Published: 20 April 2006
Tightening of Housing Rules
The Government claims to have strengthened the rules on access to council housing and homelessness assistance in England for persons from abroad.
The new amending regulations come into force on 20 April 2006 and are intended to ensure that nationals from the European Economic Area (EEA), who do not have a right to reside in the UK, are not eligible for council housing and homelessness assistance in England.
This will hopefully close a loophole arising from a recent Appeal Court ruling (London Borough of Barnet v Abdi and Ismail) which found that the applicants, who were both economically inactive EEA nationals, were subject to immigration control as they did not have a right to reside in the UK under European law.
This meant that contrary to the understanding of the Government and local authorities the applicants were eligible for homelessness assistance under the housing rules, which apply to persons subject to immigration control.
The new regulations mean that the position will be as intended by the Government when it introduced measures to strengthen the rules in May 2004 and will (the government hopes) help ensure that people cannot come to the United Kingdom simply to claim assistance from the welfare system.
Housing Minister Yvette Cooper said:
"These new regulations are a swift response to the court judgment and return us to the policy that was intended."
The new measures are intended to help support the Government's policy of opening up the UK labour market to workers from all countries within the EEA, whilst ensuring that those who do not have a right to reside here do not have access to benefits such as social housing at the UK taxpayer's expense.
Background
Under the Housing Act 1996, the First Secretary of State can make regulations governing the classes of person from abroad who will be eligible for an allocation of settled housing (through local authority housing waiting lists) and for homelessness assistance (referred to collectively for the purpose of these notes as "housing").
There are separate regulations governing access for people who are subject to immigration control and access for other persons from abroad who are not subject to immigration control.
ODPM considered that nationals from countries within the European Economic Area (EEA) would not be subject to immigration control, and would therefore be subject to the regulations governing access to housing for persons from abroad who are not subject to immigration control.
In May 2004, these regulations were amended to ensure, among other things, that EEA nationals who do not have a right to reside in the UK (because they are economically inactive and do not have sufficient financial resources to support themselves) would not be eligible for housing.
On 6 April the Court of Appeal handed down a judgment in the case of London Borough of Barnet v Ismail and Abdi and ruled that EEA nationals who do not have a right to reside in the UK are subject to immigration control.
The effect of this judgment is that local housing authorities need to consider the housing eligibility of EEA nationals who do not have a right to reside in accordance with the regulations that apply to persons subject to immigration control.
The current housing regulations that apply to persons subject to immigration control include provisions which would mean that nationals from most countries within the EEA who do not have a right to reside would be eligible for housing. This was not the intention, and undermines the Government's policy.
The Government has therefore decided to act to remove from the housing regulations the eligibility provisions which EEA nationals with no right to reside might rely on.
The effect of this is to put the position regarding eligibility for housing back to what it had been considered to be before the Court of Appeal's judgment.
Further information
European Economic Area (EEA) and HERE
London Borough of Barnet v Abdi and Ismail
To find a business you can trust, click on the related categories below: