Documents

A letter for notifying a homeless applicant that the accommodation duty under section 193C(4) of the Housing Act 1996 has ended because:

• the applicant is no longer eligible for assistance (on immigration and nationality grounds).

When the s.193C accommodation duty is owed

The duty to secure accommodation under s.193C(4) is owed where an applicant who has a priority need and is unintentionally homeless is no longer owed the s.189B relief duty*, following service of a section 193B notice, due to their deliberate and unreasonable refusal to take a mandatory step in their housing plan.

Discharge ground

The s.193C(4) duty ends if the applicant is no longer eligible for assistance (under s.193C(5)(a)).

Notification of discharge

It should be noted that there is no freestanding and explicit requirement under section 193C to notify this decision (to end the duty) to the applicant. Strictly speaking, the accommodation duty ends when the applicant "ceases to be eligible for assistance." (s.193C(5)(a)).

However, in the circumstances envisaged by this letter, the applicant will usually be continuing to occupy the temporary accommodation that was secured to perform the s.193C(4) duty. Accordingly, the decision that the duty has ended will need to be communicated to the applicant. This means that, in practice, a 'discharge of duty letter' will usually need to be sent.

Referral to social services

This letter includes an optional section of text that can be included if there are children in the household, to offer a referral to social services, so as to comply with section 213A of the Housing Act 1996.

This statutory duty to offer a referral does not prevent the council making a referral to social services of its own volition (notwithstanding the absence of the applicant's consent), for example if there are concerns about a child's welfare.

*The s.193C(4) duty to secure temporary accommodation is also owed if the prevention duty ends because notification is given under section 193B if, when the prevention duty ends, the applicant:

• is eligible for assistance
• is homeless
• has a priority need, and
• became homeless unintentionally (s.193B(1) and s.193C(1) to (3)).