[KF] The Government has issued a consultation draft statutory guidance on social housing allocations for local authorities in England.
The intention of the new guidance is to assist local authorities to take advantage of the provisions in the Localism Act 2011. In particular, it aims to give local authorities the freedom to manage their own waiting lists, as well as making it easier for them to move existing social tenants to more suitable accommodation.
It also encourages local authorities to make use of the existing flexibility within the allocation legislation, so that they can make decisions that could lead to allocating social homes to people who are perceived to need and deserve them the most.
Ministers have expressed the view that for too long there has been a sense of unfairness over who gets to live in social housing, with a common belief that tenancies only go to those who know how to play the system.
Several councils have already indicated they want to introduce a new flexible approach to manage allocations -Westminster, Southend and Manchester councils will prioritise those who show responsibility and make an effort to find work, and in Wandsworth those tenants on new flexible contracts who do not make an effort to find work will risk losing their tenancy.
Alongside the guidance, the Government is also consulting on two sets of draft regulations relating to the Armed Forces. The regulations will ensure that former Service men and women who have urgent housing needs are given 'additional preference' (i.e. high priority) for social housing - so that they will be at or near the top of housing waiting lists; and that Service personnel who move from base-to-base do not lose their qualification rights.
The above draft statutory guidance and draft regulations can be accessed via this link.
Consultation Guidance Aims to Free Local Authorities to Decide Local Allocations Policies
