Locational Need - ALL0140A

A Locational Needs Assessment is applied to priority approved applicants who request housing in areas of high demand with limited housing options.

Priority approved applicants include:

• Priority Housing applicants
• Priority Transfer applicants
• Special Assistance Subsidy applicants
• Emergency Temporary Assistance applicants.

A Locational Needs Test will be applied to tenants being moved under the Relocating Tenants for Management Purposes policy:

• when seeking relocation to high demand areas
• unless they already reside in the same high demand area that they seek relocation within

A Locational Needs Test will be applied to tenants approved for Priority Transfer when they:

• request a designated high demand allocation zone other than the zone they currently live in
• currently live in high demand zone and request a specific suburb in that zone, or
• request a specific suburb within an allocation zone

The Locational Needs Assessment does not apply to:

• Wait-Turn Housing applicants
• Wait-Turn Transfer applicants
• Priority Transfer applicants moving within the same zone
• Elderly applicants over 80 years
• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander applicants over 55 years

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Priority approved applicants who request housing in high demand areas must undergo a Locational Need Assessment. This is a separate assessment process from the one used to determine the applicant’s priority status. The Locational Need Assessment is solely used to determine the applicant’s need to be housed in a high demand area.

To be eligible for housing in a high demand area the applicant, or a member of their household, must have:

• an ongoing medical condition, or
• a disability, and
• a need to access services at least once a week on an ongoing basis in the requested area.

Where an applicant does not demonstrate that they have a locational need they must choose a different allocation zone. If an alternative zone is not selected, Housing NSW will allocate the applicant a zone with the shortest waiting time that meets their urgent housing needs. Priority Housing approval will be withdrawn if an applicant does not meet locational need and refuses to accept an alternative zone.

The applicant will only be made two offers of housing. If the applicant rejects two reasonable offers, Housing NSW will consider that the applicant’s housing need is not urgent and their name will be removed from the Housing or Transfer Registers.

For more information on this policy, look in Entitlement, Background and the Business Rules.

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Entitlement

Applicants can expect that Housing NSW will:

• Explain the criteria that apply to high demand allocation zones
• Outline which allocation zones are high demand
• Explain the information and documentation needed to support their request
• Give careful consideration to all information provided by the applicant when determining their locational need
• Assist applicants in identifying appropriate allocation zones
• Give clear reasons in writing as to why their request to live in a high demand area was unsuccessful and advise applicants of their right to appeal.

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Background

There are a number of reasons why an applicant may need to live in a high demand zone. Due to the demand for housing in certain areas and limited supply options, not everyone who wants to live in a high demand zone can be housed in their preferred area.

Applicants approved for Priority Housing and Priority Transfer have demonstrated that they require urgent housing ahead of other people on the Housing and Transfer Registers. Their need for secure, affordable housing in the shortest possible waiting time represents their primary need. Their need for a particular area represents a secondary need that should not take precedence over their urgent need for housing. The exception to this exists where an applicant can demonstrate that living in a high demand zone is necessary for their physical or mental health.

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Business Rules

The process for assessing locational need involves the following steps:

• Ensuring the applicant’s need to live in a high demand zone relates to essential aspects of their daily life and that this need is likely to be present for the medium to long term
• Determining whether the need can be met in an alternative zone
• Determining the applicant’s ability to travel to required services if housed in an alternative zone
  Determining the potential impact on the applicant’s ability to sustain a tenancy if this need is not met.

Locational Need

To be eligible for consideration of locational need an applicant, or a member of their household, has to require ongoing access to services and supports that are necessary to their physical or mental health due to the following circumstances:

• Ongoing medical condition
• Disability.

The assessment process for locational need involves the identification of specific ‘needs based factors’ that are used to determine an applicant’s need to live in a particular location.

Needs based factors include:

• need to access health services more than once a week on an ongoing basis
• need to access support services more than once a week on an ongoing basis
• need to access social supports more than once a week on an ongoing basis
• need to access employment more than once a week on an ongoing basis
• need to access special schools for more than 1 year from the date the applicant was first approved for Priority Housing

NSW Housing and Human Services Accord

Some Accord partnerships have geographical requirements or restrictions which have been agreed to through an Operating Agreement or other approved Accord Agreement (such as a Memorandum of Understanding).

Agreements should clearly outline any specific locational areas and list the public housing allocation zones where clients are required to be housed, this negates the need for a further locational needs assessment.

If there are no specific geographical requirements/restrictions outlined in the Operating Agreement, and an Accord client wishes to be housed in a high demand area, a locational needs assessment as per normal procedure may need to be undertaken to substantiate the client's housing need.

Refer to NSW Housing and Human Services Accord for further information about the Accord.

