Guidance

Pre-matching households to settled accommodation

Updated 5 September 2023

This guidance was withdrawn on 24 January 2024

This content has been archived as it is no longer relevant.

Background

Ending the use of bridging accommodation

On 24 April 2023 we wrote to all Afghan households in bridging accommodation to inform them of the UK government’s intention to end the use of bridging accommodation for people who have been legally resettled through our Afghan schemes.

The letter also advised that from 2 May 2023 the Home Office would implement a new matching process where households may receive only one allocation of appropriate settled accommodation from the Home Office, where this is available.

Home Office liaison officers began serving notices to quit on 29 April 2023 with guests having received their notice to quit by the end of May. Each household has been given at least 3 months’ notice to quit. The staggered approach of serving notices to quit means each bridging accommodation has different notice to quit end dates. Currently all notices to quit expire on or before 31 August 2023.

Moving households to settled accommodation

The Home Office appreciates the continued efforts local authorities and partners are providing in supporting Afghan households out of bridging and into settled accommodation before their notices to quit expire.

Due to the very limited settled accommodation available most households will not receive an offer of settled accommodation either through:

• the current one allocation matching process
• this new pre-matching process.

Households should continue to be encouraged and supported to find and secure their own accommodation in the private rental sector.

Why we’re introducing pre-matching

The Home Office expects a number of properties to become available by 31 December 2023 for resettled Afghan households who are currently living in bridging accommodation.

Therefore, we’re adding ‘pre-matching’ to the current matching process.

Pre-matching will allow the Home Office and local authorities to match households into settled accommodation that will be ready soon after the notice to quit expires.

Pre-matching allows local authorities to match households to settled accommodation that will be ready to move in:

• after their notice to quit expires
• by 31 December 2023

Pre-matching is only available to eligible households who remain accommodated in bridging accommodation – that is, until their notice to quit expires.

Pre-matching rules

One offer per household

Pre-matching does not change the current Home Office ‘one offer’ matching process. If a household receives a pre-matched offer of settled accommodation, it will count as their one and only accommodation offer.

If the offer is refused, there will be no further offers of accommodation made to them by the Home Office and households will be expected to make their own accommodation arrangements before their notice to quit expires.

Prioritising households

Local authorities are strongly encouraged to pre-match properties to Afghan households in line with the Managing vulnerable households guidance.

Explaining pre-matching to households

Local authorities and the Home Office must explain to households what it means to be pre-matched, namely:

• it is the household’s one and only offer of settled accommodation from the Home Office
• if they accept, it may require the household to move into different interim accommodation after their notice to quit expires and before their pre-matched property is ready
• the household will need to enter into a new excluded licence agreement for the interim accommodation
• the household may have to wait until 31 December 2023 from accepting their pre-matched settled accommodation to moving in
• if a pre-match offer is accepted, the Home Office will not make any further accommodation offers to them

Support for households

Local authorities must provide the associated 3-year integration support to households who they commit to resettling through pre-matching.

Eligibility

Only households who have been continuously living in bridging accommodation, as defined in the Bridging accommodation exit guidance, are eligible for pre-matching.

Pre-matching does not apply to households overseas who are yet to come to the UK.

Any household who has previously refused an offer of settled accommodation under the ‘one offer’ matching process is not eligible for pre-matching, Home Office interim accommodation or any other offer of accommodation. If a LA wants to match such a household into settled accommodation, it must be done outside the Home Office matching or pre-matching process.

Pre-matching and council homelessness responsibilities

If a council has accepted a homeless duty to a household that is eligible for Home Office interim accommodation, the council will remain responsible for delivering the duties required under Housing Act 1996 Part 7.

Home Office interim accommodation is provided as part of the pre-matching process and in line with that policy. It cannot be used as a form of temporary accommodation under a council’s homelessness responsibilities. If a council has accepted a homeless duty to a household that is eligible for Home Office interim accommodation, the council will remain responsible for delivering the duties required under Housing Act 1996 Part 7.

