Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656

Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

current issue

December 2024 – January 2025 : Solidarity READ ONLINE

RECENT TWEETS

Housing in England: your rights

July 26 2016

Your local council does not always have to help you find emergency accommodation if you are homeless. English local councils run a 'priority need' system which was originally set up to make sure that the most vulnerable homeless people are helped first. However, the 'priority need' system can negatively effect many 'single-homeless' people who do not have the same rights to emergency housing as others do.

Emergency housing

To get emergency housing from your local authority you must:

1. be legally homeless, meaning you:
•  have no roof over your head now, or in the near future
•  have not chosen to be homeless
•  are fleeing domestic abuse
•  have been released from prison or hospital with nowhere to go
•  live in overcrowded or hygienically unsafe accommodation

2. be 'eligible for assistance', meaning you:
•  have the right to live in the UK
•  can receive housing benefit

3. be in 'priority need', meaning you:
•  are 'vulnerable'
•  have children who depend on you
•  are pregnant
•  are homeless due to a fire, flood or other disaster
•  are 16–17 years old

 

Free help!

For free help with your emergency housing application:
1. Streetlink: 0300 500 0914
2. Shelter: england.shelter.org.uk; 0808 800 4444 (8am–8pm Monday to Friday, 8am–5pm weekends)
3. Citizens Advice Bureau: www.citizensadvice.org.uk; 03444 111 444
4. UK Government: www.gov.uk/homelessness-help-from-council

 

If your application is rejected:

•  You should appeal the rejection if you think it is wrong. You have 21 days to appeal this decision
•  Shelter and Citizens Advice Bureau can help you with your appeal

 

Short Term Emergency Housing

•  Emergency nightshelters will allow you to stay there for 1 or 2 nights
•   No Second Night Out: www.nosecondnightout.org.uk (via Streetlink)
•   ‘Cold’ and ‘winter’ shelters are open in winter
•  Women’s Refuges are available for women fleeing domestic violence
(Call the National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247 if you are experiencing domestic violence or abuse.)

< Housing in Scotland: your rights
December 2024 – January 2025 : Solidarity

CONTENTS

BACK ISSUES
BACK TO PAGE TOP