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 has refused a 'final offer' of accommodation.

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, having been informed of the possible consequences of refusal or acceptance and of the applicant's right to request a review of the suitability of the accommodation, refuses... (a) a final accommodation offer, or (b) a final Part 6 offer." (s.193C(6)).

This letter can be used whether the accommodation refused by the applicant was:

• a final accommodation offer, or
• a Part 6 offer.

'Final accommodation offer'

A final accommodation offer is:

• an offer of an assured shorthold tenancy to the applicant
• which is approved by the authority for ending the s.193C(4) accommodation duty, and
• which provides a fixed-term tenancy of at least six months.

'Final Part 6 offer'

A final Part 6 offer is:

• an offer of accommodation under Part 6 of the Housing Act 1996, i.e. resulting from an allocation on the council's housing register
• which is made in writing, and
• which states it is a final offer for the purposes of section 193C.

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 above factual circumstance occurs (since subsection (6) states that the authority "cease to be subject to the duty" if one of the listed events happens).

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.

Note on suitability

The letter includes a section that comprehensively details matters you may need to consider when deciding whether the accommodation was suitable for the applicant.

You should edit this section of the letter as appropriate. The precise factors that must be considered will depend on the facts of the particular case.

You may wish to condense this section of the letter.

*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)).