All councils have a legal duty to house homeless people who meet certain conditions (Gemma Thwaite, September 15).

One of these is that they must have a local connection with the area they apply to.

Consequently, people who arrive in Brighton and Hove and immediately present to the council as homeless will not have a local connection and will not be housed by Brighton and Hove City Council.

-Coun Tehmtan Framroze, Executive Councillor, Housing Services, Brighton and Hove City Council