§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what(a) the average waiting time and (b) the longest waiting time for homeless families in priority need before being placed in permanent accommodation was in the last year for which figures are available; and what the range of waiting times was in each local authority. [124680]
§ Keith HillUnder the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002), local housing authorities have a duty to secure accommodation for applicants who are eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and who fall within a priority need group (the main homelessness duty). The duty applies until a settled housing solution becomes available (for example, an allocation of housing made under Part 6 of the 1996 Act as amended by the 2002 Act) or some other circumstance brings the duty to an end (for example, the applicant voluntarily quits temporary accommodation secured for him or here by the authority). Data supplied by local authorities in England shows that, overall, in 2002/03 almost three-quarters of households owed the main homelessness duty and provided with temporary accommodation received an offer of some form of settled accommodation; for the remainder, the duty was brought to an end as a result of some other circumstance.
Information on the length of time that households which were owed the main homelessness duty have stayed in temporary accommodation (including any period pending a decision on their application) before the homelessness duty is brought to an end is collected in six-monthly time bands ("under six months", "six months to one year", etc to "two years or more"). It is therefore not possible to provide an average waiting time. However, it is estimated that just over half of the households who were owed a main homelessness duty, placed in temporary accommodation and subsequently received an offer of settled accommodation during 2002/ 03 (either an offer made under Part 6 of the 1996 Act or some other form of offer) had waited less than six months before receiving the offer. By comparison, only 10 per cent. had been in temporary accommodation for more than two years before receiving such an offer.
Only two-thirds of local authorities were able to provide a comprehensive analysis of time spent in temporary accommodation and, due to concerns about 362W the data quality, comparisons between authorities are not advisable. Available information suggests that, in around a quarter of local authorities, 90 per cent. of the households offered accommodation received the offer within six months.