In order for a household to qualify for social housing support, a housing authority must carry out an assessment to establish whether the household meets specified eligibility requirements and has a housing need.
Regulation 22(1) of the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 provides that a household with alternative accommodation that would meet its housing need is ineligible for social housing support. Paragraph (2) of the Regulation clarifies that paragraph (1) does not operate to exclude from eligibility for social housing support an applicant who owns accommodation that is occupied by his or her spouse, from whom he or she is formally separated or divorced. Under the enactment, a deed of separation is sufficient to set aside this ineligibility ground and it is not necessary to await judicial separation or divorce to get a decision on social housing support in these cases.
The Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 also provide that a household who qualifies for social housing support may be determined to be in need of housing if it has a mortgage that is deemed to be unsustainable under the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process.
The relevant legislation operates satisfactorily in most cases. Nonetheless, in the context of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which is currently in preparation, I am considering whether legislative change is warranted to deal with exceptional cases that can present difficulties under the current arrangements.
