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Housing in Scotland: your rights

July 26 2016
How to get help...

All councils in Scotland have a duty to help you when you're homeless. If your own local council thinks you are homeless, they legally have to help you find a home: to help you find temporary accommodation right away, and then to help you find a home of your own in the long-run. If the council thinks you mayqualify to be registered homeless then they have to find you a temporary home whilst they check you are eligible. If you have applied to the wrong council, they have to point you in the right direction.

To get help from your local council, you must:

1. be legally homeless, now or within 28 days, meaning you:
•  have no accommodation at all
•  cannot access your home
•  live in a violent household
•  live in an overcrowded home
•  live in an unclean or unsafe home
•  live in a B&B, hostel or refuge

2. have been born in the UK or European Economic Area (EEA), or have family living there

3. not have chosen to be homeless

4. have a connection with the local council you are applying to
find out if you have a local connection visit Shelter Scotland's website linked below

5. if you are from outside the EEA, you need to have the right to live and work in the UK.

 

Nowhere to sleep tonight?

If you have nowhere to sleep tonight, and nowhere else to turn, contact:
1. Your local council: Glasgow: 0800 838 502; Edinburgh: 0800 731 6969
2. Simon Community (Glasgow): 0800 027 7466 (Free, 24 hr)
3. Streetwork (Edinburgh): 0808 178 2323 (Free, 24 hr)
4. Shelter's advice helpline: 0808 800 4444 (Free, 9–5 Mon–Fri)
5. Police Scotland: dial 101 (not 999)

 

If your application is rejected:

•  You should appeal the decision if you think it is wrong. The council must find you temporary accommodation whilst they look at your appeal
•  The council legally has to direct you towards local homeless charities:
Shelter Scotland: scotland.shelter.org.uk/
Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB): www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247
Govan Law Centre (Glasgow): 0141 440 2503
Glasgow City Council: www.glasgow.gov.uk
Edinburgh City Council: www.edinburgh.gov.uk

< California’s homeless crisis Housing in England: your rights >
December 2024 – January 2025 : Solidarity

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