Decision

RESOLVED that:

A     The following Nomination Quotas for 2026/27 be approved. The quotas for this year are:

·         Essex County Council – 19 units

·         Steets to Homes – 5 units

·         Move on from council temporary accommodation to manage flow / capacity – 18 units.

B     Amend Minor Revisions to the financial income resource qualification criteria as follows:

·         1 bed need – joint applicants will not qualify if they have earnings over £50k.

C     Approve for Applicants’ assets are to be considered as part of their qualification assessment.  Applicants with savings or assets of more than £30k, to resolve their housing needs on the open market. Exceptional circumstances to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the Housing Options & Advice Manager. Applicants who require sheltered housing who are over the age of 65 will be exempt from this assessment.

D     In line with new statutory legislation, an additional exception to be added to the local connection criteria, to include young people approaching the Leaving & After Care Team who have an association with Harlow.

E     In line with statutory legislation, wording relating to reasonable preference for certain homelessness households be amended to the following:

Band 3 - Reasonable preference for certain homelessness duties owed

·         People owed the prevention of homelessness duty under Section 195(2) by the Council 

·         People who have been assessed as being intentionally homeless by the Council and since that award has not had settled accommodation

·         People where the relief duty has been brought to an end and an applicant has been assessed at that point as not being in priority need. 

·         A homeless household towards whom the full duty has been accepted by Harlow Council under Section 193 (2) of the Housing 1996 and does not meet the qualifying conditions that include the local connection criteria to Harlow and Financial Resources

F     For applicants aged over 65, seeking accommodation who are already living in Harlow, wording to be amended to state: “where the applicant lives in Harlow or wishes to move to Harlow to receive support etc”. The clause covers current residents, not just for those wishing to move to the area.

G     Additional wording to be added to Allocation Policy to state there are no limits on the number of bids an applicant can place in any bidding cycle to increase applicants' choice.

H     Wording to be amended to state: “When couples give up two social housing properties in Harlow for one property where two separate households who wish to live together and where each home is not large enough to accommodate the family together”.

I       In line with government regulations to remove local connection criteria for all UK Armed Forces Veterans.

J      In line with new legislation passed in 2025, all victims of domestic abuse are exempt from the need to meet the local connection criteria. Other Special Reason will no longer apply.

K     In line with the requirement of the LGSO, wording relating to the review of housing application decisions to be amended as follows:

1. 3.1 Reviews relating to decisions concerning the Housing Needs Register

Non qualifying persons, eligibilityand medical assessments.

If a decision is made concerning a medical assessment, or the applicant does not qualify, is ineligible, or is to be placed in a lower band due to deliberately worsening their circumstances, the applicant will receive written notification of the decision. The notification will include clear reasons for the council's decision. The notification will also include how the applicant can request a review of the decision. Applicants also have the right, on request, to be informed of any decision about the facts of their case which has been, or is likely to be, taken into account in considering whether to make an allocation to them.

The council will base all decisions on the completed application form provided by the applicant and details held on file. It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide the council with a full explanation as to why they disagree with the council’s decision and to provide any further evidence that supports the review.  

Applicants who request a review of the decision need to submit a written response via email to Contact Harlow contact@harlow.gov.uk or make a verbal request to Contact Harlow telephone 01279 446655 within 21 days of the date of the council's decision as per the council's notification letter. The council will also accept requests submitted by a representative. The request for a review should be addressed to: Contact Harlow, Harlow Council Civic Centre, The Water Gardens Harlow, Essex, CM20 1WG. The council will normally carry out the review within eight weeks (56 days). A written notification of the decision, including reasons for the decision, will be sent to the applicant, and all correspondence will be uploaded to the online Housing Allocations Portal unless a request has been made that it should be sent via post to the applicant’s current address or a mailing address of their choice.

There is no right to request a further review

Reasons for the decision

Section 3.8 of the Housing Allocations Policy makes provision for quotas to be used to provide bedsit accommodation for particular groups in need.  The total units available is 42.  Those made available to supported housing providers will be bedsit accommodation. Those used as temporary accommodation move on, will be any size, determined against the need of the current cohort.

The Policy will be clear that where a quota is being used, the applicant (nominee) must have resided in Harlow for two years or more and are tenancy ready.

Minor revisions to the financial resource qualification criteria, to give a greater ceiling to couples seeking one-bedroom accommodation. It has become clear that the threshold for a one bed property needs to be higher when an application is received from a couple.

The assets that an applicant has is to be considered as part of their assessment, which is a new amendment to the Allocation Policy.  It is proposed that where an applicant has savings or assets of more than £30k, they are expected to resolve their housing needs on the open market. Some exceptional circumstances will apply, and these will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis by the Housing Options & Advice Manager. Applicants who require sheltered housing who are over the age of 65 will be exempt from this assessment.

Section 2.4.3 of the policy sets out the exceptions to the 7-year local connection criteria. An additional exception needs to be added to this list, to include young people approaching the Leaving & After Care Team who have an association with Harlow, although this will not necessarily include 7-year residency.

This group, “care leavers” will qualify if they have a connection to Harlow but have been placed out of the area by Essex County Council. To reflect reasonable preference, they will be given Band 3 until they meet the other qualifying conditions. This will enable Harlow to comply with Government Guidance published by MHCLG “Joint Housing Protocols for Care Leavers”, published May 2024.

There is a statutory requirement that for Homeless households where the council has a duty to house, receive “reasonable preference”.  The policy therefore requires amending to be clear on this point.

Clarifying that applicants aged over 65 seeking accommodation who are already living in Harlow, not just looking to move into Harlow for support, do qualify to join the Housing Needs Register.  The current policy requires applicants to demonstrate a 7-year residential connection to Harlow. There are a number of exceptions to this, one of which is:

 “Where the applicant wishes to move into Harlow to receive support of family members and is over the age of 65 years and is seeking supported/Sheltered accommodation”. This requires amending to read – “where the applicant lives in Harlow or wishes to move to Harlow to receive support etc”. The clause covers current residents, not just for those wishing to move to the area.

Clarifying that applicants can place as many bids per bidding cycle as they wish. Addition of a sentence that says that there are no limits on the number of bids an applicant can place in any bidding cycle (note – this has previously been limited to 3 per cycle). This is a change from the current policy which restricts applicants to 3 bids per cycle. This increases applicants' choices.

Clarity over who is eligible for Band 2 when giving up two social housing properties in exchange for one. A new provision was put into Band 2 when the policy was revised - “Giving up two social housing properties in Harlow for one property where two separate households who wish to live together and where each home is not large enough to accommodate the family together”. This provision is intended for couples wishing to form one household. Only in exceptional circumstances will an application be considered by non-couples.

The Allocations Policy will be updated so that the 7-year residency test is removed for this cohort. This is in line with newly published government regulations.

Revisions to how clients fleeing domestic abuse are dealt with within the qualification section of the policy. Ensuring that all victims of domestic abuse are exempt from the need to meet the local connection criteria. This meets new legislative requirements passed in 2025; therefore ‘Other Special Reason’ will no longer apply.

These minor changes have been identified following a wider review of the Housing Allocations Scheme (Allocations Policy) which was agreed in April 2024. These are minor in nature; some are for operational clarity, some reflect statutory changes and one relates to a determination made by the LGSO.

Alternative options considered

It is good practice to carry out a review, following the major changes to the policy. In addition, there was a requirement to set annual quotas for nominations to partners. Some of the changes are to comply with legislative statutory updates.  The only alternative was to not do this, which would mean that these small issues with operating the policy would not be addressed, and statutory duties not met.