Residential discretion showing extreme need

Summary

The requester asked for statistical data on 'residential discretion showing extreme need' authorisations by housing authorities from January 2020, broken down by location, time, and nationality. The Department of Infrastructure responded by sending guidance notes on the policy and process for residency waivers rather than the specific statistical tables requested.

Key Facts

• The response provided 'Guidance notes on the consideration of residency discretion for access to a public sector housing waiting list' (Version 2.0).
• The guidance applies to general public sector housing and Older Persons (Sheltered) Housing owned by the Department or Local Authorities.
• Standard Island residency requirements are 10 years, which can be waived under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.
• Waivers are intended for extreme and urgent cases, such as insanitary conditions, overcrowding, or court possession orders.
• The Department recommends independent assessment by the Priority for Housing Need Panel for residency waivers.

Data Disclosed

• 10 year Island residency
• Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976
• Schedule 3, Paragraph 1A
• Schedule 3 Paragraph 2
• 03/05/2022
• 13/03/2025
• V1.0
• V2.0
• January 2020

Original Request

Please how many 'residential discretion showing extreme need' authorisations/provisions were made by local authorities and councils that have social housing stock (this includes the Department of Infrastructure). Please list by local authority/council/parish commissioners holding housing stock, and please list by year and month starting at January 2020 (total per month and total per year). Please also tally in separate columns next to each month by nationality. My thanks for your time.

Data Tables (1)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

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Guidance notes on the consideration of
residency discretion for access to a
public sector housing waiting list (General and Older Person’s Housing Stock)

Originally filed: Approved by: Gary Kermode, Director of Public Estates & Housing Date 03/05/2022

Revision History: No Date Author Amendment V1.0 03/05/2022 Carrie Yates N/A - 1st version V2.0 13/03/2025 Rachel Smith Appeals process rewritten to reflect Allocations guidance Appendix A - minor correction to Applicant’s circumstances wording (2nd circumstance) and updated return address Appendix B – minor update to reflect new appeals process and updated return address

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Table of Contents Page

1. INTRODUCTION

Purpose 3 Scope of Guidance
3 Legislative framework & background
3

1. OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE

Grounds for reconsidering a waiver of residency requirements 4 Assessment by the Priority for Housing Need Panel 4 Making the Decision
4 Years of Island Residency 5 Notifying the Department
5

1. APPEALS

How an applicant can appeal a decision 5 Appeal against the Department of Infrastructure’s decision 7 Appeal against a Local Authority/OPH provider decision 7 Appeals form 7 Final decision 7

1. APPENDICES

Appendix A: Notification of Residency Waiver
8 Appendix B: Appeal form
10

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1. INTRODUCTION

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to give guidance to public sector housing providers on the sufficient reasons upon which a decision may be made to allow an applicant onto a housing waiting list before their 10 year Island residency has been completed.
Scope of Guidance

To ensure that a fair process is applied to all applicants, the Guidance will clarify:

1) The definition of what criteria can be considered to qualify for reconsideration of Island residency
2) Assessing the needs of the applicant 3) Decision making process and notifying the Department
4) The appeals process

The Guidance will be reviewed and updated accordingly upon the introduction of any relevant new policy and/or legislation and best practice guidance.

This Guidance applies to all general public sector housing owned and provided by the Department or a Local Authority and to Older Persons (Sheltered) Housing. Those to whom the Guidance applies to will be referred to as ‘housing providers’ throughout this Guidance.

Legislative framework and background

Housing providers apply common access and allocation criteria under the provisions of Schedule 3, Paragraph 1A of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (“the Act”).

(1) The Department may adopt an all-Island policy for the allocation of housing by the
Department and local authorities.
(2) Before adopting such a policy the Department shall consult all the local authorities that would be affected by it.
(3) Such a policy shall not come into operation unless it has been approved by Tynwald. (4) Once such a policy has been adopted local authorities shall comply with it.

