelessness Service in Manchester City Council provides advice, assistance and support to any individual or household in the city who is experiencing homelessness or is threatened with becoming homelessness. The service can include the provision of temporary accommodation, dependant on some criteria. All households who are homeless or threatened with homelessness will be given advice and support to help them to secure suitable accommodation.

2. Brief Overview of Homelessness Services in Manchester

The Homelessness Service is comprised of a number of different teams. These include:

• Housing Solutions Service – homelessness prevention and statutory assessment work;
• Court Desk Service – providing support and representation to prevent evictions and repossessions;
• Private Rented Sector Access and Compliance Services – a team focused on working with landlords and prospective tenants to help household’s secure suitable accommodation in the private rented sector. Also includes the compliance team who work with individuals with specialist housing requirements or tenancy conditions;
• Temporary Accommodation Services – includes in-house temporary accommodation schemes, B&B placements, and our leased temporary accommodation provision. It includes specialist supported accommodation for families and people fleeing domestic abuse;
• Floating Support Service – providing housing related support and help to move on for all households in the dispersed temporary accommodation scheme;
• Rough Sleeper Services – intensive outreach and engagement with individuals who are rough sleeping. Focus on rapid move on for rough sleepers from streets and in to suitable accommodation;
• Commissioned Services – includes supported housing provision, housing related support services, advice services, refugee accommodation pathway, young person’s accommodation and support pathway, domestic violence and abuse services and migration services;
• The Homelessness Hospital Discharge Team (HHDT) was established in 2018 to reduce the number of people becoming homeless following admission to hospital. The service is delivered from North Manchester General Hospital, Manchester Royal Infirmary and Wythenshawe Hospital. The purpose of the team is to reduce the length of stay in hospital where the only reason preventing the patient being discharged is the lack of suitable accommodation. It also aims to prevent in-patients from needing to access statutory homelessness services, including emergency or temporary accommodation, on discharge from hospital. The hospital discharge team can be contacted via the Housing Solutions Service.

2.1 Housing Solutions Service

The Housing Solutions Service is the main point of contact for homelessness advice and assistance in the City Council. It provides advice and assistance to all individuals and households who approach for help, and deals with the majority of the statutory homelessness applications.

The Housing Solutions Service is located in the Customer Service Centre in the Town Hall Extension. The service provides a drop in service and also operates an appointment system. Waiting times can often be lengthy, so appointments are preferable wherever possible.

The office hours are from 9am – 4.30pm, Monday to Friday:

• phone: 0161 234 4692;
• email: hpasdutyofficer@manchester.gov.uk.

Out of hours, the service can be contacted at:

• phone: 0161 234 5001;
• email: mcsreply@manchester.gov.uk

The primary focus of the Housing Solutions Service is to prevent homelessness, either by providing advice, assistance and support to allow households to remain in their existing accommodation or, where this is not possible, by providing support to help households find alternative accommodation before they become homeless.

When an individual or a household is actually homeless the Housing Solutions Team will provide advice and support to help them to secure other suitable accommodation. If the individual or household falls into a ‘priority need’ category the team will also ensure that suitable temporary accommodation is made available whilst work is undertaken to help end homelessness and secure settled accommodation.

The Housing Solutions Service carries out the statutory assessment function and makes decisions on the duties that are owed to applicants who are homeless or threatened with becoming homeless. When a duty is in place the service ensures that all duties are met and discharged correctly.

3. Homelessness Legislation

The primary homelessness legislation is set out in Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996. This act provides the statutory underpinning for action to prevent homelessness and provide assistance to people who are threatened with homelessness or actually experiencing homeless.

In 2002, the legislation was amended through the Homelessness Act 2002 and the Homelessness (Priority Need for Accommodation) (England) Order 2002 to:

(a) ensure a more strategic approach to tackling and preventing homelessness, in particular by requiring a homelessness strategy for every housing authority district; and

(b) strengthen the assistance available to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness by extending the priority need categories to homeless 16 and 17 year olds; care leavers aged 18, 19 and 20; people who are vulnerable as a result of time spent in care, the armed forces, prison or custody, and people who are vulnerable because they have fled their home because of violence.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 added to the categories of priority need by extending these to include people who are made homeless as a result of domestic abuse.

