Housing Services Procedure

Division : Housing Services

Title of Procedure: Discharge of Duty into the Private Rented Sector

Review Version Final

Effective date updated 10/07/15

Replaces New procedure 09/02/15

Date of next review on July 2017

policy timetable

Contents

1. Purpose and Equality Impact Assessment

2. Roles and responsibilities
3. Procedures
4. Request for a review
5. Performance and records
6. Related documents

Appendices
 Appendix 1: Property Suitability Assessment Form (covers the requirements in the
Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2013 Part 2
 Appendix 2A and B: PRSO Affordability Assessment Form and Guide
 Appendix 3: Suitability Checklist (covers location and subjective matters as required by
the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2013 Part 1
 Appendix 4: PRSO Final Offer Letter (offers the property and provides viewing details).
 Appendix 5: RBG Duty Ceased Acceptance of PRSO
 Appendix 6: RBG Duty Ceased Refusal of PRSO

1. Purpose
In response to the short supply of affordable housing and rising numbers of homelessness
households the government has introduced legislation to support local authorities to better respond
to housing need. The Localism Act 2011 changes the way in which local authorities can deal with
applications for social housing and homelessness applications under Parts VI and VII of the
Housing Act 1996. This Act allows authorities to fully discharge their full homelessness duty
(DOD) by a ‘Private Rented Sector Offer’ (PRSO).

Ideally Royal Greenwich aims to prevent homelessness through housing advice and a range of

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1. Purpose
housing options, including supporting clients into private rented sector accommodation to meet their
housing need. A ‘Discharge of Duty’ (DOD) will be used where it is necessary to meet housing
need, and according to the Council’s policy

This procedure sets out how the Council will support applicants/clients through the discharge of
duty (DOD) process.

Equality Impact Assessment

The Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) has adopted the power made available through the
Localism Act, and in doing so has taken into account the findings of an Equality Impact Assessment
and consultation. The following recommendations arising from the EIA were adopted by RBG:

A. When considering suitability of private sector accommodation offered to homeless applicants

the Council will pay particular care to ensure that:

 Disabled people are not disadvantaged by being offered accommodation that cannot be
readily adapted to their needs
 Young people (under 35) are not offered non-self- contained accommodation to
discharge the homelessness duty, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
 People with an on-going risk of violence (who are mostly women) will have their
security needs taken into account as part of an assessment of suitability of
accommodation.

B. The impact of the policy will be monitored by ethnicity, gender, disability, and age of applicants
and reported to Housing DMT on a quarterly basis

C. The impact of the policy will be reviewed after 12 months, to include the equality impact of the
change.

2. Roles and responsibilities

Job title and section Tasks
HOSS Managers, Identify clients who may be suitable for a PRSO to discharge the
Housing Options and Support duty
Service (HOSS) Review the suitability of offers where necessary
Review/support the decision making of the staff in regards to PRSO
Ensure the homelessness duty is properly ended following the offer
of a PRSO
Housing Options & Support Undertake assessments of needs and circumstances
Officer (HOSO) HOSS Issues formal letters and scans to TRIM
Notifies the client about the outcome of reviews
Temporary Accommodation Ensure applicants living in temporary accommodation are made
Manager (TAT Manager) aware of the DOD policy and implications for their accommodation
Temporary Accommodation Review the suitability of PRSOs where necessary
and Procurement Service Oversee the withdrawal of temporary accommodation when the
homeless duty ended

Temporary Accommodation Advise and assist applicants living in TA to accept a move into a

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2. Roles and responsibilities
Job title and section Tasks
Officer (TAO) Temporary PRSO
Accommodation and Manage the extension or withdrawal of TA to applicants
Procurement Service Liaison with the client in regards to the PRSO offers
Liaison with Procurement, HOSS and Allocation Officers
Housing Services Procurement Procurement of suitable properties managed by fit an proper
Officer (PO) Temporary landlords
Accommodation and Making PRS offers to applicants
Procurement Service Undertakes property suitability assessments
Notifies the client about arrangement for viewing and sign up
Access and Support Officer Assists in matching of clients to properties and management of the
(ASO) Temporary list of clients waiting for offers
Accommodation and
Procurement Service
Service Development Officer Assist in managing performance and ensuring procedures are
(SDO) HOSS followed
Manages the review process, ensuring the Council meets statutory
obligations
Independent Reviews Undertakes a review of the decision to discharge duty if the DOD
(or other contracted review offer is declined by the client
service)

3. Procedure

3.1 Assessments

3.1.1 Accepted statutory homeless households are entitled to one reasonable offer of suitable
accommodation. Officers will undertake a robust assessment to determine the
appropriateness of the offer, taking into account the circumstances for each individual
household. This includes making reasonable adjustments to the process where there is a
communication need, such as language, literacy, or a visual/hearing impairment.

