Homelessness & Threatened With Homelessness

Homelessness Reduction Act 2017

The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 underpins all of the Council's processes and procedures when we give advice and guidance to people who approach as homeless.

Homeless or Threatened with Homelessness?

If you are homeless or are about to lose your home, please contact us for advice and information on how you can try and resolve your housing problems.

A local authority has legal duties to prevent or relieve your homelessness if you do not have a home or if you are threatened with homelessness within the next 56 days. This does not mean that a local authority has a duty to automatically provide accommodation to everyone who approaches, and it is possible that you may have to obtain your own accommodation if you can't maintain your current living situation.

We will want to find out if you are homeless now or if you are going to be homeless within the next 56 days. Homelessness can take different forms; if any of the below circumstances apply to you, please contact us:

• You have nowhere to sleep tonight and might be “street homeless".
• You have received a Section 21 notice from your landlord.
• You have received a Section 8 notice from your landlord.
• You are at risk of violence or abuse where you are currently living.
• You can't afford to stay where you are currently living.
• You have been asked to leave by family or friends, and you have nowhere else to go.
• You are “sofa-surfing" with family or friends.
• Your current accommodation is in a very poor condition or is dangerous.
• You are due to leave prison or a youth offender institute.
• You are a Care Leaver who has nowhere to go when you turn 18 years old and your Children's Services accommodation ends.
• You are being discharged from hospital and don't have anywhere to live upon discharge.
• You are homeless after your Home Office accommodation has ended.
• You are homeless after leaving the Armed Forces.

You can contact us by:

• Telephone: 01789 260 126 / 01789 267 575
• Email: homeless@stratford-dc.gov.uk
• In person: Elizabeth House, Church Street, Stratford-Upon-Avon, CV37 6HX (please note our opening hours)
• If you are homeless in an emergency outside of our opening hours, please call 01789 267575 and select Option 3. If you need to leave a message, please ensure that you clearly state your full name and contact number.

What Will Happen When I Call?

If you are homeless today, you will speak with a duty Housing Advisor who will assess your situation by asking questions about your current and previous housing circumstances. They will also ask you questions about your household needs, support needs and your household income. They will also want to know that you are eligible for assistance (meaning if you normally live in the UK and are not subject to immigration control). If you have nowhere to stay tonight, your situation will be assessed, and the Housing Advisor will decide if the Council has a duty to provide you with temporary accommodation. This will depend on whether we have reason to believe that you are homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need.

If you have somewhere to stay tonight but will be homeless within the next 8 weeks, we can still help. Similar to the above, a Housing Advisor will want to assess your situation by asking questions about your current situation. This assessment may not take place on the same day you contact the Council, and it may take a few days for us to get in touch. Depending on your situation, the Housing Advisor may want to schedule a Full Housing Assessment with you to create a Personalised Housing Plan. Within this Plan, you will agree on actions for both you and your Housing Advisor to take to try and find you a housing solution.

Will I Be Given Temporary Accommodation?

This depends on your circumstances. We recommend you stay with family or friends temporarily whilst you try and find a long-term housing solution. We can also contact your family or friends on your behalf to try and negotiate a stay. If you don't have anyone who you could stay with, the duty Housing Advisor will make an assessment about whether we can provide you with temporary accommodation. We will look at temporary accommodation if we have evidence that you are homeless, eligible (normally live in the UK and are not subject to immigration control) and have reason to believe that you may be in priority need. You are automatically in a priority need it:

• You are pregnant.
• You have dependent children living with you.
• You are experiencing domestic abuse.
• You have lost your accommodation because of a fire, flood or other disaster.
• You are 16 or 17 years old and are not looked after by Children's Services.
• You are a Care Leaver aged between 18 and 20 years old.

You could have a priority need if you or someone living with you is vulnerable for one of these reasons:

• You have a mental health problem.
• You are disabled or have a serious health condition.
• You have previously been in prison for a long time.
• You have been in the Armed Forces.
• You are over 21 and have previously been in care.
• You are of old age and frail.

How Do I Show that I am Eligible and Homeless?

When you speak with a Housing Advisor, you might be asked to provide some of the below documents:

• Photographic identification (such as a passport or a driving licence) for each member of your household.
• Any documents you have showing your immigration status if you are not a UK citizen.
• Proof of any benefits that you claim, such as Universal Credit, Child Benefit, Personal Independence Payment, etc.
• Copy of your tenancy agreement.
• Copy of your Section 21 notice or Section 8 notice.
• Contact details of family or friends if you have been asked to leave.
• If you've had a Section 21 notice, copies of:
  • The Government's How to Rent Guide.
  • Your Gas Safety Certificate.
  • Your Energy Performance Certificate.
  • Your Deposit Protection Certificate.

What is a Full Housing Assessment?

If a Housing Advisor has found that you are eligible and homeless (or threatened with homelessness within the next 8 weeks), they will schedule a Full Housing Assessment with you.

A Full Housing Assessment normally takes place on the telephone and can take up to 1.5 hours depending on the conversations you have with your Housing Advisor. They will ask you for details about your housing history, current circumstances with housing, your income and your support needs. This information will be used to create a Personalised Housing Plan, where actions for yourself and your Housing Advisor will be written down for you to both work on. These actions will hopefully lead to you finding somewhere to live. In this appointment, your Housing Advisor will also decide what duties to accept for you under homelessness legislation – either a prevention or a relief duty.

What Happens Next?

If we have accepted that we owe you a duty to relieve your homelessness and have not been successful in securing you alternative accommodation, then we will complete investigations into what final decision is owed to you. We will be required to investigate whether you meet the homeless tests:

• Eligible.
• Homelessness.
• Priority need.
• Unintentionally homeless.
• Local connection.

We aim to have any final decisions available to you within 15 working days of the completion of the 56 day relief duty. However, there may be delays if we are expecting further information that will be affect the outcome of your decision, but we will ensure you are kept informed and have the decision made available as soon as possible.

If your Housing Advisor has assessed that you have met the five homeless tests listed above, you will be owed a ‘main duty'. This means that the Council owes you a duty to be rehoused via social housing or a tenancy in the private rented sector. If we do not owe a duty to you, we will be required to end our duty to you.

Request a Review

You have the right to review any statutory decision made by your Housing Advisor. This request should be made in writing within 21 days of receiving your decision. All reviews are undertaken by a senior officer who has not been involved in the original decision, and you will receive written notification to confirm your review request has been received.

Non Co-Operation Procedure

Stratford-on-Avon District Council is committed to supporting people facing homelessness. If someone deliberately and unreasonably refuses to engage with the agreed steps in their Personalised Housing Plan (PHP), we may end our duty to assist under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

We will always try to understand the reasons for non co-operation and offer support before taking any action. A formal warning will be given first, and applicants have the right to request a review if a decision is made to end our duty.

For full details, please see ourNon Co-Operation Procedure.

Privacy

The following leaflet provides information on the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government H-CLIC research: privacy information leaflet.