Whether you qualify as a homeless person for housing depends on your individual circumstances. The Housing Act 1996 Part VII and subsequent legislation sets out the legal duties of local authorities towards people who are homeless or about to be made homeless. However, the Council does not have to provide permanent housing to all homeless people.

We will only be able to offer you a permanent home if:

You are eligible for consideration and are habitually resident within the UK

You are not eligible if:

• you are from abroad and subject to immigration control;
• you are from abroad and you are not habitually resident in the UK; or
• you are a British citizen and you have not been habitually resident in the UK for a number of years.

There exceptions to this and this will be discussed with you in interview.

You are homeless or threatened with homelessness within 28 days

You are considered to be homeless if now or within the next 28 days:

• there is nowhere that you and your family can stay together; or
• you no longer have a legal right to stay in your home; or
• you have somewhere to live but cannot gain entry to it; or
• you are at risk of violence from someone who is living in your home; or
• your home is a caravan or boat and you have nowhere to legally place it and live in it; or
• you have a home in which it is not reasonable for you to live, when compared with the housing conditions of other people living in the area.

You have a priority need

You are considered to have a priority need if you or a member of your family is one or more of the following:

• pregnant;
• you have a dependent child aged 16 years or under, or aged 17 to 18 and still at school;
• you are 16 or 17 years
• vulnerable as a result of a physical or mental disability;
• homeless due to a fire, flood or similar disaster;
• forced to leave home because of violence or abuse, and more at risk than most people.

You are not intentionally homeless

If, for example, you have become homeless because you did not pay your rent or mortgage and you could afford to do so, you could be considered ‘intentionally homeless'. This means that you have done something deliberately which causes you to be homeless. If you are found to be intentionally homeless, the Council cannot house you permanently even if you have children. We can only help for a short while and advise you where to go to find somewhere to live.

You either have a ‘local connection' with the area or no local connection with any other Council

Generally, the Council will only house you if you or a member of your family have a local connection with the area. You may have a local connection if:

• you have lived here for six out of the last 12 months, or three out of the last five years; or
• you have permanent work in the area; or
• your close relatives, such as mum, dad, brother or sister, have lived in here for the past five years; or
• you have very special reasons why you must live in the area.

If you have no local connection, we will refer you to another area where you have connections, if it is safe for you to go there.

If you have no connection with any area, we will house you if it is decided we have a duty under current homelessness legislation to do so.

If we are satisfied that you fulfill the first three criteria of homelessness we may offer you temporary accommodation while we make our decision or while waiting for a permanent home to become available.

What am I entitled to if accepted as homeless?

You will be interviewed by an experienced homelessness and housing advice case worker who will conduct full enquiries on behalf of the Council. Your caseworker will be your point of contact throughout your application and will pass your case to a senior officer for a final decision on your application once all enquiries are complete. If you fail to respond to a request for information or your caseworker loses contact with you then it may be deemed that you wish to withdraw your application by your conduct. It is important therefore that you comply with your caseworker's requests for information from you.

If, after carrying out our enquiries the senior officer decides that you are not owed a duty under the current housing legislation, usually due to you being either intentionally homeless, not homeless or ineligible, then you have the right to request a review of that decision. All reviews of homelessness decisions are undertaken by an independent officer who is senior to the officer who made the decision and who was not connected with the original decision.

If, after carrying out our enquiries, we are able to house you, you will be offered a home with enough bed-spaces for your household. All accommodation is let on the basis of the bed-spaces it is deemed to have, not on the number of rooms.

Your allocation will be calculated on the following basis:

• Single people will be entitled to a bedsit or one bedroom flat
• Couples are entitled to one bedroom
• Adults and people over 16 are entitled to a bedroom each
• Two children of the same sex under the age of 16 would normally be expected to share a bedroom - there is a common misconception that there is law stating that it is illegal for children of opposite sexes to share a bedroom - If, however both children are both nearing 16 and are of opposite sexes it may be that you will be offered a property with a bedroom for each.

Who do I need to contact?

If you are homeless or think you might become homeless in the near future, you should contact us, using the details above, for advice and information.

If possible, please telephone first to make an appointment. We will ask you to bring relevant documents to the appointment. These will help us decide on your case more quickly.

If you are made homeless outside our opening times, you can contact our Emergency Out of Hours Service on telephone number for help.

What Documents will I need to bring?

If you have arranged an interview or intend to drop-in because you are homeless tonight you may need to bring several of the following documents to support your application. You will be advised when you contact us which ones will be relevant to your particular case.

• Birth Certificates for your entire household (especially children)
• Passports
• Photo ID cards
• Evidence of household income
• Home Office letter showing your eligibility to remain in the UK or other documentation showing your status to remain in the UK
• Benefits entitlement, eg., Child Benefit, Incapacity Benefit (books or bank statements showing the relevant payments)
• Proof of pregnancy (this must be the blue book issued at your anti-natal clinic or a letter from your GP showing your name, date of birth and stating that you are pregnant and the expected date of confinement)
• A copy of any current tenancy agreement
• A copy of any Notice to Quit your accommodation
• Bank Statements and Bills etc if you are claiming debt problems/bankruptcy as the reason for homelessness
• Crime reference numbers or contact details of relevant individuals if you are claiming to be fleeing violence (domestic or otherwise)
• Medical evidence of a claimed priority need on medical grounds (this may be a copy prescription/list of prescription medication or contact details of a GP, CPN or other medical practitioner
• You may have priority need on a mobility basis and you may need to provide professional contact details so that we can establish how your mobility will be affected in respect of housing.

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