David Mackintosh – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his Department’s definition is of a homeless person.

Mr Marcus Jones

The legal definition of homelessness is set out in Section 175 of the Housing Act 1996. Broadly speaking, somebody is statutorily homeless if they do not have accommodation that they have a legal right to occupy, which is accessible and physically available to them (and their household) and which it would be reasonable for them to continue to live in. It would not be reasonable for someone to continue to live in their home, for example, if that was likely to lead to violence against them (or a member of their family).