14Abolition of duty to maintain housing register
(1)Local housing authorities are no longer required to maintain a housing register and, accordingly, sections 161 to 165 of the 1996 Act (the housing register) shall cease to have effect.
(2)After section 160 of the 1996 Act (cases where provisions about allocations do not apply) there is inserted—
“Eligibility for allocation of housing accommodation
160AAllocation only to eligible persons
(1)A local housing authority shall not allocate housing accommodation—
(a)to a person from abroad who is ineligible for an allocation of housing accommodation by virtue of subsection (3) or (5);
(b)to a person who the authority have decided is to be treated as ineligible for such an allocation by virtue of subsection (7); or
(c)to two or more persons jointly if any of them is a person mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b).
(2)Except as provided by subsection (1), any person may be allocated housing accommodation by a local housing authority (whether on his application or otherwise).
(3)A person subject to immigration control within the meaning of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 (c. 49) is (subject to subsection (6)) ineligible for an allocation of housing accommodation by a local housing authority unless he is of a class prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State.
(4)No person who is excluded from entitlement to housing benefit by section 115 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (c. 33) (exclusion from benefits) shall be included in any class prescribed under subsection (3).
(5)The Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe other classes of persons from abroad who are (subject to subsection (6)) ineligible for an allocation of housing accommodation, either in relation to local housing authorities generally or any particular local housing authority.
(6)Nothing in subsection (3) or (5) affects the eligibility of a person who is already—
(a)a secure or introductory tenant;
(b)an assured tenant of housing accommodation allocated to him by a local housing authority.
(7)A local housing authority may decide that an applicant is to be treated as ineligible for an allocation of housing accommodation by them if they are satisfied that—
(a)he, or a member of his household, has been guilty of unacceptable behaviour serious enough to make him unsuitable to be a tenant of the authority; and
(b)in the circumstances at the time his application is considered, he is unsuitable to be a tenant of the authority by reason of that behaviour.
(8)The only behaviour which may be regarded by the authority as unacceptable for the purposes of subsection (7)(a) is—
(a)behaviour of the person concerned which would (if he were a secure tenant of the authority) entitle the authority to a possession order under section 84 of the Housing Act 1985 (c. 68) on any ground mentioned in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to that Act (other than ground 8); or
(b)behaviour of a member of his household which would (if he were a person residing with a secure tenant of the authority) entitle the authority to such a possession order.
(9)If a local housing authority decide that an applicant for housing accommodation—
(a)is ineligible for an allocation by them by virtue of subsection (3) or (5); or
(b)is to be treated as ineligible for such an allocation by virtue of subsection (7),
they shall notify the applicant of their decision and the grounds for it.
(10)That notice shall be given in writing and, if not received by the applicant, shall be treated as having been given if it is made available at the authority’s office for a reasonable period for collection by him or on his behalf.
(11)A person who is being treated by a local housing authority as ineligible by virtue of subsection (7) may (if he considers that he should no longer be treated as ineligible by the authority) make a fresh application to the authority for an allocation of housing accommodation by them.”
(3)Any person—
(a)who is on a housing register immediately before commencement; or
(b)whose application to be put on a housing register has not been determined before commencement,
shall be treated at commencement as a person who has applied to the authority concerned for an allocation of housing accommodation.
(4)In subsection (3) “commencement” means the commencement of this section.