Timeframe

Where possible, local authorities should pre-match households at least 15 working days before their notice to quit expires. These timeframes are consistent with the current matching process, where:

• local authorities have 5 working days to respond to the Home Office’s referrals
• households have 5 working days to respond to the offer

The additional 5 working days will ensure that the Home Office can arrange interim accommodation for the time between notice to quit expiry and the pre-matched settled accommodation being ready to move into.

The deadline for submitting an offer of settled accommodation, including pre-matched offers of settled accommodation and pre-matching proformas is 12pm the day before the NTQ expires. Where the NTQ date falls on a weekend, the deadline is 12pm on the Thursday before the NTQ expires. These deadlines have been set to allow the households time to consider the offer and for the Home Office to arrange interim accommodation and transport.

The pre-matching process will be kept under review. Recognising the need for flexibility of approach and to manage exceptional cases outside of this process, timeframes may be shortened for local authorities to ensure pre-matching is completed before the notice to quit expiry date. We will take a pragmatic approach and exceptions may be made on a case by case basis.

Pre-matching process: step by step

Pre-matching can be done in 3 ways.

Strand 1: local authority identifies household and property

1. The local authority identifies a household for pre-matching from bridging accommodation in their area, or a household from a bridging hotel in another area, and has a property for them. The property will not be ready to move into before the notice to quit expires, but will be ready by 31 December 2023.

2. The local authority is responsible for ensuring the household is suitable for pre-matching to the property they have identified, and that the household has accepted the pre-matched accommodation, in principle, before referring them to the Home Office to serve official offer correspondence.

3. The local authority must submit a property offer form for the property, before the household’s notice to quit expires, in line with existing processes. The property offer form must specifically state that it is for pre-matching and include the household’s details and the date the accommodation will be ready for move-in and be fully completed for the household.

4. The Home Office matching team will check suitability before following the existing matching process (referral to local authority who are offering the property and then sending the household a formal offer of accommodation, giving them 5 working days to accept or reject the offer).

The offer letter will include the property address and date it will be ready to move into, as provided by the local authority in the property offer form.

5. If the household accepts the offer, they will be required to enter into an excluded licence agreement which will cover the period of time the Home Office will continue to accommodate them in interim accommodation until they can move into their settled property. To clarify, this period will not run beyond 31 December 2023.

If the household rejects the pre-matching offer, they will be required to leave the bridging accommodation on or before the day on which their notice to quit expires and will have to make their own accommodation arrangements.

Strand 2: local authority identifies household but no property

This type of pre-matching involves the LA identifying a household either from bridging accommodation in their area or another area, but they do not currently have a property for them. In this scenario, the LA is making a commitment to the household and the Home Office that they will secure settled accommodation for them in their local authority area before the end of December 2023. The LA who will be providing the settled accommodation and integration support must make the commitment and submit the pre-matching proforma.

1. This form of pre-matching must only be used if the local authority can commit to moving the household into settled accommodation by 31 December 2023.

The local authority is responsible for ensuring the household they are pre-matching is happy to proceed on this basis and accept the accommodation offer in their area, without having any property details, in principle, before referring them to the Home Office.

The local authority must manage the household’s expectations in relation to a property and ensure them that it will meet their needs because in this scenario, the households may not always know the details of the settled accommodation before agreeing to pre-matching.

2. The local authority must submit a pre-matching form to the Home Office matching team and local authority engagement team, informing them of the household they wish to provide settled accommodation to. The matching team will ensure that household is not offered any other settled accommodation through the Home Office matching process and will send the family a letter outlining the local authority’s commitment to finding them settled accommodation by 31 December 2023.

3. If the household accepts the provisional offer, they will be required to enter into an excluded licence agreement which will cover the period of time the Home Office will continue to accommodate them in interim accommodation until they can move into the settled accommodation. To clarify, this period will not run beyond 31 December 2023.

If households rejects pre-matching offers, they will be required to leave the bridging accommodation on or before the date on which their notice to quit expires and will have to make their own accommodation arrangements.

The local authority is making a commitment to the Home Office that they will have secured a property for the household that is ready to move into by 31 December 2023. When the local authority identifies a property (after the notice to quit but by 31 December 2023), they must submit a property offer form, including the details of the household it is for.