Details about the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 are outlined below.

4. Homelessness Reduction Act 2017

The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 (HRA) came into force on 3rd April 2018. By making additional amendments to the primary legislation in Pt 7 Housing Act 1996, the HRA is the most radical change to the homelessness legislation in over 20 years, and has required local authority homelessness services in England significantly adapt their practice to meet the aims and requirements of this new piece of legislation.

One of the principal aims behind the HRA is to ensure that all eligible households who are homeless or threatened with homelessness will receive genuine and effective advice and assistance to help them secure accommodation. Prior to implementation of the HRA, if could often be the case that certain types of households who experienced homelessness, particularly single people or couples without dependent children, often received very limited advice and assistance when they approached the local authority for help. The HRA seeks to remedy this situation by widening access to homelessness advice and prevention services for all households who are experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of losing their home. It does this by introducing a new statutory duty to carry out assessments on all applicants, and by introducing new duties to prevent and relieve homelessness in all cases.

Key sections in the Homelessness Reduction Act are as follows.

4.1 Section 195: A change to the meaning of “threatened with homelessness”

Prior to the introduction of the Act, a household was considered to be threatened with homelessness if it was likely that they would become homeless within 28 days. The Act has doubled this time frame, so now households are considered to be threatened with homelessness within the next 56 days.

The intention of this change is to require local authorities to intervene to provide assistance at any earlier stage. The intention being that by intervening to provide assistance at an earlier stage, there will be an increased opportunity to achieve a successful homelessness prevention outcome.

4.2 Section 179: expanded the general duty to provide advice

Local housing authorities have a duty to ensure that advice and information on homelessness prevention and on how people can access help and support when homeless is made available free of charge. The HRA expanded this duty by specifying the types of information that have to be made available, and specifying that advice and information has to be tailored to meet the needs of the following specific groups:

1. people released from prison or youth detention accommodation;
2. care leavers;
3. former members of the regular armed forces;
4. victims of domestic abuse;
5. people leaving hospital;
6. people living with a mental illness or impairment; and,
7. any other group that the authority identify as being at particular risk of homelessness in their district.

The Council can provide this advice themselves or arrange for other agencies to do it on their behalf. In Manchester, we have developed a number of advice booklets and information sheets that are tailored to meet the needs of these specified groups. We have also worked to ensure that there are partner organisations and appropriate pathways in place that can meet the needs of these groups, and will include the provision of advice.

4.3 Section 189A: Assessments and Personalised Housing Plans

Local housing authorities have a duty to carry out an assessment in all cases where an eligible applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness. This assessment will identify what has caused the homelessness or threat of homelessness, the housing needs of the applicant and any support they need in order to be able to secure and retain accommodation.

Once an assessment has taken place, the authority must work with the applicant to develop a personalised housing plan. This plan will contain steps that the local authority will carry out in order to prevent homelessness or to help the applicant to secure new suitable accommodation in order to relieve homelessness. The assessment and the plan must be issued to the applicant in writing, and both must be kept under review whilst any duty is in place.

4.4 Section 195: The Prevention Duty

The Prevention Duty is a duty placed on the Council to provide support and help to all eligible people who are threatened with becoming homeless within the next 56 days. The duty will often be met by providing assistance to enable a person to remain in their current home, if suitable, however where this is not possible the duty can be met by helping a person to move to another home in a planned way, without them becoming homeless.

The prevention duty applies to all eligible applicants who are threatened with homelessness, it is not conditional upon the applicant being in a priority group and it does not require an applicant to have a local connection to the area. The duty will generally remain in place for up to 56 days, although it can remain in place for a longer period, if required.

4.5 Section 189B: Relief Duty

The Relief Duty is a duty on the Council to provide support and help to all eligible people who are homeless. The duty is met by helping a person to secure suitable accommodation, where they have a reasonable prospect of remaining for at least 6 months. The relief duty can stay in place for up to 56 days. If the applicant is still homeless at the end of the 56 day period the Council will have to decide what further duty, if any, is owed to them.

