The Homelessness Act 2002 and Housing Allocations: All Change or Business as Usual?
The Homelessness Act 20021 represents the first piece of housing legislation from the Labour Government since taking office in May 1997, and therefore the first opportunity to assess the Government's stance on public sector housing allocations and homelessness.2 The Act seeks to regulate the way in which local authority landlords decide who should become tenants of their housing stock,3 and as such also presents an opportunity to evaluate the Government's approach to central-local government relations in this area.4 The philosophy of the 2002 Act is, in some respects, in keeping with that of its legislative antecedents. Indeed, certain of its provisions can be traced back to the first legislation to control local authorities' activities in this sphere. However, the Act can also be seen as a radical attempt to shift the culture of public sector housing allocations, and particularly to alter the way in which authorities select their tenants. This note focuses on the provisions of the Homelessness Act 2002 relating to housing allocations (as distinct from the separate homelessness provisions) and locates them in the context of the broader debate on central-local government relations. It will be argued that in order to assess the significance of the 2002 Act, it is necessary to consider both how it affects the substantive law on housing allocations and how it impinges upon, and can be understood as a reflection of, central government's relationship with local government. The first part of the note sets the scene by comparing the approach adopted by successive Parliaments towards the allocation of public sector housing before 1996 with the changes implemented by the 2002 Act's immediate predecessor, the Housing Act 1996, and the implications of those changes for the central-local