Strategic context
Relevant legislation
The duties of local housing authorities to provide assistance to people who are threatened with homelessness or are already homeless, are set out in Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996, as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002 and the Homelessness (Priority Need for Accommodation) (England) Order 2002.
The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 introduced new duties around preventing and relieving homelessness. This included extending the period within which an applicant is considered to be threatened with homelessness from 28 days to 56 days, and new requirements around the provision of advice. The prevention duty, in particular, is provided regardless of local connection, priority need and homeless intentionality.
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 amends Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 to strengthen the support available to victims of domestic abuse. The Act extends priority need to all eligible victims of domestic abuse who are homeless as a result of being a victim of domestic abuse.
When exercising their functions under homelessness legislation, local housing authorities must have regard to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities.
Strategic documents
This strategy links to the Council’s various strategic, framework and policy documents.
Corporate Plan - sets out the strategic direction the Council will take in relation to its powers, functions and responsibilities. This includes a strategic aim to ‘facilitate quality, choice and diversity in the housing market, assist in meeting housing need in Dartford and deliver high quality service to service users’. This is supported by a strategic objective to ’enable the best use of housing to meet the needs of local people’. The Corporate Plan is currently being reviewed and updated.
Temporary Accommodation Strategy 2022-2024 - sets out the approach to procuring temporary accommodation now and in the future for homeless households, including the potential demand, the challenges in procuring accommodation and how existing options and schemes could be maximised to ensure that the service and provision of accommodation is future proofed.
Private Sector Housing Renewal Strategy 2022-2025 - sets out the approach for private sector housing renewal in the borough. This is relevant as we rely on the private rented sector as a housing solution for homeless households. The aims of the strategy are to enable residents to live in safe and healthy homes, and to decrease the numbers of households who are in fuel poverty and/or suffering from ‘excess cold’, and improve the overall energy efficiency of the private sector housing stock in Dartford.
Tenancy Strategy 2021 - sets out the matters to which registered providers of social housing (housing associations) should have regard to when formulating their policies for their own stock relating to the kinds of tenancies they grant. Where providers use fixed term tenancies, we encourage them to contact us when they decide not to renew a fixed term tenancy and the tenant has not found alternative accommodation, so that we can look at alternative housing solutions for their outgoing tenants.
Equality and Diversity Document Framework - sets out how we will meet the Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010. The Equality and Diversity Document Framework is currently being reviewed and updated. As covered later on, we have carried out an assessment in conjunction with the review of homelessness on the equality impact of our approach to prevent homelessness, to secure accommodation and to provide support.
Housing Allocations Policy - sets out the criteria and procedures used to prioritise applicants for housing owned by the Council and a proportion of homes owned by housing association partners in the borough. We allocate a proportion of social housing to homelessness applicants.
Homelessness Accommodation Policy - sets out the policy for the prioritisation of homeless households for accommodation according to its location. On account of the difficulties associated with securing good quality, affordable accommodation within our administrative boundaries, the purpose of this policy is to ensure that when faced with insufficient units of in-borough accommodation we prioritise those who have the greatest need to be accommodated within the borough.
Vulnerable Adults’ Housing Policy - sets out the approach to assist vulnerable adults to ensure they can access the services they need and receive support, where appropriate.
Safeguarding Policy - sets out how we safeguard and promote the welfare of children and adults at risk, who access our services by ensuring that all staff, Members, volunteers and contractors are aware of their responsibilities should a disclosure, allegation or concern of abuse or neglect arise.
Strategic partnerships
We have an established track record of strategic partnership working both locally and across Kent, and we are an active facilitator and member of various fora, whose aims and objectives amongst many are to address homelessness issues.
Dartford Homelessness Forum
Our Homelessness Forum was re-launched in December 2022 and is open to local stakeholder representatives from the statutory and the voluntary sectors. The aim of the forum is to actively engage partners in the homelessness review, the strategy development process and implementation, including the monitoring of performance.
Kent Housing Group
This is a forum for housing organisations in Kent and Medway. The group encourages best practice, identifying areas for joint working and agreeing positive outcomes for housing. The group has produced the Kent and Medway Housing Strategy 2020-2025 ‘A place people want to call home’, which sets out the strategic direction for housing in the county, to enable organisations to respond to frequently emerging housing issues.
Kent Housing Options sub group
This sub group of the Kent Housing Group aims to share best practice in terms of homelessness, housing options, allocations, lettings and service delivery. The group has developed various homeless-related joint working protocols to ensure a joined-up approach is taken.
North Kent Domestic Abuse Forum
This is an independent inter-agency partnership that brings together voluntary and statutory agencies, with the aim of strengthening partnership working, information sharing and coordinated service provision in response to domestic abuse. The Forum supports the Kent and Medway Domestic Abuse Strategy 2020-2023 and works to meet its aims.
Kent Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board
This Board takes a collective responsibility for ensuring that victims of domestic abuse have access to adequate and appropriate support within safe accommodation services across Kent. In doing so, the Board aims to improve outcomes for victims of domestic abuse, including their children, through a strategic approach to identifying need for and providing accommodation-based support services.