Greater clarity for citizens following updates to UK Government guidance on homelessness support 

The guidance is issued to local authorities from MHCLG about how to assess whether citizens with rights under the Agreements can receive homelessness support.

MHCLG’ s guidance to local authorities was amended following the SSWP v AT ruling at the Court of Appeal which said EU citizens with Pre-Settled Status facing destitution could rely on the Charter of Fundamental Rights (the Charter).

The IMA’s believes that the Charter also means that EU nationals and their family members with pre-settled status should be assessed for homelessness support despite being excluded, due to their status.

The IMA has raised several concerns with the MHCLG about their guidance including that it did not address the rights of third country nationals who are family members of eligible citizens as being within Charter protection. A third country national is a national of any country other than an EU country or Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway.

The IMA feared that this potentially vulnerable group of citizens could be at risk of destitution as a result of not being able to access the assessment for support which they were entitled.

After the IMA raised their concerns that family members had not been included as having Charter protection, the MHCLG has amended their guidance, so they are included.

We are working to understand how the guidance will be implemented by local authorities, and we will continue to work with MHCLG to ensure the judgment is implemented correctly.

Chief Executive of the IMA Miranda Biddle said: “We are pleased that the MHCLG have taken action to update their guidance.

“We hope these changes will make a difference to those third country national family members of citizens who may find themselves needing support to avoid destitution.

“The IMA will continue to work with public authorities, including the MHCLG, to ensure eligible citizens can continue to live, work, study and raise their families in the UK, as they did before Brexit.”

The IMA encourages any citizens who have experienced issues with accessing homelessness support or have experienced issues with homelessness assistance to contact us through our online complaints portal.

We understand that you may not want to submit a formal complaint about your experiences to public authorities in the UK and Gibraltar. If you’d like to quickly tell us something you think we should know about, without sharing your personal details, you can tell us here.

There are also a number of organisations who may be able to offer advice and support to citizens who need it, you can find more information and links on our  website here.