Notifying a homeless applicant that the prevention duty has ended and the relief duty is owed
Councils must comply with a variety of new duties under the amended homelessness legislation. If an applicant owed the prevention duty becomes homeless they must be notified that the relief duty is now owed.
Template letters:
The following letters are now in the Resources section:
- Ending prevention duty and accepting relief duty / s.188 interim accommodation duty NOT owed
- Ending prevention duty and accepting relief duty / s.188 interim accommodation duty owed
These are basically two versions of the same letter. However, what you need to tell the applicant will differ according to whether you're accepting the s.188 duty to secure interim temporary accommodation.
Reviewing the personal housing plan
The letters include an option to enclose a revised housing plan.
The Code of Guidance makes the point that:
Personalised housing plans agreed during the prevention stage will need to be reviewed if an applicant subsequently becomes homelessness [sic], enabling housing authorities and applicants to focus on steps required to help secure accommodation.Para 11.32
If a step is no longer appropriate, or if the council adds new steps, this must be notified to the applicant in writing (under section 189B(11) of the Housing Act 1996).
Assessment officers will also need to be alert to the possibility that something in the s.189A assessment has changed. This would trigger another notification duty (under section 189B(10)).
I've already uploaded some letters and forms for when the initial assessment changes.
How do I download the letters?
You must:
- create an account (if you haven't already done so) with your work email address
- work for a local authority or registered provider of social housing, and
- go to the relevant download page for the particular document.
There's further guidance if you need it here.
Posted in category: Resources Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 Ending duties
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