Homelessness

Homelessness

f you are homeless or believe you may be threatened with homelessness, please contact our Housing Options team.

Losing your home is a stressful experience. Most people manage to find somewhere else to live without help, but this is not always possible. Depending on your circumstances, if you are threatened with, or about to become homeless we may be able to help you, but you should do everything you can to keep your home. It is important to remember you may be able to remain in your home. You should never assume you do not have a right to remain - seek advice.

There are precise rules on homelessness. To help decide whether we have a duty to find alternative accommodation a housing advisor will have to look at whether you or a member of your household:

are eligible for help
are homeless or likely to be homeless within 28 days
have priority need for help
became homeless intentionally
have a local connection with Spelthorne

Am I homeless?

You are defined as homeless if:

you have no accommodation anywhere that you can legally occupy
you cannot gain entry to your property
it is not 'reasonable' for you to continue living there, taking into account the general housing situation in the area
you are at risk of violence if you remain there
you are threatened with homelessness if it is likely that you will become homeless within 28 days.

Am I eligible for help?

Not all homeless people are eligible for help. Asylum seekers or people subject to immigration control are excluded unless they fulfil specific status conditions. Similarly, people who fail the 'Habitual Residency Test' set out by the Home Office are not eligible for housing assistance.

Am I in priority need?

You will be in priority need if:

you have dependent children living with you who are under 16 years old or 17-19 years old and in full time education
you or a member of your household are pregnant
you are 16 or 17 years old and Social Services do not have a duty to assist you
you are 18, 19 or 20 years old and were looked after, accommodated or fostered when aged 16 or 17
you or a member of your household are assessed as vulnerable due to long-term illness, mental health, physical disability, old age or because of other special needs
you are vulnerable as a result of being looked after, accommodated or fostered, fleeing violence (or threats of violence), spending time in the armed forces or from having been in prison/remanded in custody
you are homeless due to fire, flood or similar emergency

If you are homeless but do not have a priority need for help we will offer advice but will not be able to help you with emergency accommodation. Other organisations may be able to help and their contact details are listed below.

If you are believed to be in priority need you will initially be given emergency accommodation, which is likely to be bed and breakfast. There is a charge for emergency accommodation, but if you receive Income Support, most of the charges will be met by Housing Benefit. We will then investigate your circumstances further, including looking at the reasons why you have become homeless to determine whether you are intentionally or unintentionally homeless.

What is intentionally homeless?

You could be found intentionally homeless if you had a home that you could have stayed in, but gave it up deliberately, or lost it through your own fault. This could be some time ago and not necessarily your last address. Some examples are listed below:

deliberately not paying your rent or mortgage even though you had the money to do so
not following advice given to you by either a Housing Advice Centre, Citizens Advice Bureau or solicitor
getting evicted because you broke the terms of your tenancy agreement
making an arrangement to be evicted in order to take advantage of the homeless legislation
failing to follow advice and help given by us to help you find alternative accommodation

If you are homeless through no fault of your own, and in circumstances beyond your control, then it is unlikely you will be treated as intentionally homeless.

If you think you may lose your present home get advice immediately. It is important you do not leave whilst you have a right to remain there.

If you are considered to be intentionally homeless, we are not required to find, offer or arrange housing for you. However if you are in priority need we will provide emergency accommodation for a limited period to allow you time to find alternative accommodation and will give you advice and help in your efforts to find somewhere to live.

What is a local connection?

You may be considered to have a local connection if you or anyone living with you:

has lived in the Spelthorne for six months in the past year or three years in the past five years
has a close family member who has lived here for the last five years and is still resident. Close family member includes mother, father, son, daughter, brother or sister
are employed permanently within Spelthorne

If you have no local connection with our area we may refer you to another council with which you do have a connection. That council will have a duty to provide you with accommodation in its area. If you have a local connection to more than one area you can say which you would prefer.

What happens next?

Once the Council has completed all its enquiries and a decision about your case has been made we will write to you to tell you about the decision.

If you are in priority need, found not intentionally homeless and have a local connection with Spelthorne, we will arrange temporary accommodation for you and put you on a separate list within the Housing Register from which we will aim to permanently rehouse you within two years (more information about the Housing Register is available on our website).

Right to a review

If you are unhappy about the decision made regarding your case you may request a review within 21 days of the date of notification. The decision letter will give you details of how to do this. A review must normally be completed within 56 days of the request.

Other useful contacts

Directgov (debt advice) (external website)

Spelthorne Rentstart (external website) (a registered charity which assists homeless single people and childless couples)
Community Link, Knowle Green, Staines Telephone: 01784 446422

Spelthorne Citizens Advice Bureau (external website)
Sunbury Library
The Parade
Staines Road West
Sunbury-on-Thames
TW16 7AB

Opening hours:
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday - 10am-12.30pm and 1.15-3.30pm

Telephone: 01784 444220
1b Staines Road West, Sunbury Telephone: 01932 765041

Surrey Women’s Aid Domestic Violence helpline (external website) 01483 776822

West Sussex and Surrey Shelter Housing Aid Centre 01293 419255

Surrey Social Services Emergency duty team (external website) (deals with emergency homelessness cases for Spelthorne outside normal office hours) Telephone: 01483 517898

Women’s Aid National helpline (external website) 08457 023468

Refuge 24-hour helpline (external website) 0870 5995443

Shelterline (external website) 0808 800 4444

This information is not intended to give an authoritative interpretation of the law, nor does it cover all cases. If you are in any doubt about your legal rights you need to seek further information or independent legal advice.