3.1.2 The Housing Options and Support Service (HOSS) identifies applicants that require a PRSO,
according to our policy and the applicant’s needs and circumstances. As with any case that
has been moved across to Part VII the officer must use the outcome code against the FSA or
YP with a Service Reason of:

 10NOTPREV HOMELESSNESS NOT PREVENTED PART 7 ASSESSMENT

CASE
Or
 20NOTPREV HOMELESSNESS NOT PREVENTED PART 7 ASSESSMENT
CASE

The event code for any information / notes relating to a case that is being put forward for a
PRSO is:

 PART7PRSO PART 7 PRSO DOD INFO ITEM

3.1.3 The Procurement Team identifies properties to be offered to accepted homeless applicants to

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 end the homeless duty. In line with the HACTRAC Procurement procedures, the
Procurement Officer identifies a property, and undertakes an assessment using the Property
Suitability Assessment Form (Appendix 1). The system event code that should be used
when adding generic information about Part VII PRS0 DOD cases is:

 PART7PRSO PART 7 PRSO DOD INFO ITEM

3.1.4 When the Property Suitability Assessment is completed, the Procurement Officer or Access
and Support Officer will seek a suitable household from the HACTRAC database. Once a
household is identified, the Procurement Officer will check the suitability of the property
against the client’s personal circumstances, using the HACTRAC referral form, information
provided by the referring officer, and the HOSS Key 1 assessment form where necessary.

3.1.5 The Procurement Officer will ensure that there is sufficient information to check the
suitability of a property for a nominated applicant, using the PRSO Affordability
Assessment Form (Appendix 2A and B) and the Suitability Checklist (Appendix 3). They
may request further information about the client from the HOSS or Temporary
Accommodation Officer. Where necessary, the Procurement Officer will contact the client
to confirm that the household income/expenditure and other personal circumstance
information are accurate and up to date.

3.2 Making the Offer to the Applicant

3.2.1 If the client is suitably matched to a property, the Procurement Officer will invite the client
to view the property, providing full details of the viewing time and location. The client will
be sent/given letter PRSO Final Offer Letter (Appendix 4) which explains the details of the
offer and the implications of not attending or refusing the offer.

3.2.2 Following the viewing the Procurement Officer will take feedback from the landlord and the
client about the viewing, and whether any concerns are raised by either party about the
suitability of the offer.

3.2.3 The Procurement Officer will notify the HOSO and TAT Officer of the outcome of the
viewing, and of any issues raised concerning suitability of the offer.

3.2.4 If the Procurement/TAT Officer has any concerns about the suitability of the offer following
the viewing, they will discuss it with their manager and/or HOSS manager. The HOSS
manager will make a final decision about how to proceed.

3.3 Client accepts property

Where the landlord and client are both willing to proceed with a tenancy:

3.3.1 The Procurement Officer will:

 Arrange for sign the tenancy agreement for the property

 Confirm and complete arrangements for rent deposit guarantee and/or incentive
payment where appropriate

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  Notify the TAO and HOSS Senior of the outcome
 Update the HAD system (When a Part V11 PRSO placement occurs, the
Procurement Officer should use outcome ‘10PRSO PART7 PRSO PLACEMENT
MADE’. There is also a specific info event for recording information about Part VII
PRSO cases ‘PART7PRSO PART 7 PRSO DOD INFO ITEM’)

3.3.2 The TAT Officer will:

 Inform TA provider and issue notice to both TA provider and client
 Update HAD system

3.3.3 The HOSO or HOSS Senior will:

 Send the RBG Duty Ceased Acceptance of PRSO (Appendix 5) letter to the client to
confirm they have accepted the property as discharge of duty
 Scan a copy of the signed letter to TRIM and attach to clients file
 Update V5 using Decision Reason code of DSDEPSOA on the Discharge Stage –
HAD and Allocations record

3.3.4 The client may request a review of the decision that the duty has ceased, after having accepted
the tenancy of a PRSO property. The review request is sent to the Service Development
Officer, and the review process followed as set out in sections 3.8 - 3.10.

3.4 Client refuses property

3.4.1 If the applicant refuses the offer the landlord must provide written confirmation of reasons
given. For ASRA offers, the reasons for refusal will be recorded on their viewing outcome
documents and returned to the Procurement Team

3.4.2 If the landlord refuses to house the client s/he should be asked to provide reasons in writing.
If the reason for rejecting the client is to do with their deliberate behaviour to prevent being
offered a tenancy, or a verbal rejection on their part, this must be recorded by the landlord
and considered as a reason for ending the duty.

3.4.3 The Procurement Officer will contact the applicant and ask them to reconsider their refusal
of the offer. The client will be advised that they can accept the tenancy and request a review
of the decision from the property. The client should be reminded that if they refuse the offer
and do not take the tenancy pending review:

 There is no duty to provide temporary accommodation within the review period

 If the applicant's review is unsuccessful, the local authority is under no obligation to
offer further accommodation to the applicant

3.4.4 The Procurement Officer must record all discussions with the client on HAD.

3.4.5 The client might decide:

 To refuse the offer of an AST for the property and remain in temporary
accommodation
 To accept an offer of an AST for the property, but request a review of the suitability
of the property as an S193 offer to end the homelessness duty

3.4.6 The client should be asked to confirm their refusal or review request in writing. If the PRSO

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 landlord is ASRA or another RP landlord, they will complete the refusal form indicating
reasons for refusal by client. For other landlord PRSO’s the TAO will ask the client to
provide written reasons for refusal in writing or by email. If the client refuses to submit a
written reason for refusal, the Procurement Officer should record the reasons given verbally
on HAD.

