HC Deb 27 February 2003 vol 400 cc717-8W
Lynne Jones

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what account he took of the High Court decisions in the cases of R v Islington LBC ex parte Reilly and Maunix (1998) and R v Westminster CC ex parte Al-Khorshan (1999) in drawing up his code of guidance on allocation of accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the balance between his encouragement of choice-based lettings and the legal requirement to give preference to those identified as having urgent housing needs. [98382]

Mr. McNulty

A new Code of Guidance on the Allocation of Accommodation, revised to take account of the changes to Part 6 of the Housing Act 1996 contained in the Homelessness Act 2002, was issued in November 2002.

The new Code takes account of the Court of Appeal judgment in the conjoined cases of R(on the application of A) v Lambeth London Borough Council and R(on the application of Lindsay) v Lambeth London Borough Council on 23 July 2002 which upheld the High Court decisions in R v Islington LBC, ex parte Reilly and Mannix (1998) and R v Westminster, ex parte Al-Khorsan (1999). The covering letter which was sent with the Code to all housing authorities and other interested parties specifically mentioned the Court of Appeal judgment. It is for housing authorities to take account of the implications of the judgment for their allocation schemes, and to take account of the Secretary of State's guidance in the Code.

The revised Code provides (at paragraph 5.9) that, in framing their allocation scheme so as to secure that reasonable preference is given to certain categories of persons, housing authorities must have regard to the fact that the reasonable preference categories should not be treated in isolation from one another; and must provide a mechanism for identifying applicants who qualify under more than one category and for taking this into account in assessing their housing need.

The Government believe that all housing authorities should adopt more choice-based, customer-focussed, lettings policies, while continuing to meet housing need. This is the best way to ensure sustainable tenancies and to build settled and stable communities. We believe that there is sufficient flexibility within the existing statutory framework to enable housing authorities to offer applicants a choice of accommodation and to ensure that reasonable preference is given to those with the most urgent housing need.

The Code advises (at paragraph 5.11) that, when considering how to reconcile choice and housing need, housing authorities should consider adopting a simplified system of applicant prioritisation in place of a complex points-based approach. An appropriate approach might include systems that:

  1. (a) "band" applicants into a number of groups reflecting different levels of housing need, with prioritisation of applicants within these groups being determined by waiting time, and/or
  2. (b) give people in the most urgent housing need priority over other applicants (often by using a time-limited "priority card").

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be providing more detailed good practice guidance on this issue towards the end of this year, once the funded choice based lettings pilot scheme has been properly evaluated.