Dear Luke,

Thank you for your request below, dated 5 November 2023; we have treated this as a Freedom of Information request. You have asked for the following information; please see our responses below in blue –

Question 1 – main homeless duty 
   
1a) The number of households given a mandatory private rented sector offer to
discharge your full housing duty under Section 193 7AA-7AC 1996
Housing Act.
49  
1b) The number to 1a broken down for each local authority area into which
they were offered housing (eg. 5 to Luton).
   
Local Authority Number of units
Barnet 18
Bedfordshire 1
Ealing 2
Enfield 16
Grimsby 1
Haringey 4
Harrow 1
Hillingdon 1
Hounslow 1
Luton 1
Peterborough 2
Widnes 1
Grand Total 49
   
1c) The number of households of 1a who actually accepted the private sector
offer.  
44  
   
1d) The number to 1c broken down for each local authority area into which
they accepted the offer of housing (eg. 3 to Luton).
   
Local Authority Number of units
Barnet 17
Bedfordshire 1
Ealing 2
Enfield 14
Grimsby 1
Haringey 4
Harrow 1
Hounslow 1
Luton 1
Peterborough 1
Widnes 1
Grand Total 44
   
Question 2 – relief duty
   
2a) The number of households for whom you owed the homeless relief duty
 to and this was discharged through a mandatory “final offer” of a private rented sector tenancy (note: “final offer” is defined at s. 193A(4) Housing Act 1996)
329  
   
2b) The number to 2a broken down for each local authority area into which
they were offered housing (eg. 5 to Luton).

 

Local Authority Number of units
Barnet 174
Bedfordshire 4
Birmingham 2
Brent 11
Bromley 1
Cambridge 1
Camden 6
Chelsea 1
Cleveland 1
Croydon 3
Dacorum 1
Darlington 1
Durham 2
Ealing 2
Enfield 26
Fleetwood 1
Greenwich 1
Grimsby 2
Hackney 6
Haringey 13
Harlow 1
Harrow 11
Hartlepool 1
Havering 1
Hertsmere 9
Hillingdon 3
Hounslow 4
Islington 1
Kingston upon Thames 2
Leeds 8
Leicester 1
Lewisham 4
Luton 3
Manchester 2
Merton 2
Newham 2
Peterborough 1
Plymouth 1
Redbridge 1
Thurrock 3
Waltham Forest 1
Wandsworth 1
Watford 4
Welwyn Hatfield 1
Widnes 2
Grand Total 329

 

2c) The number of households of 2a who actually accepted the private sector
offer.
303
 
2d) The number to 2c broken down for each local authority area into which
they accepted the offer of housing (eg. 3 to Luton).

 

Local Authority Number of units
Barnet 168
Bedfordshire 1
Birmingham 2
Brent 10
Bromley 1
Cambridge 1
Camden 5
Croydon 3
Dacorum 1
Darlington 1
Durham 2
Ealing 2
Enfield 22
Fleetwood 1
Greenwich 1
Grimsby 1
Hackney 6
Haringey 13
Harlow 1
Harrow 10
Hartlepool 1
Havering 1
Hertsmere 9
Hillingdon 3
Hounslow 4
Islington 1
Kingston upon Thames 2
Leeds 4
Leicester 1
Lewisham 4
Luton 3
Manchester 1
Merton 2
Newham 1
Peterborough 1
Plymouth 1
Redbridge 1
Thurrock 3
Waltham Forest 1
Wandsworth 1
Watford 4
Welwyn Hatfield 1
Widnes 1
Grand Total 303

 

Question 3
 
If you make mandatory private rented sector offers to discharge your full housing duty or the relief duty, can I please have the guidance your housing officers follow when making these offers?
I can confirm that Barnet Homes does on occasion end the Main Homelessness duty and Relief duty using private rented accommodation. Officers use the following guidance when doing so:

Housing Act 1996
Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation (England ) Order 2012
Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
Localism Act 2011
Barnet Homes Allocations policy
Homelessness Code of Guidance
The Equality Act 2010

Question 4
 
Please confirm the exact dates the 12 months that the above information covers. For example, “the information provided is from 1st November 2022 to 31st October 2023”.
From 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023

Your Rights

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been handled, you can request a review by emailing Talk2Us@barnethomes.org and marking it as an appeal for the attention of the Data Controller. There is no charge for making an appeal.

After this, if you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner:

Kind regards,

Carly Williamson

Complaints and Information Manager