Under Schedule 3 Paragraph 2 of the Act, covering Island residency requirements for applicants:

The Department or, as the case may be, the local authority may, where it is satisfied that

(a) the applicant or his family are living in insanitary or overcrowded conditions, or both; or (b) the court has made an order for possession in respect of the existing housing accommodation of the applicant or of that of his family; or

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(c) for any other reasons which appear to the Department or, as the case may be, to the local authority to be sufficient

reduce the period of ten years mentioned in paragraph 1.

1. OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE

Grounds for reconsidering a waiver of residency requirements

A Housing provider can consider allowing an applicant onto their waiting list before the 10 years of Island residency criteria has been met in cases where:

• The applicant and their household are living in unsanitary and/or overcrowded conditions
• The Courts have made an order of possession in respect of the applicant’s existing accommodation
• Any other reasons that the housing provider believes to be sufficient

It is important that the residency waiver is applied to only the most extreme and urgent
housing need cases to prevent access to public sector housing without the acceptable
residency requirement becoming commonplace.

Assessment by the Priority for Housing Need panel

Whilst the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 allows for a public sector housing provider to waive the residency requirements for any reason they believe to be sufficient, the Department strongly recommends that the application is independently assessed by the Priority for Housing Need Panel to support the housing provider’s decision to apply residency discretion.

The Priority for Housing Need Multi-Disciplinary Panel is facilitated by the Department and is a multi-agency panel of health and welfare professionals and Environmental Health officers set up to review the needs of housing applicants with extenuating circumstances and to ascertain the level of priority that should be given to those applicants. It is important to note that the Priority for Housing Needs Panel does not express a view or make a decision about whether or not an applicant should be allowed onto a housing waiting list and will only assess their need for housing.

Making the Decision

It is acknowledged that the housing waiting list application approval process varies across
housing providers, for example some may consider an application via their Board or
Committee whilst other providers consider applications at officer level.

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To ensure consistency when considering residency discretion all housing providers must:

• Have verifiable evidence of an extreme housing need that is likely to receive support from the Priority for Housing Needs Panel;
• Be able to prove that fair treatment and consistent application of the residency discretion is applied
• Explain the decision making process to the applicant
• Confirm its decision in writing to the applicant
• Make the applicant aware of the appeals process

Years of Island Residency

This Guidance document does not give indication of the maximum or minimum years of
Island residency that an applicant must complete before residency discretion can be applied.
This is because the Housing Provider is required to make this decision based on the needs of
the applicant.

Notifying the Department

The Local Government Act 1985 requires local authorities to send the Department
relevant reports and returns in respect of the performance of its functions. The provision
of housing is a fundamental function and as such, housing providers are required to notify
the Department of any decision made relating to residency discretion.

The Housing Provider must complete and return the Notification of Residency Waiver form
(Appendix A) regarding any decision to approve or reject an applicant access onto their
Housing Waiting List who does not meet the residency eligibility criteria.

The Department has a responsibility to monitor the allocation of affordable housing and
the information gathered by way of this notification will be used to maintain accurate records
of the Island wide statistics for the number of applicants housed under the residency discretion
element of the housing allocations policy and will assist with the formulation of
future housing policy.

1. APPEALS

How an applicant can appeal a decision

An applicant has the right to appeal a housing provider’s decision made about access to the Housing Waiting List via that provider’s relevant appeals process. The legislative framework
for this is detailed as follows:

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The Tynwald approved Public Sector Housing (General Needs) (Allocation) Policy 2019, Section 5:

5 Review of, and appeal against, decisions made by the Department

(1) This paragraph applies to any decision (“the relevant decision”) made by the Department as to

(a) whether or not an applicant is to be accepted for inclusion on the Department’s housing waiting list;

(b) the number of points which an applicant has in accordance with Part 2 of the Schedule; or

(c) whether or not an applicant is selected for allocation of a property.

(2) If the applicant is dissatisfied with the relevant decision, the applicant may request the Department, in writing, to review that decision.

(3) A request for a review must –
a) State the grounds on which the review is requested; and b) Be made in writing within one month of the date of notification of the relevant decision.

(4) The Department must – a) Review the relevant decision in a timely manner; and b) Notify the applicant of the outcome of that review.

(5) Any decision made by the Department following the review is final.

