Housing allocations policy - Applicants who need to move on medical or welfare grounds including grounds relating to a disability

Applicants awarded Medical Priority include people who need to move on medical grounds because of their disability or access needs and includes people with a mental disability as well as those with a physical disability. It may apply to the applicant or a member of their household. The assessment for this priority will not be of the applicant’s health but how their accommodation affects their health, for example they may require a wet room or single level ground floor accommodation.

Circumstances when reasonable preference will be awarded on medical or disability grounds

Applicants whose housing is unsuitable for medical reasons or due to a disability but who are not housebound, or whose health or safety is not at such a risk level to require immediate urgent re-housing will be awarded reasonable preference and placed into Priority Band B. For all cases evidence will be required from a relevant medical professional and must be of their professional opinion. The following are examples that may qualify for the reasonable preference priority: 

1. Children with severe neurological conditions where their long-term needs cannot be met without alternative suitable settled accommodation.
2. A person whose disability means that re-housing would enable them to overcome physical barriers created by their current accommodation.
3. A person with a long-term medical debilitating condition whose current accommodation is having a significant impact on their condition and where their quality of life would be improved by moving to alternative settled accommodation which may or may not be closer to support.

Circumstances when additional preference (Band A) will be awarded - medical or disability grounds

Additional preference will be awarded to an applicant who has an extremely urgent and immediate need to move for medical reasons or due to a disability which is being exacerbated by their current housing situation. An officer (who may be an Occupational Therapist if required) from the Council will make the assessment according to clear criteria. Evidence will be required from a relevant medical professional and must be of their professional opinion. The following are examples of cases that may qualify for additional preference: 

1. Where there is an immediate life-threatening condition which is seriously affected by the current housing and where re-housing would make it significantly easier to manage
2. Where the applicant or household member has a terminal illness, and requires rehousing to facilitate the on-going provision of care; 
3. Where the applicant or household member has a life limiting condition where the current accommodation is affecting the occupant’s ability to retain independence or enable adequate care; 
4. Where the applicant or household member has a worsening or lifechanging condition that severely impairs their mobility, meaning they are unable to carry out day-to-day activities and are unable to access facilities inside and outside of their accommodation and requires rehousing into accommodation suitable for their use; 
5. Where their current property leaves a person at risk of infection, e.g. where an applicant is suffering from late-stage or advanced HIV infection 
6. Where the applicant or household member has a Care Plan but cannot be discharged from hospital, a rehabilitation unit or residential care until a suitable adapted property is provided. Where no immediate accommodation is available households will be advised and supported to present to the Housing and Welfare Team.
7. Where the applicant or household member, due to long term limited mobility is unable to access essential parts of the property (e.g. bathroom/toilet) and where no alternative measures can be put in place to address the situation and therefore the applicant or household requires rehousing into accommodation suitable for their use. 
8. Where the applicant or household member has a severe health or disability condition and where the property significantly affects their normal day to day activities and which puts them at risk of admission to hospital or residential care. 
9. Where the applicant or household member requires significant disabled adaptations to meet their needs and this is not possible in their current accommodation or would not be cost effective.
10. Where the applicant or household member is elderly or disabled or has a progressive illness and is likely to require admission to hospital or residential/nursing care in the immediate future and re-housing would enable the person to remain at home.

Circumstances when reasonable preference will be awarded on welfare grounds 

The Council has identified some circumstances where the provision of alternative accommodation is required due to the social and welfare needs of the household. The following persons will qualify.

A – Persons moving from supported or refuge accommodation

Residents of listed supported or refuge accommodation schemes who have been placed into the said scheme either by the Council or where the scheme is contracted by the Council will be placed into Priority Band B. A designated list will be maintained of the accommodation provision to which this category of priority applies. Households can register when they move into the supported or refuge accommodation but under this priority will only be considered for a nomination when the following conditions have been met: 

• a) The applicant has had an appropriate assessment of housing need 
• b) Where needed the applicant has engaged with the supported or refuge housing scheme to acquire the skills needed to live independently 
• c) The supported or refuge housing scheme provides evidence by way of a move-on report outlining the applicant’s readiness for move-on, i.e. clarifying that they are ‘tenant ready’. 
• d) The applicant’s readiness for move-on is verified by an officer of the Council 

Households who qualify as above and agree to move from the supported housing scheme to other interim accommodation (in agreement with the Council) and thereby free up accommodation in the said supported housing scheme will be entitled to retain their banding priority and registration date for up to 12 months after their move away from the said scheme.

B – Care Leavers not supported by Walsall Children’s Services

Care Leavers aged under 25 who meet the definition of a Care Leaver and who are not supported by Walsall Children’s Services and who meet the wider qualification requirements of this policy will qualify for Band C.

