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London borough revises allocation policy following threat of court action
Lambeth Council has agreed to amend its housing allocation policy after being threatened with court action over a scheme that resulted in homeless applicants being removed from the local authority’s housing register.
The council will revise its ‘Temp to Settled’ policy, which offers to assign households a higher level of priority on the housing register if they withdraw their homeless application and move into private rented accommodation.
Late last year, Inside Housing reported that Lambeth Council had been taken to court over the policy after four separate claimants argued that the scheme disadvantages homeless families.
This is because many people who chose to participate in the scheme were moved into private rented accommodation outside of the borough and found themselves being moved off the local authority’s housing register after two years due to a lack of local connection.
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Lambeth Council has issued an apology to former applicants and said it did not make it “sufficiently clear” to individuals that they would be unlikely to secure social housing if they moved out with the borough.
The council will now remove the two-year local connection limit on all existing and new cases of this type, alongside reinstating all applications that had been closed due to the two-year rule.
A review will also be undertaken of the overall operation of the Temp to Settled policy.
Helen Mowatt, a solicitor at the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), which represented the claimants, said: “This case is an important victory for the hundreds of families who have been affected by the Temp to Settled scheme, and we hope sends a message to councils: that it is not acceptable to place targets above the needs of the community.”
Elizabeth Wyatt, a member of campaign group Housing Action Southwark & Lambeth (HASL), said: “Lambeth’s Temp to Settled scheme is yet another example that so-called homeless prevention which pushes families into the private sector does not work and is not fair.
“PILC and HASL have successfully challenged it here and we will continue to do so wherever these schemes fail to act in the best interests of homeless people.
“Real homeless prevention is safe, secure, high-quality council housing in our communities and a welfare system accessible to everyone that ensures a dignified life free from poverty.”
A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: “There is huge pressure on the availability of social housing in Lambeth and we work hard to ensure the limited supply of council homes are given to those with the highest need. The private rented sector can provide a suitable alternative in many cases.
“We have had a legal challenge to the scheme helping people end their homelessness and move into private rented homes. As a result, we accept that some elements of the scheme could have been better explained and we apologise to former applicants. We will now amend this and contact former applicants in due course.”