And the Tynwald approved Public Sector Housing (General Needs) (Allocation) Policy 2019, Section 6:

6 Review of, and appeal against, decisions made by a local authority

(1) This paragraph applies to any decision (“the relevant decision”) made by a local authority as to —

(a) whether or not the applicant is to be accepted for inclusion on that local authority’s housing waiting list;

(b) the number of points which an applicant has in accordance with Part 2 of the Schedule; or

(c) whether or not an applicant is selected for allocation of a property

(2) If the applicant is dissatisfied with the relevant decision, the applicant may request the local authority, in writing, to review that decision.

(3) If, on review the relevant decision is upheld, the applicant may appeal against the relevant decision, in writing, to the Department.

(4) Any decision of the Department on such an appeal is final.

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Section 6 of the equivalent older person’s allocation policy mirrors Section 6 of the general needs allocations policy in the extract above. (Public Sector Housing (Older Persons) (Allocation) Policy 2019.

Appeal made by a HWL applicant against the Department’s decision

If an applicant to the DOI’s housing waiting list is unhappy about the outcome of a decision
made by officers of DOI Public Estates and Housing Division, they may appeal in writing to
the Head of Housing Operations in the first instance who will review the applicant’s case.

If the officers’ decision is upheld by the Head of Housing Operations, the applicant may then
escalate their appeal in writing to the Director of Public Estates and Housing Division.

Appeal made against a Local Authority’s/OPH provider’s decision

If an applicant to a Local Authority or Older Person’s housing provider is unhappy about the
outcome of a decision, the applicant must first appeal in writing to the housing provider they
applied to for the decision to be reviewed.

If the housing provider upholds the decision, the applicant may escalate their appeal in
writing to the Director of Public Estates and Housing. The Director will review the applicant’s
case and will liaise with the relevant housing provider if required.

Appeals Form

The Appeals Form (Appendix B) may be used by the applicant when escalating their appeal
to the Department to assist them with providing any relevant information.

Final decision

The Director’s appeal decision is final and must be upheld by both the housing provider and
the housing waiting list applicant.

1. APPENDICES

Appendix A: Notification of Residency Waiver
Appendix B: Appeal form

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Appendix A

Notification of Residency Waiver

This form must be completed by any Public Sector Housing provider that has made an assessment of an applicant onto their Housing Waiting List that has not completed 10 years of residency on the Isle of Man.

The form should be completed in full and submitted to the Housing Business Support Team of the Public Estates and Housing Division, Department of Infrastructure.

Name of Housing Provider

Housing Provider’s applicant reference (Applicant’s name not required)

Please indicate the outcome of the decision made by the housing provider

Approved Rejected If the application was rejected, has the applicant has been referred to the Appeals process?

Yes No

Please indicate at what level the decision was made.

Committee Board Other If ‘other’ indicated above, please provide details

Applicant’s circumstances

Please indicate under which of the following conditions the applicant has applied for a reduction of the 10 year residency requirement:

1) The applicant or their family are living in insanitary or overcrowded conditions

2) The court has made an order for possession in respect of the existing
accommodation of the applicant or of that of the applicant’s family

3) Any other reasons which appear to the Housing Provider to be sufficient

Please provide details of the reason, continuing
on a separate sheet if
necessary

Continued overleaf…

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Priority for Housing Need Panel

Did you submit the case for independent assessment by the Priority for Housing Need Panel?

Yes No

If ‘yes’ please indicate date the case was reviewed by the Panel and the number of points awarded

Date reviewed by Panel Additional points awarded

If ‘no’ please provide the reason why it was not submitted for review by the Panel

Details of person submitting this form

Name

Position

Contact Details

Date

Please send the completed form to:

Department of Infrastructure Public Estates and Housing Division Housing Business Support Team
2nd Floor Markwell House Market Street Douglas IM1 2RZ

Or via email to: Housing@gov.im

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Appendix B

Appeal Form – Housing Waiting List Application Refused Please complete this form if you wish to make an appeal against a public sector housing or
older person’s housing’s decision to refuse your application to their housing waiting list. Please complete in BLOCK CAPITALS and return the completed form to

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