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The Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

W.S.I. 2026/93 · Made 25 March 2026

Original text. legislation.gov.uk does not revise statutory instruments, so later amendments are not shown here. Changes made to it are listed under each provision when known.

housing, wales

Made 25 March 2026

Coming into force 30 March 2026

The Welsh Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 160A(3) and (5) and 172(4) of the Housing Act 1996f1 and section 142(2)(a) and (b) of, and paragraph 1(2) and (4) of Schedule 2 to, the Housing (Wales) Act 2014f2.

In accordance with the Senedd approval procedure applied by section 142(3)(b)(ii) of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014f3 a draft of this Welsh statutory instrument was laid before, and approved by resolution of, Senedd Cymru.

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

1996 c. 52. Section 160A was inserted by section 14(2) of the Homelessness Act 2002 (c. 7); subsections (3) and (5) were amended by section 146(2)(d) and (e) respectively of the Localism Act 2011 (c. 20). The functions of the Secretary of State under sections 160A(3) and (5) and 172(4) of the Housing Act 1996 were, so far as exercisable in relation to Wales, transferred to the National Assembly for Wales by article 2 of the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/672), and the entry in relation to that Act in Schedule 1 to S.I. 1999/672, as read in accordance with section 17(1) of the Homelessness Act 2002. Those functions were subsequently transferred to the Welsh Ministers by virtue of section 162(1) of, and paragraph 30 of Schedule 11 to, the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32).

f2

2014 anaw 7. See section 99 for the definition of “prescribed”.

f3

The reference in section 142(3) to the National Assembly for Wales now has effect as a reference to Senedd Cymru, by virtue of section 150A(2) of the Government of Wales Act 2006. See also section 37G of the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019 (anaw 4) for provision about the procedure that applies to this instrument.

Contents

  1. 1Title and coming into force
  2. 2Amendment of the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (Wales) Regulations 2014
  3. 3Regulation 3
  4. 4Regulation 4
  5. 5Regulation 5
  6. 6Regulation 6
  7. 7Regulation 7
  8. 8Expiry
  9. Signature
  10. Explanatory note

1Title and coming into force

The title of these Regulations is the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 and they come into force on 30 March 2026.

2Amendment of the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (Wales) Regulations 2014

The Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (Wales) Regulations 2014f1 are amended as follows.

3

In regulation 2(1) (interpretation), at the appropriate place in alphabetical order, insert—

  • ““the 2014 Act” (“Deddf 2014”) means the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 (anaw 7);”.

4

In regulation 3 (persons subject to immigration control who are eligible for an allocation of housing accommodation)—

(a)

omit the “and” after paragraph (q);

(b)

at the end of paragraph (r), for “.” substitute “; and”;

(c)

after paragraph (r) insert—

“(s)

Class S – a person who—

(i)

was residing in a country or territory and left that country or territory when His Majesty’s Government provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory or arranged an evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory,

(ii)

has leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom given in accordance with the Immigration Rulesf1,

(iii)

is not a person whose leave is subject to a condition requiring that person to maintain and accommodate themself, and any person who is dependent on that person, without recourse to public funds,

(iv)

is not a person (P)—

(aa)

who has been given leave upon an undertaking given by P’s sponsor,

(bb)

who has been resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland for less than five years beginning on the date of entry or the date on which P’s sponsor gave the undertaking in respect of P, whichever date is later, and

(cc)

whose sponsor or, where there is more than one sponsor, at least one of whose sponsors, is still alive, and

(v)

made an application for housing accommodation under Part 6 of the 1996 Actf2 within the period of 6 months beginning with the date on which His Majesty’s Government first provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory, or the first day of an evacuation operation by His Majesty’s Government of British nationals from that country or territory, whichever is later.”

5

In regulation 4(2) (persons not to be treated as persons from abroad who are ineligible for an allocation of housing accommodation)—

(a)

omit the “and” after sub-paragraph (l);

(b)

at the end of sub-paragraph (m), for “.” substitute “; and”;

(c)

after sub-paragraph (m) insert—

“(n)

a person who—

(i)

was residing in a country or territory and left that country or territory when His Majesty’s Government provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory or arranged an evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory, and

(ii)

made an application for housing accommodation under Part 6 of the 1996 Act within the period of 6 months beginning with the date on which His Majesty’s Government first provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory, or the first day of an evacuation operation by His Majesty’s Government of British nationals from that country or territory, whichever is later.”

