# Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Act 2026, Paragraph 1: Housing Act 1996 (c. 52)

Extent: E+W
Status: prospective

(1) The Housing Act 1996 is amended as follows.
(2) In section 160(4) (cases to which provisions about allocation do not apply)—
(a) the words “in such other cases as the Secretary of State may prescribe by regulations.” become paragraph (a);
(b) at the beginning of paragraph (a) insert “in relation to England,”;
(c) after paragraph (a), insert—
“(b) in relation to Wales, in such other cases as the Welsh Ministers may prescribe by regulations.”
(3) In section 160A (allocation to eligible persons: Wales)—
(a) in subsection (3), for “Secretary of State” substitute “Welsh Ministers”;
(b) in subsection (5), for “Secretary of State” substitute “Welsh Ministers”.
(4) In section 167 (allocation in accordance with allocation scheme: Wales)—
(a) in subsection (2), in paragraph (b) omit “, 73”;
(b) in subsection (3), for “Secretary of State” substitute “Welsh Ministers”;
(c) in subsection (4), for “Secretary of State” substitute “Welsh Ministers”;
(d) in subsection (5), for “Secretary of State” substitute “Welsh Ministers”.
(5) In section 169 (guidance)—
(a) in subsection (1) after “local housing authorities” insert “in England”;
(b) after subsection (1) insert—
“(1A) In the exercise of their functions under this Part, local housing authorities in Wales shall have regard to such guidance as may from time to time be given by the Welsh Ministers.”;
(c) in subsection (2), after “Secretary of State” insert “and the Welsh Ministers”;
(d) in the heading, after “Secretary of State” insert “and the Welsh Ministers”.
(6) In section 172 (regulations)—
(a) in subsection (1), after “Regulations” insert “made by the Secretary of State”;
(b) after subsection (1) insert—
“(1A) Regulations made by the Welsh Ministers under this Part shall be made by Welsh statutory instrument.”;
(c) in subsection (2)—
(i) omit “or 167(3)”;
(ii) after “allocating housing accommodation” insert “in England”;
(d) after subsection (2) insert—
“(2A) Regulations made under section 160B(3) (circumstances in which the duty in section 160B(2) does not apply), section 160D(1) (common housing register), section 160E(2) (accessible housing register) or section 167(3) (regulations amending provisions about priorities in allocating housing accommodation in Wales) are subject to the Senedd approval procedure.”;
(e) in subsection (3), after “regulations” insert “made by the Secretary of State”;
(f) after subsection (3) insert—
“(3A) Any other regulations made by the Welsh Ministers under this Part are subject to the Senedd annulment procedure.”;
(g) in subsection (4), after “Secretary of State” insert “or the Welsh Ministers (as the case may be)”.
(7) In section 174 (index of defined expressions), in the appropriate place, insert—
“
common housing register
section 160B
”

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asc/2026/3/schedule/paragraph/1 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/homelessness-and-social-housing-allocation-wales-act-2026/schedule/paragraph-1
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.