Housing Act 1996

Summary

The Housing Act 1996 reformed housing allocation, homelessness, and social housing regulation. Part VI governs local authority housing allocation schemes, and Part VII sets out duties owed to homeless persons.

Key Points

• Part VI — allocation of housing: local authorities must have an allocation scheme giving reasonable preference to certain categories
• Part VII — homelessness: duties to investigate, provide interim accommodation, and secure accommodation for priority need households
• Priority need categories: pregnant women, dependent children, vulnerability, emergency
• Intentional homelessness — reduced duty where applicant became homeless deliberately
• Local connection referral — authority can refer applicant to another authority where they have a local connection
• Introductory tenancies — probationary tenancies for new council tenants

Parts & Sections

Amendments History