Purpose

The
Head of Strategic Housing in consultation with the Cabinet Member
for Housing was invited to approve minor operational amendments to
the Housing Allocation Scheme, pursuant to Delegation 7.e of the
Strategic Housing Executive Decision Making Sub-Delegation Scheme,
in response to the introduction of recent statutory
legislation.

The Government introduced new statutory legislation ‘The
Allocation of Housing (Qualification for Victims of Domestic Abuse
and Care Leavers) (England) Regulations 2025’ which came into
force in July 2025 and amends the qualifying persons criteria for
local authorities housing registers.

The new legislation ensures that local connection criteria does not
apply to people assessed as fleeing domestic abuse and to an
‘eligible child, a relevant child or a former relevant
child’ [young person owed leaving care duties] from another
area. Councils can still retain discretion over allocations and
relative priority between applicants based on housing need in their
areas.

As a result of the legislation two minor operational amendments to
the Housing Allocation Scheme are now required to ensure legal
compliance with this new regulation. Failure to make these changes
would result in the Council operating an unlawful scheme and
subject to legal challenge and judicial review.

Content

The
Head of Strategic Housing following consultation with the Cabinet
Member for Housing approved with immediate effect the following
minor amendments to the Housing Allocation Scheme:

Amend the second from last bullet point in 2.4.2.1 to “An
applicant who would otherwise qualify for the housing register
having escaped domestic abuse from outside the
borough”.

Amend the last bullet point in 2.4.2.1 to “A young person who
is owed leaving care duties under the Children’s Act 1989.
Additional priority will be awarded to young people owed leaving
care duties by West Sussex County Council”.

Update the banding scheme to ensure West Sussex care leavers
continue to receive additional priority (Band A) and those from
outside the county placed into Band B.

Alternative options considered

No alternative options were considered as
implementation of the legislation is mandatory.