3.4.7 The client and/or landlord reasons for refusing the PRSO must be considered by the Senior
Procurement Officer or Temporary Accommodation and Procurement Service Manager.
Where necessary these managers may consult with TAT and HOSS managers whether the
offer was reasonable, taking into account the reasons for refusal provided by the client.

3.5 Withdrawal of Refused Offer

3.5.1 If the private rented sector offer (PRSO) is withdrawn in light of any new information, or
because the landlord rejected the client through no fault on the part of the client, the
Procurement Officer will:

 Advise the client of the outcome by phone and email/letter

 Update the HAD system
 Look for alternative properties to offer to the client

3.6 Ending the Homelessness Duty and Review Process

3.6.1 If the offer is still considered suitable, and the client has refused it, the HOSO or HOSS
Senior will send RBG Duty Ceased Refusal of PRSO letter (Appendix 6) to client to inform
them that the Council’s duty has ended. The officer should also update the Discharge Stage
on the V5 application to reflect that the duty has ended using reason code DSDEPSOR. The
letter advises of the right of review, if requested within 21 days. The client may request a
review of the suitability of the offer and of the decision that the homelessness duty has
ended.

3.6.2 The client has 21 days in which to request a review of the decision. They can make this on
either or both of two grounds:

 The Council’s decision to Discharge of Duty

 Suitability of accommodation

3.6.3 The request for review and completed refusal form should be:

 Sent to the HOSS Service Development Officer

 Recorded on V5 (RUA REVIEW UNDER ASSESSMENT OR RUAT REVIEW
UNDER ASSESSMENT WITH T/A. The question ‘Under which decision stage was
the review made?’ should be answered DISCHIN DISCHARGE OF DUTY)
 Scanned to TRIM and assigned to clients file.

3.6.4 If the request is received outside of the 21 days, the Service Development Officer should
follow the policy for dealing with out of time requests in the Statutory Homeless Reviews
procedure.

3.7 Accommodation pending review

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(Follow the Statutory Homeless Review procedure)

3.7.1 Where the client has refused an offer to discharge the duty and is seeking temporary
accommodation (TA) pending review, the HOSS and TAT managers will consider whether
TA should be provided. In doing this, they will take into account the persons circumstances,
and may take advice from the Review Officer on the merit of the review request.

3.7.2 The client can move into the PRSO property whilst the request for review is being
progressed. If the client is already residing in the DOD property, they can remain in the
property, whilst the review is being progressed, unless any mitigating circumstances make
this inappropriate.

3.8 Outcome of the Review

3.8.1 Once the review is completed a decision, this will be issued through a ‘Section 202 Review
of PRSO Decision Letter’. The Service Development Officer will:

 Send the Decision Letter to the client

 Inform the HOSS, TAT and Procurement Team
 Update HAD
 Record decision outcome on V5
 Scan Section 202 to TRIM and assigned to client’s file

3.9 Decision upheld

3.9.1 If the client has moved into the property that has been offered as PRSO, the Section 202 letter
will confirm that the homeless duty has now ended, as a suitable offer of accommodation
has been made. The client will be advised that they may remain in the accommodation under
the terms of the tenancy agreement.

3.9.2 If the client has not moved into the property that has been offered as PRSO, the Section 202
letter will confirm that the homeless duty has now ended and no further offers will be made.

3.9.3 The TAT Officer will:

 Issue notification to end any temporary accommodation placement following TA
Eviction Process
 Make a referrals to Children’s Services – where the household contains children
 Notify Allocations to update the Housing Register, if applicable
 Update HAD and close the case
 Ensure all letters sent are signed by Officer, scanned to TRIM and added to clients
file
 If interim accommodation has been provided, notify the landlord of the date of last
night.

3.10 Outcome of Review overturns the original decision:

3.10.1 The HOSS Manager will decide if a further PRSO should be made, depending on the
findings of the review and any other relevant considerations.

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3.10.2 If the client has not moved into the property and is in TA, the TAO will notify the client that
they may remain in TA until a further offer is made (subject to usual tenancy requirements
regarding rent and breach of conditions etc.)

3.10.3 If the client has moved into the PRSO property pending review, the Procurement Officer will
notify them that a further PRSO will be made.

3.10.4 In the event that the client is made a further offer before their AST of the unsuitable property
ends, the Procurement Team will negotiate with the landlord to release them from the
tenancy and will ensure that they do not suffer financial loss due to the tenancy being ended
prematurely.

4. Related documents
 Private Sector Leasing policy and procedures (Housing Procurement)
 Statutory Homelessness Reviews Procedure
 Emergency Accommodation – Securing accommodation, and Allocation of EOA