Housing department
Local authority housing departments offer everyone the opportunity of a decent home and so promote social cohesion, well-being and self-dependence.
What do they do?
Housing departments are responsible for making sure that the best use is made of all housing in their areas. They are expected to assess local needs and produce comprehensive housing strategies, in partnership with tenants, residents and other members of the local community.
Since the 1988 Housing Act, housing associations have moved from complementing the work of local authorities to becoming the main providers of new social housing. Local authorities are responsible for allocating tenancies in their own housing stock and in a large proportion of housing association homes, to which they have nomination rights.
The law requires authorities to allocate tenancies only to people included
on a housing register (or waiting list) and in accordance with a published
allocation scheme.
Some people are excluded from the register by law (people subject to
immigration control, for example). Outside these groups, it is open to
authorities to decide who does or does not qualify. However, the allocation
scheme must give priority to certain specified households:
- Those in unsatisfactory, insecure or temporary accommodation
- Those who need housing on medical or welfare grounds this includes pregnant women and families with dependent children or people
- Low income or non-working households
- Homeless people with a priority need for accommodation
By law, local housing authorities must assist people who apply to them for help because they are homeless, or about to become homeless.
Where people applying for assistance have become homeless through no fault of their own, and fall within a 'priority need' group, the authority must either help them to obtain suitable accommodation from a private landlord in the area or, if this is not available, secure suitable accommodation for them.
In either case, the accommodation must be available for at least two years. The priority need group includes families with dependent children, pregnant women, people who are vulnerable in some way (for example, old age, disability or mental illness) and those made homeless by an emergency (such as flood or fire).
Everyone accepted as unintentionally homeless and in priority need has the
right to go on the local authority's housing register and be considered for
a permanent tenancy in social housing.
This page was last updated on 15 July 2005
