Issue - meetings

The Cabinet considered a report detailing changes to homeless legislation.  The Housing (Wales) Act 2014 came into force on 27th April 2015 and in July 2015 the Authority approved a report to enable intentionality to be applied across the original 10 categories of Priority Need.

Local Authorities apply the intentionality test to consider whether a person presenting as homeless has done or failed to do something which could be considered to have caused the loss of their settled accommodation and could therefore be deemed to have caused their homelessness ‘intentionally’. Where a person has become homeless intentionally, the Authority does not have a statutory duty to secure permanent accommodation for that person.

In October 2022 the Homelessness (Priority Need and Intentionality) (Wales) Regulation 2022 came into force which added a new category of Priority Need known as Street Homelessness. Since this introduction, the Authority has been unable to apply the intentionality test to any household that presents as Street Homeless thus allowing them to be owed the full housing duties under the legislation.  A decision was therefore required, based on the information included within the report, as to whether the Authority should continue applying the intentionally homeless test across the current categories and also to the additional category of Street Homeless.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that intentionality be retained for all 10 priority need categories listed under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 and that intentionality also be applied to the additional 11th category of Street Homeless.

The Committee considered a report on the Council retaining intentionality for all 10 priority need categories listed under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 (as detailed within the report and adopted by the Council in July 2015) and to also apply intentionality to a 11^th category of Street Homeless, as introduced by the Welsh Government in October 2022

The following questions/issues were raised on the report:-

·       Reference was made to point 5.1 of the report whereby homelessness decisions made in 2019-20 had concluded that 3% of applicants were intentionally homeless. Clarification was sought on the current position and numbers of appellants classified as being intentionally homeless.

The Committee was advised that of the 2,738 people having presented as homeless to the Council in 2022/23, 18 had been identified as having been intentionally homeless.

·       The Committee noted that when a person had presented as being homeless, the Council had a legal duty to provide temporary accommodation for a period of 56 days to enable appropriate checks to be undertaken to confirm if genuine homelessness had occurred. If during that period, evidence concluded a person was intentionally homeless, the Council no longer had a legal duty to provide them with accommodation following expiration of the 56 day period and the person would be advised accordingly.

·       It was confirmed ‘sofa surfers’ fell within the 10 priority need categories within the Housing Act

·       With regard to a question on the type of evidence / criteria required to prove intentionality, the Head of Housing and Public Protection advised investigations would be undertaken with relevant agencies and family members etc to ascertain if intentionality had occurred. If intentionality had been proven, a person had a right of appeal against that determination.

·       It was confirmed a person previously determined as being intentionally homeless could re-present as homeless but that each re-presentation would be determined on a case-by-case basis with the person having to evidence a change in their circumstances, for example, they would have to prove attempts made to find their own accommodation had not been successful.

·       The Head of Housing and Public Protection advised that with regard to repeat cases of intentionality, he would arrange for an item thereon to be included within the next monitoring report submitted to Committee on the Emergency Social Housing Allocation Policy

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to recommend to Cabinet that it approves the retention of intentionality for all 10 priority need categories listed under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 and that the Council also applied intentionality to the 11^th category of Street Homeless.