Section 24, Housing (Scotland) Act 1987
(as amended by section 3, Housing (Scotland) Act 2001)
Homeless persons and persons threatened with homelessness
24- (1) A person is homeless if he
has no accommodation in Scotland, or England or Wales [the
United Kingdom or elsewhere].
(2) A person is to be treated as having no accommodation if there is no accommodation which he, together with any other person who normally resides with him as a member of his family or in circumstances in which the local authority consider it reasonable for that person to reside with him –
(a)
is entitled to occupy by virtue of an interest in it or by virtue of
an order of a court, or
(b)
has a right or permission, or an implied right or permission to
occupy, or in England and Wales has an express or implied license to
occupy, or
(c)
occupies as a residence by virtue of any enactment or rule of law
giving him the right to remain in occupation or restricting the right
of any other person to recover possession.
(2A) A person shall not be treated as having accommodation unless it is accommodation which it would be reasonable for him to continue to occupy.
(2B) Regard may be had, in
determining whether it would be reasonable for a person to continue
to occupy accommodation, to the general circumstances prevailing in
relation to housing in the area of the local authority to whom he has
applied for accommodation or for assistance in obtaining accommodation.
(3) A person is also homeless if he
has accommodation but-
(a)
he cannot secure entry to it, or
(b)
it is probable that occupation of it will lead to violence from some
other person residing in it or threats of violence from some other
person residing in it and likely to carry out the threats, or
(c)
it consists of a moveable structure, vehicle or vessel designed or
adapted for human habitation and there is no pace where he is
entitled or permitted both to place it and reside in it; or
(d)
it is overcrowded within the meaning of section 135 and may endanger
the health of the occupants.
(e)
[it is not permanent accommodation, in circumstances where,
immediately before the commencement of his occupation of it, a local
authority had a duty under section 31(2) in relation to him].
(4) A person is threatened with
homelessness if it is likely that he will become homeless within 28
days [2 months].
(5) [For the purposes of subsection 3(e), “permanent accommodation” includes accommodation –
(a)
of which the person is the heritable proprietor,
(b)
secured by a Scottish secure tenancy,
(c)
secured by an assured tenancy that is not a short assured tenancy,
(Govan Law Centre note: words with strike through-line have been deleted by section 3, 2001 Act, and words in [square brackets] have been inserted by section 2 of the 2001 Act).