105.This section inserts section 76C into the 2014 Act. Section 76C imposes a duty on a local housing authority to keep in touch with certain applicants during a specified period after the duty under section 75 of the 2014 Act has been discharged in particular circumstances.
106.Section 76C(1) provides the duty will apply where an applicant was owed a duty under section 75 of the 2014 Act, which ended in circumstances described in section 76(7A) of the 2014 Act, and they do not fall within subsection (2) (of section 76C of the 2014 Act). Under section 76(7A) of the 2014 Act (inserted by section 7(3) of the Act) the local housing authority can end the duty under section 75 if the applicant is no longer homeless and suitable accommodation (excluding offers of social housing allocation or private rented sector offers) is likely to be available for at least 12 months. The applicant must have been given notice in writing of the possible consequences of agreeing to the duty in section 75 coming to an end and must agree to the duty in section 75 coming to an end.
107.Under section 76C(2) the duty in section 76C(1) is not owed if, at the beginning of the “relevant period”, the local housing authority owes the applicant a duty under section 76A(2) of the 2014 Act (inserted by section 17 of the Act), or the local housing authority is required to carry out an assessment under section 62 of the 2014 Act (as amended by the Act) for the applicant at any time during the relevant period, or has already done so before the relevant period begins.
108.Section 76C(3) provides that, where the duty applies, a local housing authority must take reasonable steps to contact an applicant, regardless of whether they have been accommodated within their area or not, within the relevant period, in order to identify whether an applicant is at risk of becoming homeless or threatened with homelessness or is or may be homeless or threatened with homelessness.
109.Section 76C(4) provides that, where a local housing authority considers the applicant is or may be homeless or threatened with homelessness (or at risk of becoming either), it must give the applicant such information and advice as it considers appropriate.
110.Section 76C(5) provides that the “relevant period” for these purposes is a period of 2 months after the end of the period of 5 months that begins on the day that the applicant is notified that the section 75 duty that was owed them was brought to an end.
Commentary on Sections Part 1 - Homelessness Section 18: Duty to contact certain applicants after duty in section 75 comes to an end