Homelessness

Eligibility decision not discrimination or disproportionate

20 April 2016

The UK Supreme Court recently considered issues around eligibility of certain foreign nationals for certain benefits and housing assistance.

In Samin v Westminster City Council [2016] UKSC 1 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal which sought to incorporate a proportionality requirement into the statutory test for eligibility, and to argue that the test itself was discriminatory under EU law.

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Minority Groups, Homelessness, Case law, Legal

Response to Housing Executive Rural Housing Policy Proposals

Consultation Response

March 2016

Housing Rights has recently responded to a Housing Executive consultation on their draft Rural Policy Proposals.

Housing Rights welcomes the Executive’s ongoing acknowledgement of the need for specific policies on rural housing, and supports the overarching vision of the proposals: ‘Housing Services working in partnership to enable and support vibrant, shared and sustainable rural communities and provide economic, social and environmental benefits in rural areas.’ Comments were offered on several specific elements of the proposals:

Policy Briefing on Rural Communities.pdf

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Homelessness, Equality, Affordability

Changes to Support for Mortgage Interest: The Impact in Northern Ireland

9 March 2016

Support for Mortgage Interest (‘SMI’) is a payment available to people receiving Income Support; income-based Jobseekers’ Allowance; income-based Employment & Support Allowance; and Pension Credit. These payments are vital in allowing low-income households to maintain their mortgage repayments and sustain their homes.

The next few years will see several changes to the SMI scheme, specifically:

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Benefits, Repossession, Homelessness, Legal

NIHE and Women’s Aid joint working protocol

23 February 2016

The Housing Executive an Women’s Aid have developed a joint working protocol with the aim of promoting and enhancing the safety of those who have experienced domestic and/or sexual violence and abused through increased awareness, collaborative working and effective and efficient referral.

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Homelessness

Concerns about youth homelessness in England

17 December 2015

Research published by Homeless Link, an umbrella organisation for homeless charities in England, shows that the proposal to remove automatic entitlement to housing benefit from 18 to 21 year olds could have a devastating impact on vulnerable young people.

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Outside NI, Homelessness

Finding a home for James

30 November 2015

James is 20 years old and a very vulnerable young adult. He spent time in care growing up, and has struggled with mental health issues in his life.

James had a tenancy with a housing association, but unfortunately experienced intimidation, threats and antisocial behavior at the property. He became frightened to stay there and ended up staying with his Aunt, where he felt safe.

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Social Tenancies, Homelessness

Court of Appeal rules that all benefit income to be included when assessing affordability

30 November 2015

Carmel Ferguson, Housing Rights solicitor, looks at the case of Samuels v Birmingham City Council, in which a homeless applicant challenged the local authority's decision that she was intentionally homeless because she had been evicted from a previous property due to rent arrears. The original decision maker had felt that Ms Samuels's rent was affordable when compared with her income.

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Benefits, Homelessness, Case law, Legal

Adviser: Young people and homelessness

30 November 2015

Our Community Housing Advice Partnership recently received a call from a support worker at MACS. MACS is an organisation that helps young people who haven't had a fair deal. This particular call from MACS was about Paul, a vulnerable 20 year old who currently had nowhere permanent to live.

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Social Tenancies, Homelessness, Adviser

Adviser: Domestic abuse and homelessness

3 November 2015

A few months back we received a call from a very distressed young woman. Louise had been assaulted by her partner. She was 12 weeks pregnant at the time of the assault.