The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 reformed England’s homelessness legislation. Part of this was the introduction of the duty to refer, requiring specified public authorities in England to notify local housing authorities (LHA’s) of service users who they think may be homeless or threatened with becoming homeless in 56 days.
The public authorities subject to the duty to refer are (in England only):
- prisons
- young offender institutions
- secure training centres
- secure colleges
- youth offending teams
- probation services (including community rehabilitation companies)
- Jobcentres in England
- social service authorities (both adult and children’s)
- emergency departments
- urgent treatment centres
- hospitals in their function of providing inpatient care
- Secretary of State for Defence in relation to members of the regular armed forces
The referring authority must have the service users consent, as well as asking which LHA they would like to be referred to.
Read more about the duty to refer on the government’s website and in our Duty to refer information (PDF, 278kb) leaflet.
How to make a referral
To make a referral, agencies and partners need to register with Housing Jigsaw. You only need to register once, then retain a copy of your user name and password for future referrals.