Affordable Housing Gateway Policy: Amendment: Assessment of applicant/s expecting a child

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A decision made 19 January 2015:

MINISTERIAL DECISION REFERENCE: MD-C-2015-0002
DECISION SUMMARY TITLE: Affordable Housing Gateway policy: assessment of applicants expecting a child
DECISION SUMMARY AUTHOR:	Policy Officer Strategic Housing Unit	IS THE DECISION SUMMARY PUBLIC OR EXEMPT? (if exempt state clause from Code of Practice booklet and from 1st January 2015 stating the relevant article/paragraph of the Freedom of Information Law/Regulations)		Public
REPORT TITLE: Affordable Housing Gateway policy: assessment of applicants expecting a child
REPORT AUTHOR OR NAME OF PERSON GIVING REPORT: (if different from Decision Summary Author)	Policy Officer Strategic Housing Unit	IS THE REPORT PUBLIC OR EXEMPT (if exempt state clause from Code of Practice booklet and from 1st January 2015 stating the relevant article/paragraph of the Freedom of Information Law/Regulations)		Public
DECISION AND REASON FOR THE DECISION: The Minister for Housing decided to approve an amendment to the Affordable Housing Gateway Policy in respect of the assessment of applicants expecting a child, which would reduce the time that an application becomes active from the 7th month of pregnancy to the 24th week of pregnancy.
RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS: There are no resources implications arising from the Ministerial Decision.
ACTION REQUIRED: Policy Officer, Strategic Housing Unit, to ensure that the amendment to the policy is implemented through the Affordable Housing Gateway.
SIGNATURE:			POSITION: Deputy Anne Pryke Minister for Housing
DATE SIGNED:			EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE DECISION:

Affordable Housing Gateway Policy: Amendment: Assessment of applicant/s expecting a child

Chief Minister’s Department

Strategic Housing Unit

Affordable Housing Gateway: access for applicants who are pregnant

Issue:

The Affordable Housing Gateway allocation policy provides that where an applicant is expecting a child, the application will become active when the pregnancy reaches 7 months.

An offer for accommodation should follow reasonably soon after the application has been activated depending on the applicant’s priority band. There is no guarantee that a household will be made an offer by one of the housing providers until after the child is born.

In view of the difficulties that moving home can cause during pregnancy, it is proposed that the current allocation policy be amended to reflect these circumstances. Specifically, the Minister is asked to consider whether the time at which an application becomes active should be reduced from 7 months to 24 weeks.

Background:

The Affordable Housing Gateway

The Affordable Housing Gateway is the point of access for all affordable housing in the island. All the island’s affordable housing providers, including Andium Homes and housing trusts, allocate homes to applicants who have been assessed as eligible through the Gateway.

Households with young children qualify for housing through the Gateway provided they have a joint income of less than £40,000 per year. Single persons / couples under the age of 55 without children will only qualify for housing under the present Gateway criteria if they have a medical condition.

Applicants who are pregnant

Where an applicant for affordable housing is pregnant, the new child will count as part of a household when the pregnancy has reached 7 months (30 weeks). It follows that the application will not be activated in the Gateway until the applicant reaches the 7th month of pregnancy.

An applicant who is pregnant and eligible for housing will be accepted on to the Gateway at any time before 7 months, but will be deferred until that time period has been reached.

Being pregnant does not by itself guarantee that an applicant will be put on the Gateway waiting list. Again, a household will need to be on a relatively low income to be eligible for housing.

The Gateway priority need categories include having a member of a household who is pregnant. A pregnant applicant will be placed in either Band 1 or 2 based on their circumstances, i.e.:

Band 1: the applicant is homeless or is at risk of homelessness; or

Band 2: there is grave overcrowding in the applicant’s present accommodation.

It is unlikely that an applicant will receive an offer for accommodation until the child is born.

However, if there are reasons why an applicant cannot stay in their present accommodation up until the child is due, or it is not suitable for a new born child, the Gateway team will notify the housing providers of the applicant’s situation so they can be considered for housing earlier.

Discussion:

It is recognised that moving home will be a challenging situation for a household which includes a member who is pregnant, particularly if they do not receive an offer for accommodation until after the child is born, which may cause additional inconvenience.

Accordingly, there is justification for reducing the time at which a Gateway application becomes active to give an expectant mother more time to secure accommodation before the child is born.

Currently, a household expecting a child becomes eligible for the housing component of Income Support for a 2 bedroom property at 24 weeks. As a result, it would be appropriate to consider aligning the Gateway allocation policy with that of Income Support.

This would mean reducing the time at which an application becomes active from 7 months (30 weeks) to 24 weeks (5.5. months), 15 weeks before the baby is due. This also follows common practice in the United Kingdom, though individual councils are free to choose when pregnant applicants can be allocated housing.

Resource Implications:

There are no resource implications.

Applicants who are expecting a child and have a relatively low income are already eligible for housing through the Gateway. The amendment to the allocation policy means their application will become active a month and a half earlier than at present.

Recommendation:

The Minister is recommended, in cases where the applicant is pregnant, to reduce the time when an application for housing through the Affordable Housing Gateway becomes active from 7 months to 24 weeks.

Jack Norris

Policy Officer, Strategic Housing Unit

12 January 2014