In April 2018 the Homelessness Reduction Act came into force in England.
The legislation states that from October 2018 specified public authorities are required to notify the local authority of service users they consider may be currently homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days.
The duty to refer only applies to public authorities in England and individuals can only be referred to housing authorities in England.
The public services included in the duty to refer are as follows:
- prisons
- youth offender institutions
- secure training centres
- secure colleges
- youth offending teams
- probation services (including rehabilitation companies)
- Jobcentre Plus
- Social Service authorities
- emergency Departments
- urgent treatment centres
- hospitals in their function of providing inpatient care.
Making a referral
If you are a public authority that is subject to the duty to refer, then please follow the link below in order to make a referral of a service user that you consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness.
You must have consent for the referral, allow the client to identify the local housing authority in England that they would like the notification to be made and have consent from the client that their contact details can be supplied, so the local housing authority can contact them regarding the referral.
live.housingjigsaw.co.uk/alert/duty-to-refer
Contact the Housing Options Team
Email; housingoptions@scarborough.gov.uk
Email; dutytorefer@scarborough.gov.uk
Tel; 01723 232323
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Housing Options Leaflet | 135.27 KB |
| Housing Options Team Service Standards.pdf | 248.82 KB |
| Useful Organisations | 504.8 KB |