The local authority is responsible for ensuring the household they are pre-matching is suitable for the property they have identified before referring them to the Home Office. At the point at which the property offer form is submitted, it must be fully completed for the household.

The matching team will check suitability before following the existing matching process (referral to local authority who are offering the property and then sending the household a formal offer of accommodation, giving them 5 working days to accept or reject the offer).

Strand 3: local authority identifies property but no household

1. The local authority identifies a property they would like to offer to the Home Office to house resettled Afghan households. The property is not currently ready to move into, but the local authority confirms it will be by 31 December 2023.

2. The local authority must submit a property offer form for the property in line with current processes. We will take a pragmatic approach to timeframes and exceptions may be made on a case by case basis. The property offer form must state that it is for pre-matching and include the date it will be ready for move-in.

3. The Home Office matching team will identify a suitable household from bridging accommodation, where the notice to quit has not expired, in line with the Managing vulnerable households guidance.

4. Once a household has been identified, the matching team will check suitability before following the existing matching process (referral to local authority who are offering the property and then sending the household a formal offer of accommodation, giving them 5 working days to accept or reject the offer). The offer letter will include the date it is ready to move into as provided by the local authority in the property offer form.

5. If the household accepts the provisional offer, they will be required to enter into an excluded licence which will cover the period of time the Home Office will continue to accommodate them in interim accommodation until they can move into the settled accommodation. To clarify, this period will not run beyond 31 December 2023.

If a household rejects the pre-matching offer, they will be required to leave the bridging accommodation on or before the date on which their notice to quit expires and will have to make their own accommodation arrangements.

Interim accommodation for pre-matched households

When a household has been pre-matched, the Home Office will provide interim accommodation for the time between the household’s notice to quit ending and the settled property being ready to move into.

Households will be required to enter into an excluded licence agreement to occupy the interim accommodation which will cover the period of time the Home Office will continue to accommodate them in interim accommodation until they can move into their settled property. To clarify, this period will not run beyond 31 December 2023.

If a household accepts a pre-matched offer of accommodation from the Home Office but choose not to sign the excluded licence agreement required as a condition of occupation of Home Office provided interim accommodation, they will not be entitled to stay in that interim accommodation. The Home Office will not withdraw the offer of settled accommodation if the household choose to make their own arrangements for accommodation until their property is ready to move-in. However, the household will be required to leave their current bridging accommodation on the date set out in their NTQ. If the household move into alternative accommodation that has not been provided by the Home Office, the Home Office will maintain contact with the household via the email address they provided to their HOLO regarding their pre-matched accommodation and transport or move-in dates. Where local authorities have provided their own interim accommodation, we do encourage them to maintain contact with the household to discuss property offers and supporting them with responding to offers.

Interim accommodation may be the household’s current bridging accommodation, or it may involve moving them to different accommodation.

If there is any delay which means the pre-matched accommodation will no longer be ready to move into by 31 December 2023, households will not be allowed to remain in the interim accommodation beyond the expiry of the licence agreement. The local authority who made the initial offer of accommodation will be responsible for providing interim accommodation until the pre-matched property is ready.

If a household changes their mind

Should a household change their mind about accepting a pre-matched accommodation offer, the Home Office will not make another offer of settled accommodation.

The household will need to make their own accommodation arrangements either before their notice to quit expires or within the time specified in their excluded licence agreement (for interim accommodation).

If the pre-match was made by the Home Office, they may look to match the accommodation to another household in line with their priorities at the time. Alternatively, the local authority offering the property may be able to use it for another household (that is, a household that has entered the homelessness process).

If a household is made an offer of pre-matched accommodation that subsequently falls through, households will not be allowed to remain in the interim accommodation provided by the Home Office beyond the expiry of their excluded licence agreement. The household will be asked to leave.

In the event a pre-matched property offer falls through while the household are in interim accommodation, the council who offered the property is responsible for offering another suitable property for the household before the end of December 2023.

In the event another property cannot be found, or the household refuse an offer of accommodation, they will need to leave Home Office provided interim accommodation and make their own accommodation arrangements. This may include the household making a homelessness application to the relevant council themselves. If a council has accepted a homelessness duty to the household already then, they will be responsible for providing Temporary Accommodation in line with that duty.