6

In regulation 5(1) (persons subject to immigration control who are eligible for housing assistance)—

(a)

omit the “and” after sub-paragraph (r);

(b)

at the end of sub-paragraph (s), for “.” substitute “; and”;

(c)

after sub-paragraph (s) insert—

“(t)

Class T – a person who—

(i)

was residing in a country or territory and left that country or territory when His Majesty’s Government provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory or arranged an evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory,

(ii)

has leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom given in accordance with the Immigration Rules,

(iii)

is not a person whose leave is subject to a condition requiring that person to maintain and accommodate themself, and any person who is dependent on that person, without recourse to public funds,

(iv)

is not a person (P)—

(aa)

who has been given leave upon an undertaking given by P’s sponsor,

(bb)

who has been resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland for less than five years beginning on the date of entry or the date on which P’s sponsor gave the undertaking in respect of P, whichever date is the later, and

(cc)

whose sponsor or, where there is more than one sponsor, at least one of whose sponsors, is still alive, and

(v)

made an application for housing assistance under Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the 2014 Act within the period of 6 months beginning with the date on which His Majesty’s Government first provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory, or the first day of an evacuation operation by His Majesty’s Government of British nationals from that country or territory, whichever is later.”

7

In regulation 6(2) (persons not to be treated as persons from abroad who are ineligible for housing assistance)—

(a)

omit the “and” after sub-paragraph (l);

(b)

at the end of sub-paragraph (m), for “.” substitute “; and”;

(c)

after sub-paragraph (m) insert—

“(n)

a person who—

(i)

was residing in a country or territory and left that country or territory when His Majesty’s Government provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory or arranged an evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory, and

(ii)

made an application for housing assistance under Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the 2014 Act within the period of 6 months beginning with the date on which His Majesty’s Government first provided public information to advise British nationals to leave that country or territory, or the first day of an evacuation operation by His Majesty’s Government of British nationals from that country or territory, whichever is later.”

8Expiry

(1)

The amendments made by regulations 3 to 7 cease to have effect on 30 March 2027.

(2)

Paragraph (1) does not have effect in relation to an applicant who made an application before 30 March 2027 for—

(a)

housing accommodation under Part 6 of the Housing Act 1996, or

(b)

housing assistance under Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.

Signature

Jayne Bryant

Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, one of the Welsh Ministers

25 March 2026

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Under section 160A(3) of the Housing Act 1996 (c. 52) (“the 1996 Act”), a person who is subject to immigration control is ineligible for an allocation of housing accommodation by a local housing authority unless they come within a class of persons prescribed in regulations made by the Welsh Ministers. Under section 160A(5) the Welsh Ministers may prescribe other classes of persons from abroad who, whilst not subject to immigration control, are ineligible for an allocation of housing accommodation.

Under paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 2 to the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 (anaw 7) (“the 2014 Act”), a person who is subject to immigration control is ineligible for housing assistance under Chapter 2 of Part 2 of that Act unless they come within a class of persons prescribed in regulations made by the Welsh Ministers (or the Secretary of State). Under paragraph 1(4) the Welsh Ministers (or the Secretary of State) may by regulations provide for other descriptions of persons who, whilst not subject to immigration control, are ineligible for housing assistance.

These Regulations amend the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (Wales) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/2603 (W. 257)) (“the 2014 Regulations”) which make provision for which persons subject to immigration control are eligible for an allocation of housing accommodation and for housing assistance. The 2014 Regulations also make provision in relation to persons who are not subject to immigration control but are ineligible for an allocation of housing accommodation and housing assistance.

Regulation 4 amends regulation 3 of the 2014 Regulations which prescribes classes of persons subject to immigration control who are eligible for an allocation of housing accommodation under the 1996 Act. Regulation 4 prescribes an additional class of persons (“Class S”) subject to immigration control who are eligible for an allocation of housing accommodation under the 1996 Act provided that they make an application for an allocation of housing accommodation within a specified period of time.

Class S applies to certain persons who leave a country or territory when His Majesty’s Government has published advice to British nationals to leave that country or territory, or has arranged the evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory. Such persons will be eligible if they have been given leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom granted in accordance with the Immigration Rules made under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 (c. 77), provided that their leave is not subject to the condition that there must be ‘no recourse to public funds’ and that their leave was not granted because of a maintenance undertaking which is still applicable.

Regulation 5 amends regulation 4(2) of the 2014 Regulations to provide that certain persons who are not subject to immigration control but would be ineligible for an allocation of housing accommodation due to not being habitually resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland, are eligible for an allocation of housing accommodation provided that they make an application within a specified period of time. The persons to whom this amendment applies are those who leave a country or territory when His Majesty’s Government has published advice to British nationals to leave that country or territory, or has arranged the evacuation of British nationals from that country or territory.

Regulation 6 amends regulation 5(1) of the 2014 Regulations which prescribes classes of persons subject to immigration control who are eligible for housing assistance under the 2014 Act. Regulation 6 prescribes an additional class of persons (“Class T”) who are eligible for such assistance. Class T is equivalent to Class S inserted by regulation 4.

Regulation 7 amends regulation 6(2) of the 2014 Regulations so that certain persons who are not subject to immigration control but would be ineligible for housing assistance due to not being habitually resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland, are eligible. The persons to whom this amendment applies are the same as those captured by the amendment made by regulation 5.

Regulation 8 provides that the amendments made by regulations 3 to 7 cease to have effect on 30 March 2027, but this does not affect an applicant who has made an application for housing accommodation or assistance prior to this date.

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ and on the Welsh Government’s website at www.gov.wales.