County court battles and judicial reviews could be on the cards for local authorities if they follow new government guidance to house lone mothers in supervised hostels rather than council homes.
The forthcoming guidance was announced by housing minister Hilary Armstrong this week as part of the Social Exclusion Unit's report on teenage pregnancies.
It is likely to give councils the power to exclude teenage mothers as a class from the register - as some councils have done with sex offenders or people with high rent arrears.
It could also allow councils to develop a system where teenage mums get far more points for choosing a place in a mother and baby unit than in council or private rented accommodation.
But housing lawyers have told Housing Today that hostels would not always pass the test of being legally suitable accommodation.
Barrister Caroline Hunter, a senior lecturer in housing law at Sheffield Hallam University, said: "You have to provide accommodation that is suitable to the applicant and it can't be that in all cases for single mothers a hostel is appropriate."
Specialist housing barrister Jan Luba said: "The inference is that young women choose to have a child to manipulate the housing system."
Paul Lautman, head of the housing section at the Local Government Association, said: "It would be a concern if people were required to go into a special type of accommodation at the expense of breaking community links. The hostel could be a long and difficult bus journey away."
Lautman said the plans could prove too costly and prescriptive for some areas. He said councils should be allowed to allocate accommodation as normal but with support mechanisms built in. The Chartered Institute of Housing said hostels were a good option providing there was no compulsion.
National Housing Federation policy officer Philippa O'Neill said the plans were welcome if appopriate move-on accommodation was provided and the government addressed uncertainty about housing benefit.
Housing associations are set to play a big part in the hostel plans. The Housing Corporation will be slicing up to £10m from its annual grant programme for bids to pilot different ways of providing what the report describes as "supervised semi-independent housing with support".
The Foyer Federation and Stonham HA, which are already involved in provision for young mothers, said they would welcome the chance to take part in the pilot scheme.
The SEU report adds that new local authority co-ordinators will ensure schemes link in with broader regeneration programmes such as the New Deal for Communities and the Single Regeneration Budget.
Source
Housing Today
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