Homeless Assessment

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
• You are a British citizen and you have not been habitually resident in the UK for a number of years

There are exceptions to this and this will be discussed with you in the 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
• You no longer have a legal right to stay in your home
• You have somewhere to live but cannot gain entry to it
• You are at risk of violence from someone who is living in your home
• Your home is a caravan or boat and you have nowhere to legally place it and live in it
• 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 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 vulnerable as a result of institutionalisation. This could include those who have spent time in care, the armed forces or prison
• 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

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.

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
• You have permanent work in the area
• Your close relatives, such as mum, dad, brother or sister, have lived in here for the past five years
• 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.