Homelessness Duties: Relief, Main Duty, and Reviews

The prevention duty was introduced by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and represents a significant expansion of councils' obligations. It applies when you are threatened with homelessness within 56 days — meaning you have a valid reason to believe you will become homeless within 8 weeks.

Common situations triggering the prevention duty include:

• You have received a valid Section 21 notice (no-fault eviction notice) from your landlord with less than 56 days to run
• You have received a Section 8 possession notice and proceedings are imminent
• Your home is being repossessed by a mortgage lender and a possession date has been set
• You have been asked to leave by family or friends within 56 days

Under the prevention duty, the council must carry out a personalised housing assessment and draw up a Personal Housing Plan (PHP) — a document that sets out the steps both you and the council will take to prevent homelessness. The council must take reasonable steps to prevent you becoming homeless during the 56-day period.

What counts as "reasonable steps" depends on your circumstances but can include: helping you to negotiate with your landlord, providing housing advice, assisting with rent arrears, referring you to a debt adviser, helping you apply for housing benefit, or providing a guarantee letter to a potential new landlord. The prevention duty applies to all eligible applicants — you do not need to be in priority need to receive prevention duty assistance.

If the prevention duty does not succeed and you become homeless — or if you are already homeless when you apply — the council owes you the relief duty. Like the prevention duty, the relief duty lasts for 56 days and applies to all eligible applicants regardless of priority need.

Under the relief duty, the council must take reasonable steps to secure accommodation for you. This is a more active duty than prevention — rather than helping you stay where you are, the council must actively try to find you somewhere to live. During the relief duty period, the council should:

• Review and update your Personal Housing Plan
• Actively refer you to available accommodation options (private rented, social housing, supported accommodation)
• Consider whether you need temporary accommodation while more permanent housing is secured
• Provide practical assistance with finding and securing a tenancy

If you have priority need, the council has an additional obligation during the relief duty period to provide you with interim accommodation while reasonable steps are being taken. This means that priority need applicants should not be sleeping rough while the relief duty is running — the council must house them in temporary accommodation.

At the end of the 56-day relief duty, if the council has not secured settled accommodation for you, it must make a decision about whether you qualify for the main housing duty (if you have priority need and are not intentionally homeless and are eligible).

The main housing duty (under Section 193 of the Housing Act 1996) is the most comprehensive duty a council can owe to a homeless applicant. It requires the council to secure settled accommodation for the applicant until a suitable offer from the housing register (social housing waiting list) is accepted. This duty only arises where the applicant is:

1. Eligible for assistance (most UK and EEA nationals are eligible; eligibility is limited for some migrants)
2. Homeless (including being threatened with homelessness, having been through the relief duty)
3. In priority need
4. Not intentionally homeless

Priority need categories include:

• Pregnant women
• Households with dependent children
• People who are vulnerable due to old age, physical or mental illness, disability, or other special reason
• People who are homeless as a result of a flood, fire, or other disaster
• Care leavers aged 18–20
• Victims of domestic abuse
• People fleeing violence or threats of violence
• Former prisoners in certain circumstances

Intentional homelessness arises where the applicant deliberately did or failed to do something that caused them to lose accommodation that it would have been reasonable for them to continue to occupy. Examples can include: deliberately not paying rent when the means were available, voluntarily giving up suitable housing without good reason, or being evicted for serious antisocial behaviour. If the council finds you intentionally homeless, you do not qualify for the main duty even if you are in priority need.

If you disagree with a council's homelessness decision, you have statutory rights to challenge it. The two-stage process is:

Stage 1 — Section 202 Review:

You can request a formal review of most homelessness decisions under Section 202 of the Housing Act 1996. You must request the review within 21 days of being notified of the decision. Key decisions that can be reviewed include:

• A finding that you are not eligible for assistance
• A finding that you are not homeless or not threatened with homelessness
• A finding that you are not in priority need
• A finding that you are intentionally homeless
• A decision that a particular property offer is suitable
• A decision to end the main housing duty

The review must be carried out by a different officer to the one who made the original decision. The council has 8 weeks to complete the review (or longer if you agree in writing). You can make written representations — and in some cases attend a hearing — as part of the review.

Stage 2 — Section 204 County Court Appeal:

If the Section 202 review upholds the original decision (or fails to decide within the time limit), you can appeal to the County Court under Section 204. This appeal is on a point of law only — you cannot ask the court to substitute its view on facts for the council's view. You must lodge the appeal within 21 days of the review decision. Given the complexity of these appeals, legal representation from a housing solicitor or specialist legal aid service is strongly recommended.