Government backs Homelessness Bill with £48 million for councils

Homelessness

Councils are to receive a further £48 million funding to help them deliver new and expanded services to prevent and reduce homelessness, Local Government Minister Marcus Jones has confirmed.

This new funding will be available to councils in England to meet the costs of the Homelessness Reduction Private Members’ Bill, which if passed by Parliament, will mean anyone at risk of losing their home will get the help they need more quickly.

Under the Bill, local authorities will be required to help all eligible people – whether they are single or a family - for 56 days before they are threatened with homelessness. Those who are already homeless will get support for a further 56 days to help them secure accommodation.

Other services will also be required to refer homeless people or those at risk to local authority housing teams who can provide them with free information and advice services.

Homeless people in England can be turned away with little or no help by councils if they are not considered a 'priority', even though they have nowhere else to stay.

According to the charity Crisis: 

74,630 households in temporary accommodation on 30 September this year, an increase of 9% at the same point last year

The total number of households in temporary accommodation has now risen by 55% since 2010. 

Meanwhile 14,930 households were accepted as homeless between July and September this year – a rise of 2% across England. The ending of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy is still the leading cause of homelessness in England – accounting for 32% of acceptances while in London it accounts for 40%. 

The Assured Shorthold Tenancy

The assured shorthold tenancy is the default legal category of residential tenancy in England and Wales. It is a form of assured tenancy  with limited security of tenure, which was introduced by the Housing Act 1988.

To end an assured shorthold tenancy the landlord must serve a section 21 notice", which in practice results in a minimum notice period of 2 months. There is no minimum length for which an assured shorthold tenancy may be granted and a section 21 notice can be served at any time. The exception being to tenancies that begin on or after the 1st October 2015; where a Section 21 notice cannot be served for the first 4 months of the tenancy. However, when court proceedings are based on the section 21 notice the court cannot order the tenant to give up possession earlier than six months from the beginning of the tenancy. Where one assured shorthold tenancy follows another, the tenant is protected for only 6 months from the beginning of the first tenancy under which the premises were occupied. A section 21 notice may not be issued unless the tenancy deposit registration requirements were met within 30 days of the deposit payment.

An Assured Tenancy

At any time on any of the ordinary assured grounds should this be satisfied using a section 8 notice under the Housing Act 1988. In most cases, if a Section 8 notice is served 14 days' notice must be given for the notice to be valid.

The only potential landlord's disadvantage of a shorthold is the right of the tenant to refer the rent initially payable to a Rent Assessment Committee; however, it can reduce the rent only if it is "significantly higher" than the rents under other comparable assured shortholds.

In this unusual scenario in which the landlord has been able to agree a rent substantially higher than market comparable of the same accommodation, the landlord can serve a notice before or after the tenancy has begun stating it is not to be a shorthold, where no rent assessment application has been made. In other regards, except security of tenure, as a subset of assured tenancies, ASTs follow the definition requirements of assured tenancies, e.g. which includes maximum and minimum rent levels to exclude the most unusual extremes.

ABC Comment: It is well worth knowing what rental agreement you have and what rights and obligations you have.