The relief duty applies to all eligible applicants who are homeless. It is not conditional upon the applicant being in a priority group. The Council has discretion to consider a person’s local connection when a relief duty is in place; if the applicant does not have a local connection to the authority, and they have a safe local connection to another local authority area the Council can decide to refer their case to that other area.

4.6 Duty to help to secure accommodation

Housing authorities have various duties and powers to secure accommodation for an applicant. The HRA introduced the duty to ‘help to secure’ accommodation for all applicants under the prevention and relief duties. ‘Helping to secure’ does not mean that the housing authority has a duty to directly find and secure the accommodation, but involves them working with applicants to agree reasonable steps that the applicant and the Council will take to identify and secure suitable accommodation.

Any type of suitable accommodation can be found when helping the applicant to secure accommodation to meet the prevention duty or the relief duty; it can often be met by helping the person to secure a tenancy however it can be met by helping them to secure any type of suitable accommodation, including accommodation occupied under a licence.

The Council will provide temporary accommodation for applicants who are in a priority need group whilst it performs the relief duty. The categories of priority need are explained below.

4.7 Section 199: Local connection and a local connection for care leavers

An applicant has a local connection to a district if they are:

1. normally resident in the area (usually for six of the past 12 months, or for three out of the past five years);
2. employed in the area;
3. have family associations to the area; or
4. have other special circumstances that give them a connection.

The HRA amended the local connection criteria to take account of the unique housing history that care leavers can often have. A young person owed leaving care duties under section 23C of the Children Act 1989 will have a local connection to the area of the children services authority that owes them the duties.

Where a care leaver is aged under 21 and normally lives in a different area to that of a local authority that owes them leaving care duties, and has done for at least 2 years including some time before they turned 16, the young person will also have a local connection in that area.

4.8 Section 213B: Duty to Refer

The HRA introduced a Duty to Refer. Unlike the rest of the legislation, this duty is one that is placed on other public sector bodies, and not the local housing authority. Social services, including adult social care, are subject to this duty.

The aim of the Duty to Refer is to facilitate the early identification of households who are homeless or threatened with homelessness and to build on and develop joint working relationships between organisations in order to effectively prevent and relieve homelessness. The following public sector bodies are subject to the Duty to Refer, and have to refer people who they come into contact with and who are experiencing homelessness, or who are threatened with becoming homeless:

• prisons;
• youth offender institutions;
• secure training centres;
• secure colleges;
• youth offending teams;
• the probation service;
• JobCentre Plus;
• social service authorities;
• emergency departments;
• urgent treatment centres;
• hospitals in their function of providing inpatient care;
• the Secretary for Defence in relation to former members of the regular armed forces.

Throughout Greater Manchester, the following agencies have also agreed to voluntarily abide by the duty:

• local housing providers;
• Greater Manchester Police.

The conditions for the referral are that the public body must first have consent from the individual they are going to refer. The individual must then nominate a local authority in England where they want the referral to be sent. The referral itself will not constitute a homelessness application.

In Manchester, an online form has been developed where public sector bodies can make and send referrals. This Report a Public authority Duty to Refer: Instructions (manchester.gov.uk) form only takes a few minutes to complete, and can be accessed by clicking on the link.

4.9 Section 189: Priority Need

An eligible applicant who is homeless will have to fall into one of the priority need categories in order for a duty to secure temporary accommodation to be in place. The following people have a priority need for accommodation:

1. a pregnant woman or a person with whom she resides or might reasonably be expected to reside;
2. a person with whom dependent children reside or might reasonably be expected to reside;
3. a person who is homeless or threatened with homelessness as a result of an emergency such as flood, fire or other disaster;
4. homeless 16 and 17 year olds;
5. care leavers aged 18, 19 and 20;
6. a person who is vulnerable as a result of old age, mental illness or handicap or physical disability or other special reason, or with whom such a person resides or might reasonably be expected to reside;
7. people who are vulnerable as a result of time spent in care, the armed forces, prison or custody;
8. people who are vulnerable because they have fled their home because of violence;
9. a person who is homeless as a result of being a victim of domestic abuse. There is no requirement that the person must have ceased to occupy the accommodation for this category of priority need to apply. A person is considered homeless if accommodation is unreasonable to continue to occupy because it is probable that this will lead to domestic abuse against them or someone in the household.

