Housing Justice - 30 years of homelessness legislation

November 2007 saw the 30th anniversary of the passing of the 1977 Housing (Homeless Persons) Act. This groundbreaking Act for the first time put a duty on local authorities to house homeless families and others judged to be in priority need. The Act still remains unique in the world in offering a legally enforceable right to accommodation for homeless people.

Image of 1977 Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977

The Act was introduced following a campaign by a coalition of charities including Housing Justice’s predecessor CHAS. Prior to 1977 homeless people were eligible to apply to their local council welfare departments for temporary help in the event of emergencies such as flooding but there was no right to long term rehousing.

Local authority housing departments were concerned with the bricks and mortar of housing rather than housing homeless people – housing waiting lists could not cope with those in immediate need and it was felt that council housing should be available for those who were prepared to wait their turn rather than those in greatest need.

The homelessness campaigners wanted the government to acknowledge that it had a role in dealing with the estimated three million people who were suffering in inadequate housing –many in slum like conditions- caused mainly by structural rather than personal factors.

During the course of the bill’s passage through Parliament objections were made to granting a general right to rehousing and so in compromise the proposals restricted the right to those deemed most deserving – families with children and vulnerable adults were to receive priority in the allocation of homes. A requirement was also inserted for the homelessness to have occurred ‘unintentionally’ – ie the person had not brought the situation on themselves.

As it was the Act explicitly excluded rough sleepers – the people who the general public most readily identify as homeless people. The campaigners believed that once passed the legislation could be extended to further groups, as was originally proposed, to create a safety net for everyone facing homelessness. However it was not to be as soon afterwards political priorities changed and the new Thatcher government was not keen to extend the Act.

Today the 1977 Act still stands at the heart of homelessness policy. It has proved controversial at times – the needs based approach to housing introduced by the Act has created resentment in times of housing shortage and there is still an underlying concern about ‘undeserving’ homeless people.

The Act has also created two categories of homelessness – those who qualify for rehousing under the terms of the legislation ‘the statutory homeless’ and those such as single people and couples without children who do not. It is only in recent years that local authorities have made efforts to identify, count and provide services for this group on a systematic basis. The total number of ‘non-statutory homeless’ people is still not measured by the government.

The rights given under the homelessness legislation has been tested legally many times and substantial caselaw has developed over who is entitled to rehousing. Subsequent homelessness acts have altered the groups considered to be in priority need, first of all removing and in recent years increasing entitlement to rehousing and there are still variations between local authorities in its application but the fundamental right to rehousing given by the 1977 Act still remains for those who are in priority need and unintentionally homeless.

Scotland builds on Act to provide universal safetynet
The Homelessness (Scotland) Act was introduced by the Scottish Government in 2003 to build on the UK-wide 1977 legislation. It set out a timetable whereby the groups of people considered to be in priority need will increase each year until 2012 when all homeless people will be considered to be in priority need and therefore eligible for rehousing.

Local authorities will also no longer have to determine that a person is unintentionally homeless for them to be eligible for rehousing.

When fully implemented this legislation will go a long way towards to creating the safety net for all homeless people anticipated by the campaigners behind the 1977 Act.

Full text of 1977 Act>>