Circumstances when additional preference will be awarded on welfare grounds 

A – Households who need to move on account of domestic abuse, extreme violence or extreme harassment

Applicants who need to urgently move due to domestic abuse, extreme violence or extreme harassment will be awarded additional preference. This includes hate crime, disability, racial, homophobic or transgender related harassment and will be awarded for circumstances where there is a high risk to the person or their household’s safety were they to remain in the property/area and they therefore require an immediate move. Persons who are a witness giving evidence and where the police have recommended that the person be urgently re-housed will also be awarded additional preference. 

The risk assessment will be made by the Council and will be based on evidence provided by both the household and other appropriate statutory and voluntary agencies. This could include the Police, Social Services, referrals by 22 multi-agency risk assessment conferences, domestic violence organisations and lesbian and gay support groups. Where applicable a DASH assessment will be undertaken and, in these circumstances, a ‘high risk’ assessment will normally be required to qualify for this priority. Normally households who qualify under this priority will not be placed within 3 miles of either their current property or any perpetrator.

B – Foster carers and/or those approved by the Council to adopt

Additional preference will be given to children and their families/carers where the children are the subject of care proceedings and where the local authority has requested assistance with the provision of appropriate housing in the exercise of their functions under Section 27 of the Children Act 1989 and the Council’s corporate parenting responsibilities. 

Additional preference will be given to potential foster carers who need to move to a home with more bedrooms and who have completed the Skills to Foster Training and have been recommended by the Council to become Foster Carers. 

Additional preference will be given to households requiring additional bedrooms and holding a Special Guardianship Order, holders of a Child Arrangement Order or family and friend’s carers who have taken on the care of a child because the parents are unable to provide care, and the child/children concerned is/are waiting to move to live with these carers pending the provision of appropriate housing. 

Additional preference will also be considered for existing foster carers requiring additional bedrooms and who are willing to either expand the number of children living with them or if they experience an increase in household number brought about by a change in family circumstances, e.g. an elderly relative joins the household for care and support reasons. 

C - Armed forces personnel in urgent housing need 

The Housing Act 1996 (Additional Preference for Armed Forces) (England) Regulations 2012 provide that local housing authorities must frame their allocation scheme to give additional preference to the following persons if they fall within one or more of the statutory reasonable preference categories and are in urgent housing need: 

• a) Former members of the Regular Armed Forces 
• b) Serving members of the Regular Armed Forces who are suffering from a serious injury, illness or disability (including a relevant mental health condition) which is wholly or partly attributable to their service. 
• c) Serving or former members of the Reserve Armed Forces who are suffering from a serious injury, illness or disability (including a relevant mental health condition) which is wholly or partly attributable to their service. 
• d) Bereaved spouses or civil partners of those serving in the Regular Forces where 
  • (i) the bereaved spouse or civil partner has recently ceased, or will cease, to be entitled to reside in Ministry of Defence accommodation following the death of their Service spouse or civil partner, and 
  • (ii) the death was wholly or partly attributable to their service. For the purposes above, the terms ‘regular forces’ and ‘reserve forces’ are defined by section 374 of the Armed Forces Act 2006. 

D – Care Leavers 

Young people in care, ready to move out of care and referred by Walsall’s Children’s Services will be placed into Priority Band A on condition that the following criteria as assessed by their Personal Advisor in the WCS are met: 

• a) They are ready to move to independent settled housing. 
• b) They possess the life skills for independent living and to manage a tenancy including management of a rent account. 
• c) A support package has been assessed and is in place if necessary. 

All Care Leavers aged under 25 outside of the above cohort who are supported by Walsall Children’s Services and who meet the wider requirements of this policy will also qualify for Band A subject to the wider conditions set out in this policy. 

In recognition of the additional challenges faced by care experienced young people, and the corporate parenting duties which fall upon the Customer Engagement directorate, consideration should be given to certain key factors in advance of any offer of a tenancy being made. It is therefore good practice for Allocations Officers to liaise with the young person and their allocated Personal Advisor ahead of a formal offer to ensure that the property meets the young person’s needs and does not increase risk to the young person or otherwise jeopardise their successful transition to independence. Therefore, officers involved with supporting care experienced young people to secure a tenancy should, in advance of any offer being made, take account of: 

• the need to maintain supportive relationships for the young person
• the importance of ease of access to education, employment and training
• the need to be aware of risks around exploitation and avoidance of areas where this could pose an additional risk to the young person
• any additional needs or diagnoses and the ability for the young person to access universal services to support these needs to be met
• the preference to secure a home near to an area that the young person has a connection and history of residing in during their time in care