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Home Homeless support and advice

Housing Advice Centre

The Housing Advice Centre provides a variety of housing options to individuals experiencing housing problems, for example:

  • Difficulties with rent and mortgage payments
  • Overcrowding
  • Threat of violence
  • If you have been asked to leave your home.

Homelessness advice and housing support

Please call or visit the Housing Advice Centre, where you will be greeted by a dedicated team of housing advice and options officers, who will do their best to solve your housing problem there and then. If they are unable to assist they will advise you further, or depending on the nature of your query may offer you an appointment to see a housing options officer.

If you are homeless, or threatened with homelessness with 28 days,  Please ensure you have the document list found via this link (PDF 16kb) with you.  Failure to do so may result in you having to come back, and a delay in your application.

What happens at the appointment

You will be interviewed by an options officer who will establish whether you you are homeless or not. It is important that you attend the appointment in order to maximise a successful outcome and resolve your housing problem.

When attending the interview, it is vital that you bring along all the relevant documents with you (PDF 16 kb) as advised by the officer booking the appointment.

What happens after the appointment

The officer may need to carry out further checks, contact your landlord or family to try and help you remain in your current accommodation, and avoid you becoming homeless. Once the officer has carried out all the necessary checks we will write to you to advise you of our decision.

Depending on your individual circumstances, we will assist to find alternative accommodation via the following schemes:

Some of the assistance we are able to provide will be dependant on the following:

Your eligibility for assistance

The eligibility depends on your immigration status.  The law reference to eligibility for housing assistance can be complex. In general terms, all British Citizens and those with indefinite leave to remain in UK are eligible, however, still subject to habitual residence test.

With all other Citizens including European Union members, the eligibility depends on various issues such as employment, economic activity, restrictions issued by the Home Office and marital status. For these reasons, the Housing Options Officer will need to ask you variety of questions in order to establish your eligibility.

If you are in priority need as determined by the Housing Legislation

Just like eligibility, ‘priority need’ can be complex to establish. If you have children permanently residing with you or if your or a member of your immediate household is pregnant, you and your household are likely to be priority need.

If you are homeless on the day, and also eligible and in priority need, you can be provided with emergency accommodation.

If you don’t have children residing with you, we will ask questions to establish if you are vulnerable for any other reason such as old age, mental illness, a physical disability, due to fleeing violence etc. Again, the housing options officer will ask you a variety of questions to establish if you are considered to be in priority need.

If you have lost your home either temporarily or permanently as a result of an emergency such as flood, fire or other disaster, you will be priority need.

If there are concerns that your behaviour, action or inaction has contributed to the loss or threat of losing your home. This could include issues such as non-payment of rent or anti social behaviour. Again, we will consider all your circumstances, and legislation gives guidance as to when action may have been deliberate and also any mitigating circumstances that need to be taken into consideration.

In addition, we will also discuss your housing history to establish your last settled accommodation and to ensure that the correct local authority provides any further assistance.

 

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