The decisions on priority need based on one of the vulnerability categories can often be contentious and subject to challenge and review. The term ‘vulnerable’ is not defined in the legislation, so an extensive body of case law has developed that has considered how to define and interpret ‘vulnerable’. This was most recently tested in the Supreme Court of the UK, which provided a test to apply when considering if a homeless applicant is vulnerable (Hotak v Southwark LBC : Kanu v Southwark LBC : Johnson v Solihull MBC [2015] UKSC 30).

The test involves comparing the ability of the applicant to deal with the effects of being homeless with the ability of a hypothetical ordinary person to deal in the same situation. In order to be found vulnerable, the applicant must be:

1. significantly more vulnerable than an ordinary person in need of accommodation; and
2. likely to suffer greater harm in the same situation.

Vulnerability in this context is a homeless applicant’s vulnerability if they are not provided with accommodation, and not their general ‘need of care and support’.

The primary responsibility to provide accommodation and assistance for homeless 16 and 17 year olds sits with children’s services, however effective joint working arrangements need to be in place between Children’s Services and Housing Services to ensure that appropriate accommodation and support is provided to all young people and care leavers who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

4.10 Section 191: Intentionally homeless

If an applicant is issued with a decision that they are intentionally homeless this will limit the duties and the assistance that the Council is able to give to them. At most, if they are also in priority need, they will be provided with some temporary accommodation for a reasonable period only. This reasonable period will be to allow them to make their own arrangements to secure alternative accommodation, and is usually a period of around 28 days in length. Any intentionally homeless applicant will also be demoted on Manchester Move, if they have made an application for rehousing.

A person becomes intentionally homeless if they:

Deliberately do something, or fail to do something that, as a direct consequence of which they cease to occupy accommodation that was reasonable for them to continue to occupy.

A person will also be found to be intentionally homeless if they:

Enter into any arrangement under which they are required to cease to occupy accommodation which it would have been reasonable for them to continue to occupy, if the purpose of the arrangement was to enable them to become entitled to assistance as a homeless person.

5. Safeguarding Concerns

Adults who are homeless may be vulnerable to abuse, whether they are rough sleeping, sofa surfing or in temporary accommodation. For example their lack of stable accommodation can leave them vulnerable to physical, emotional or sexual abuse, criminal exploitation and their possessions vulnerable to theft.

Staff who work with adults who are homeless should be aware of the increased possibility of safeguarding issues, be able to recognise the signs of potential abuse and to take action if they suspect that someone is being abused (see Adult Safeguarding chapter).

6. Useful Resources

6.1 Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities

The Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities provides statutory guidance that all local authorities must have regard to when exercising their functions relating to homelessness and the prevention of homelessness. The code is issued specifically for local authority members and staff, including social services authorities who are also required to have regard to guidance.

The guidance gives detailed and useful information on preventing and tackling homelessness, including joint working between housing and other services to secure accommodation and provide support. It also covers the new Duty to Refer.

This code of guidance was issued prior to the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act.

6.2 Other useful resources

• National Homelessness Advice Service NHAS: Useful information and resources for local authority staff, housing providers and members of the public. Requires a log in to access some resources.
• Shelter Legal: Detailed and useful resources on homelessness applications, legal duties, security of tenure, rents, benefits etc.

7. Further Reading

7.1 Relevant information

Capacity and Housing Issues (39 Essex Chambers)

Care and Support and Homelessness: Top Tips on the Role of Adult Social Care (LGA)

Housing Learning and Improvement Network (LIN)

Integrated Health and Social Care for People Experiencing Homelessness (NICE)