2324-0360 Specialist Medical Advice for Housing Applications

The council has a statutory duty under the Housing Act 1996, the Homelessness Act 2002, and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 to provide services to residents of Islington based on housing need. An accurate assessment of circumstances ensures that the council fulfils its statutory obligations in assessing housing need, prevents legal challenges, enables the council to direct resources to those households where the council has a statutory duty to re-house them and ensures that limited resources are directed at those households with the greatest need. Applicants applying to the council’s Housing Register, or to the council as homeless, may have medical circumstances that give a household greater priority for re-housing, or create a statutory duty to re-house a family under homelessness legislation. Therefore, part of the housing needs assessment includes an assessment of any medical circumstances and the relevance to the applicants’ housing needs. Assessments/advice are made by an appropriately qualified provider with an in-depth knowledge of the Housing Act 1996 and related legislation and the council’s Housing Allocation Scheme. This requires a practitioner with specialist knowledge of health conditions (physical and mental health conditions), housing legislation, and the council’s Housing Allocation Scheme. The duration will be thirty-six (36) months from an estimated start date of 8 July 2024 with an option to extend for up to a further twelve (12) months (maximum contract period forty-eight (48) months).