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Homelessness Reduction Act intended to commence in April 2018
Minister for Local Government Marcus Jones has written to local authority chief executives setting out the intention to implement the Homelessness Reduction Act in April 2018. Letter also says a draft Homelessness Code of Guidance for consultation will be published in the autumn ahead of publication of the final Code in spring 2018.
Source: https://twitter.com/ArdenChambers/status/895197352566423552
The guidance for the HRA is available Homelessness code of guidance for local authorities
And someone has also helpfully compiled a consolidated version in a pdf Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities (pdf document)
One year on and things ain’t looking good…
According to a Local Government Association study, nearly two-thirds of councils report increases in the numbers of homeless people in temporary accommodation since the act came inlast April, a third reporting “significant” increases. And 92% of council respondents said welfare reform hampered their ability to find affordable homes for the homeless. This is despite most councils being positive about the act in principle. They have reviewed their homelessness services provision, taken on more staff, and are offering a wider range of preventive services. The LGA says that for the majority [of councils] the act has not changed the underlying issues relating to housing.
In addition, a recent survey by the New Local Government Network, found that more than two-thirds of councils in England believe they do not have sufficient funding to fulfil their legal duty to prevent homelessness – a figure that goes up to 86% in urban councils. Strikingly, 38% of Conservative council leaders thought they had insufficient funding (compared with 89% of Labour leaders). On welfare reform, 65% of council chiefs across all parties said they thought universal credit had led to an increase in homelessness. As one unitary council chief executive put it: “Public policy has made the [homelessness] problem a lot worse.”
Two-thirds of councils say they can’t afford to comply with homelessness law