Public Policy: Using Market-Based Approaches - Department for ...

● Rent deposit guarantee by the local authority for private sector rental.
● Mutual exchange with another local authority or housing association tenant
wishing to be re-housed.
The operation of the social housing market is subject to various laws.
The Housing Act 1996
This confers on local authorities a statutory responsibility for developing,
maintaining and operating an allocation scheme showing reasonable preference
to those in housing need.
The Homelessness Act 2002
The Homelessness Act 2002 amended the Housing Act 1996 in the following
way:
● the number of reasonable preference categories was reduced, and the
categories themselves were changed, for example, to include the
intentionally homeless;
● local authorities were required to issue a statement and provide information
on their policy in relation to offering choice or giving preferences to
applicants;
● advertising schemes were conferred legislative authority;
● the requirement to keep a housing register was removed;
● applicants can now be excluded from applying to a local authority only for
reasons of prior unacceptable behaviour;
● local authorities were given the power to determine priorities between
reasonable and additional preference categories; and
● local authorities were given the power to determine whether certain
categories of applicants should be entitled to additional preference.
Introduction of market mechanism
PERCEIVED FAILING
Section 10 – Choice-Based Letting in Social Housing
Social rented housing in the UK was traditionally allocated by the relevant
landlord to households who had applied for housing, typically through the use
of a waiting list. Vacant properties were offered to the applicant considered in
greatest need, where need was expressed in points reflecting the unsuitability of
current housing circumstances and waiting time on the housing register.
The weighting assigned to different components of a household’s points score
was left to the discretion of landlords, subject to the requirement that they give
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