Homelessness and rough sleeping
Contents
Homeless applications
We may need to meet with you to take a homeless application.
Eligibility
Not everybody is eligible for assistance, therefore we will assess your circumstances based on the following criteria to see if we can offer you further advice and support.
- you must normally live in the UK long-term and not be subject to immigration control
- you must be homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days
If you meet these criteria, you can make a homeless application. This means that you are telling us you are homeless or at risk of homelessness and need help. By law, you must be allowed to make this application on the day you contact us.
We will make an appointment for you to be interviewed by a Housing Options officer. This will be the same day if you have nowhere to stay that night.
Evidence
We'll need to see evidence of who you are, your income and any evidence that you are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
If you can provide all of the documents and evidence needed, we will be able to process your application and provide support more quickly:
- ID for you and all of your household (e.g. passport, driving licence, birth certificate, etc)
- National Insurance number for all adults (e.g. NI card, wage slip, benefit award letter)
- Evidence of homelessness or risk of (e.g. notice served, hospital discharge letter, mortgage repossession letters, etc)
- If served a section 21, we'll also need the following tenancy information:
- How to Rent Guide
- EPC
- Gas Safety Certificate
- Deposit Protection Certificate
- Contact details of who is asking you to leave (e.g. landlord, friend or family member)
- income (any benefits, wage slips, etc)
- 3 months bank statements for all accounts
- diagnosed physical or mental health conditions (and medications) for you and your family members
- pregnancy (e.g. letter from GP or midwife confirming EDD or your maternity notes)
If you are not a UK national, you need to demonstrate eligibility for assistance by providing Home Office documentation (your share code so that we can make enquiries or your Bio-metric Residence Permit).
You may be asked to provide further information depending on your circumstances.
The Homeless Reduction Act 2017 came into effect in April 2018 and placed further duties on Local Authorities to support household who are eligible and homeless, not just those with a ‘priority need’.
Public bodies such as hospitals, prisons, the Jobcentre, social services etc. are required to refer individuals or families that are homeless or threatened with homelessness to the Local Authority to make sure they receive the advice and support they require.
Prevention Duty
If you are threatened with homelessness within 56 days and are eligible for assistance, we have a duty to provide you with advice and support in order to try and prevent you from becoming homeless.
If you have been asked to leave by family or friends, received a notice from your landlord, have had a relationship breakdown or any other reason whereby you are at risk of losing your accommodation within the next 56 days, our Housing Options team will discuss your circumstances with you and establish whether we have a duty to provide you with support.
We may be able to help you through our homelessness prevention fund. Households who are owed the prevention, relief or main housing duties could be considered for a payment from the Fund. This payment may enable you to remain in your existing accommodation, secure alternative accommodation, or prevent or delay the provision of temporary accommodation.
We may also be able to help you secure a private rented property through our private rented sector access fund. This fund helps households who are owed the prevention, relief or main housing duties to secure suitable and affordable accommodation in the private rented sector.
Relief Duty
If you are already homeless and are eligible for assistance, we have a duty to provide you with advice and support to find alternative accommodation regardless of whether you have a ‘priority need’ or became homeless through your own actions (‘intentionally homeless’).
Our Housing Options team will discuss your circumstances and carry out enquiries into the reasons for your homelessness whilst supporting you to find alternative accommodation.
What happens next
If we are unable to find you alternative accommodation to prevent or relieve your homelessness, and find you or your household to be in priority need and not intentionally homeless, we will be able to accept a Main Duty to you and will continue to work with you to find suitable accommodation.
The Discharge of Homelessness Duties policy sets out how the Council will seek to discharge its duties through offers of accommodation to homeless households (in both the social and private rented housing sectors) which must comply with the relevant suitability requirements.
If we do not believe you are in priority need, our duty to you will come to an end after the 56-day relief period.
If we believe that you became homeless as a direct result of something you deliberately did or failed to do, we will continue to offer you support to find alternative accommodation for a reasonable period (often a couple of weeks) after our duty comes to an end.
Last updated 01 April 2025