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In addition, the applicant must be able to demonstrate all four of the following:

• Their need is significant and ongoing (in other words, it is essential to daily aspects of life for several years)
• They are unable to meet the need in any other zone
• They are unable to travel to locations where the need could be met (including reasons such as lack of transport, costs of transport, mobility and living skills issues)
• Meeting the need is essential to the their, or a member of their household’s, physical or mental health.

Any priority approved Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander applicant who has an affinity with a particular area satisfies locational need. In this case, affinity with an area is demonstrated by applicant’s kinship group residing in the requested area or the area is the traditional homeland of their tribe.

Priority approved applicants who satisfy the Locational Needs Assessment for a high demand allocation zone will be listed for that zone.

Priority approved applicants who do not satisfy the Locational Needs Assessment for a high demand zone will not be listed for that zone and must select an alternative zone suitable for their needs. If the applicant considers that their need to live in a particular location is greater than their need for urgent housing, they may apply for Wait-Turn Housing or Wait-Turn Transfer in their preferred allocation zone.

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Ongoing medical condition or disability

A person is considered to have an ongoing medical condition or disability if their ability to function is impaired or they have a medical condition that:

• Is due to an intellectual, psychiatric, sensory or physical condition or combination of conditions
• Is permanent or likely to be permanent, and
• Results in:
  • A substantially reduced capacity of the person for communication, learning or mobility
  • The need for ongoing support services, or
  • An inability to obtain housing from the private rental market.

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An ongoing medical condition or a disability may interfere with a person’s capacity to undertake everyday tasks. The applicant may need to access a range of services and supports that they would have difficulty travelling to because of their particular medical condition or disability. Depending on their individual circumstances and requirements an applicant may need to live in close proximity to one or more of the following:

• Culturally appropriate services
• Disability support services
• Home support services
• Mental Health services
• Social supports
• Employment
• Special schools for children with an intellectual, psychiatric or physical disability
• Hospital specialising in the treatment of a particular medical condition or disability
• Specialist who has continuously treated the applicant’s condition or disability.

An applicant with an ongoing medical condition or disability may have lived in the requested area for at least ten years and developed an extensive range of social and support networks. In this situation, locational need is demonstrated by the applicant’s affinity with the area.

The applicant must show that the requested area will have a direct benefit in terms of the health or wellbeing of themselves or other members of their household. For example, the applicant may need to be closer to essential medical services because of decreased mobility or may need to be close to employment because they have difficulty negotiating public transport.

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As part of the assessment process Housing NSW will consider:

• The severity of the person’s medical condition or disability
• Whether the medical condition is permanent or likely to be permanent
• The mobility of the person affected
• What living skills the person has
• The impact of an alternative location on the person’s health or wellbeing
• How often the person needs to visit medical services or specialists
• Type of care or support received from family or friends
• If, and how easily, the person can travel to these services and supports
• If, and how easily, these services can be accessed in other areas.

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For more information see the Medical and Disability Glossary.

Supporting documentation

An applicant must provide adequate evidence to support their request to live in a high demand zone. The documentation will vary according to the nature of the applicant’s disability or medical condition, but can be provided by one or more of the following:

• A specialist or a general practitioner
• A health worker such as a community nurse, occupational therapist or physiotherapist
• A psychiatrist or mental health worker
• Support organisations such as the Home Care Service, Home Nursing Service, Aged Assessment Team, Community Centre or Neighbourhood Centre
• Family and friends who provide care

Letters or reports from health professionals and support services should include:

• Length of time the applicant has been utilising the service or receiving treatment from a specific doctor, support agency, health service or hospital
• How often the applicant utilises these services
• How long will the applicant need to continue to access these services
• Possible impact on applicant if they were required to access similar services in an alternative area.

Support letters from family or friends should include:

• Contact details
• Description of the type of care or support provided
• Length of time the care or support has been provided
  Frequency of care or support
• Length of time family member or friend has been continuously living in the area.

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Number of Offers

Priority Housing and Priority Transfer applicants will receive two reasonable offers of accommodation. If the applicant rejects two reasonable offers, including those made under the nomination rules (that is, offers made by public housing, a community housing provider, or a combination of both) their application will be removed from the Housing and Transfer Registers. See the policy on Offering a Property to a Client.

Tenants who are being relocated for management purposes will usually receive two offers of alternate accommodation, though in some circumstances only one offer will be made. For more information see the Relocating Tenants for Management Purposes policy.

Appealing Decisions or Actions

If a client disagrees with a decision Housing NSW has made, they should first discuss their concerns with a Client Service Officer. The next step if they still believe we made the wrong decision is to ask for a formal review of the decision.

Appeals cannot relate to a decision by Housing NSW to decline to house an applicant in a specific property or transfer a tenant to a specific property.

For information on how reviews work, the client can ask the Client Service Officer for a copy of the fact sheet ‘Reviewing Decisions’ (PDF file, 397KB), and refer to the policy Appeals and Review of Decisions.

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