Allocations Scheme

Section 166A of the Housing Act 1996 requires every local housing authority in England to have a scheme, their allocation scheme, for determining priorities, and as to the procedure to be followed, in allocating housing accommodation. The scheme must include a statement of the authority's policy on offering applicants a choice of accommodation or the opportunity to express preferences, and it must be framed so as to secure that reasonable preference is given to defined categories, including people who are homeless within the meaning of Part 7 of the Act, people owed certain homelessness duties, people occupying insanitary or overcrowded housing or otherwise living in unsatisfactory conditions, people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds (including disability-related grounds), and people who need to move to a particular locality where failure to do so would cause hardship.

A local housing authority in England must not allocate housing accommodation except in accordance with their allocation scheme, and applicants have statutory rights under the scheme to request general information about how their application is likely to be treated, to be informed of decisions taken about the facts of their case, and to request a review of such decisions. Authorities must also have regard to their current homelessness strategy and tenancy strategy when preparing or modifying their scheme, and must consult private registered providers of social housing with which they have nomination arrangements before adopting a scheme or making a major policy change to it.