Housing Homeless Persons

The size of Britain's homeless population has risen considerably since the introduction of the Housing (Homeless) Persons Act 1977. Recently, the Government announced plans radically to reform the existing legislation, a recognition of the political sensitivity of homelessness and the need for a coherent policy to tackle the problem. Housing for the homeless is an issue which embraces housing, family and social security policy; it has also generated considerable interest for public lawyers, as the scope of discretionary powers provided by the Act has provoked a great deal of litigation in the High Court. This study presents detailed empirical information on the manner in which three local authorities implemented the homelessness legislation. It focuses in particular on the processes of administrative decision-making at the lowest level, and reveals that the law plays a very limited role in shaping administrative policy decisions. Placing law within a context of administrative action, the author illustrates how administrative law must be understood by reference to the complex institutional structures with which it is daily involved.

ISBN 0198258763   Pages 388 ISBN13 9780198258766 (What's this?)   Volumes 001 Publisher Oxford University Press   Weight (grammes) 612 Imprint Clarendon Press   Published in Oxford Format Hardback   Series editor Harris, Donald R., Atkinson, J. Maxwell, Atkinson, J. Maxwell Publication date 30 Mar 1995   Series title Oxford Socio-legal Studies Non-book description ix379   Height (mm) 216 Library of Congress KD1179.L68   Width (mm) 135 DEWEY 344.104636358   Spine width (mm) 28 DEWEY edition DC20   Academic level Undergraduate, Professional / Scholarly, Postgraduate

		Abbreviations
		Introduction		1
1		The 'Right' to Council Housing?		7
2		Homelessness in Britain: Historical Perspectives		39
3		The Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977		68
4		Eastern, Midland, and Western Councils		103
5		Doing the Job		127
6		Priority Need and Homelessness		157
7		Intentional Homelessness		193
8		Local Connection		222
9		Rehousing Homeless Persons		241
10		Legal Control of Administrative Discretion?		270
11		'Welfare Rights, Law, and Discretion' Revisited		303
		References		351
		Index		367

"In all...this is a valuable study of legal rights and their flawed realization for populations lacking significant resources, knowledge and skills."--Law and Politics Book Review

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