Yours sincerely Section 3: No Application Triggered or to be proceeded with Letters Letter 10: THIS IS A DECISION BASED ON THE COURT CASES THAT RELATE TO WHEN A LOCAL AUTHORITY MUST TAKE A HOMELESS APPLICATION FROM SOMEONE WITH A HOUSING PROBLEM UNFORTUNATELY NO APPLICATION HAS BEEN TAKEN BECAUSE THE COUNCIL IS SATISFIED THAT THERE ARE NO NEW FACTS THAT WERE NOT KNOWN ABOUT AT THE TIME WE DEALT WITH YOUR PREVIOUS APPLICATION, OR THAT ANY NEW FACTS KNOWN ARE TRIVIAL. Dear A summary of my decision You contacted the Council because you have a housing problem and wanted our help. We then carried out an assessment of your circumstances and considered the fact that you made a previous homelessness application to the council in put in date here. Unfortunately the outcome of our assessment is that you are not homeless despite there being some affordability issues for you. I am sorry that the rest of this letter has to be written in quite a legal way. Unfortunately, as this is a legal decision that is open to being judicially reviewed in court I am required to show that I have made my decision by applying the correct case law. This means that my decision can sound quite formal. Please accept my apologies and do not hesitate to contact me if you are not sure what the decision means, or you need me to explain any part of it. I have set out below the enquiries I’ve made which were to look at your previous application and the circumstances surrounding your current application to determine if there are new facts that relate to your current housing problem that would require me to assess a new homeless application. This is so you can understand the reasons for my decision that no new application duty is owed and how I’ve reached that decision. This helps you to decide whether to seek a judicial review or whether to seek independent legal advice. We think that it is always best to seek independent advice because the test we have to apply is complex and an independent advisor can explain my decision, check it, and advise on what options are available to you. Despite my decision the Council can continue to offer advice to help you resolve your housing problem and I can talk to you further about the help that may be available if you want to discuss it.
Food Costs - allow for £25 a week per person per week – Figure taken from extensive 2012 Family Survey covering what the lowest income households may spend and up-rated. Clothing – allow £5 per week per person (Typical Debt advice figure). Estimate of water rate costs for the property. Estimate of any contribution that would be required for Council tax on the property it is proposed to offer. Estimate of any travel costs to work, education or training. Now estimate the weekly expenditure for any of the areas below and estimate whether all, some or none of the expenditure is reasonable for each item or area. Estimate of expenditure spent by the household on each item Record as a weekly figure Estimate by the Council of how much is to be spent on each item Record as a weekly figure Comments and any reason for the conclusion reached
which) Prescriptions, dentist and glasses costs Pension payments Pet costs Leisure expenditure such as the cost of trips to the cinema. Alcohol Cigarettes. Court Fines Other areas (List) Final affordability assessment and calculation taking what the household need to spend on essentials and other reasonable costs and what the household are actually spending The estimate of what the household are actually spending each week Add up the figures from the estimate of expenditure spent by the household on The estimate of what the household need to spend each week to cover food, clothing, fuel and all other reasonable expenditure Add up the figures from Estimate of the total income available to the household per week from work and any benefits. Breakdown the weekly income below: £ £ £
The law requires me to decide whether you have a priority need for being: a pregnant woman or a person with whom a pregnant woman resides or might reasonably be expected to reside. a person with whom dependent children reside or might reasonably be expected to reside. a person who is homeless or threatened with homelessness as a result of an emergency such as flood, fire or other disaster. a person who is vulnerable as a result of old age, mental illness or handicap or physical disability or other special reason, or with whom such a person resides or might reasonably be expected to reside. I am satisfied that (a) or (c) do not apply to your circumstances as you are not claiming to be homeless due to a fire, flood or other disaster. Nor does the criteria a) for pregnancy apply, and you do not live with anyone who is pregnant I have therefore concentrated my enquiries on b) and d) and have made the following 2 assessments to decide whether you have a priority need: I have assessed whether you have dependent children who live with you all or part of the time or might reasonably be expected to. Separately, I have assessed whether you, or any other member of your household, are in priority need due to any vulnerability that would meet the criteria set by the homeless legislation and case law. This part of our assessment is very important because if you were in priority need, we would owe you a duty to make sure you had accommodation. Unfortunately, my decision is that you do not have a priority need 2) The inquiries I have made and the information I have considered I have made the following inquiries and taken the information I have obtained from those inquiries fully into account in making my decision: [The officer should list the inquiries made. There are examples of the common enquiries and suggested wording below]: I have made a full assessment to decide whether you have dependent children who live with you, who might reasonably be expected to live with you, and if they did, would be dependent on you. I have considered any letters from solicitors, or court orders, or the outcome of any mediation to discuss the arrangements for children. I have also carried out a full assessment of any possible vulnerability you may have and the impact any vulnerability may have on you if you were to remain homeless. I have used an assessment of vulnerability form to undertake a comprehensive assessment.
I am also satisfied that you not come under any other protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. Conclusion This decision unfortunately means that the Council is under no duty to provide you with any temporary accommodation. We will still do all we can to help you find accommodation. We will have explained what help we can give you based on your housing needs and issued you with a help pack to increase your chances of finding accommodation. We are not however, under any legal duty to secure, or give you accommodation. If you do not agree with the Council’s decision you have the right to request a review. Your request for a review should be made within 21 days of the date we notified you of this decision. If you don’t fully understand our decision or the reasons for it or you have any other queries please do not hesitate to contact me by email or telephone. Alternatively you can seek independent legal advice. Yours sincerely Letter 41: THIS IS A DECISION ON YOUR HOMELESSNESS APPLICATION – SECTION 184 THE HOUSING ACT 1996, PART 7. UNFORTUNATELY NO ACCOMMODATION DUTY IS OWED TO YOU. THIS IS BECAUSE DESPITE YOUR CLAIM THAT YOU SHOULD BE OWED A PRIORITY NEED BECAUSE YOU HAVE CHILDREN THAT WOULD LIVE WITH YOU IF YOU HAD A HOME, MY DECISION IS THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE A PRIORITY NEED. NOR ARE THERE ANY OTHER HOUSING CIRCUMSTANCES THAT WOULD GIVE YOU A PRIORITY NEED FOR ANOTHER REASON Dear A summary of my decision You contacted the Council because you have a housing problem and wanted our help because you might be homeless. We agreed that this problem meant that we should take a homeless application from you. We then carried out an assessment and the outcome is that you are eligible to have your circumstances considered and that you are homeless. Furthermore this position you find yourself in is not the result of anything you deliberately did or failed to do.