Becoming Homeless

Quick links

• What to do if you are homeless,
• What the law says,
• Are you eligible for help?,
• Are you homeless?,
• Are you in priority need?,
• Are you intentionally homeless?,
• Do you have a local connection to Babergh?,
• The decision on your homelessness,
• Unhappy with our decision?,
• Other homelessness matters,
• Some useful points,
• When should I contact you?.

What to do if you are becoming homeless

If you are homeless or about to lose your home, help is available. The first thing you should do is to contact us on on the telephone number listed at the bottom of this page.

It is usual for us to ask you a few questions to help us decide the urgency of your case. If you are homeless now, we will do everything we can to see you the same day. If you are due to become homeless in the future, for instance, if you rent from a private landlord and receive a two month period of notice, it would be better if we agree a time to see you to discuss the matter further.

There are things that we can do to prevent or delay you becoming homeless, for example, if you are being evicted for rent arrears, we could help you come to an arrangement with your landlord to repay the arrears gradually, by affordable instalments. It is really important that you seek advice early.

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What the law says

The homelessness law applies to all Councils in England and Wales and this means that we must provide temporary housing, to vulnerable households who are homeless through no fault of their own, until a more settled solution becomes available.

The law ensures that all cases are considered in a fair and consistent way. There are five key issues that need to be considered:

• Are you eligible for help?
• Are you homeless?
• Are you in priority need?
• Are you intentionally homeless?
• Do you have a connection to Babergh?

We will normally only provide you with accommodation if you can answer "Yes" to all these questions.

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Are you eligible for help? 

If you have come to Babergh from another Country, we must first decide whether we have a right to help you. This is because the law says we must check your residence and immigration status.

To check your residence status we will need to know whether Babergh is or has become your home and we will do this by looking at:

• How long you have lived here;
• Whether you are the resident of another Country;
• How long you are planning to remain;
• We will also look into your work and family situation.

When looking into your immigration status, it is very unlikely that we will be able to help you if any of the following situations apply:

• You did not apply for asylum at the port of entry;
• You have been refused asylum even if you are appealing against the decision;
• You have limited leave to remain in the Country;
• You have outstayed your visa;
• You are in the Country illegally;
• You passport confirms that you are not entitled to claim "public funds".

If your residency or immigration is being questioned, it is important that you receive specialist advice.

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Are you homeless? 

The law says that you are homeless if:

• You have nowhere to stay tonight;
• You cannot return home because of a threat of violence;
• You have been made homeless as a result of a disaster, for instance, a flood or fire;
• You have a home but it is unreasonable for you to live there, for instance, because it is in a poor condition or because you are seriously overcrowded.

The law also allows us to assess your housing needs if you are threatened with homelessness within 28 days.

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Are you in priority need?

We have special responsibilities for people who are classed as being in priority need. You are in priority need if the following situations apply to you or members of your household:

• You have a dependant child or children living with you. By children, we mean those under 16, or under 19 if they are in full-time education;
• You are pregnant;
• You are elderly;
• You are considered "vulnerable" because you have a serious mental or physical illness or disability or you are vulnerable for another "special reason";
• You are a young person, aged 16 or 17;
• You are a person who is vulnerable as a result of spending time in the armed forces, serving a prison sentence or due to a care background;
• You have become homeless as a result of an emergency, for example a flood, fire or other disaster.

If you are not in priority need, we will not have a legal duty to house you but we will still try to give you help in finding a home.

If you are single we may ask SOLO Housing (East Anglia) Limited to help. SOLO run a 'Landladies Scheme' which is very successful in helping single people to find accommodation. For further information ring SOLO direct on 01379 640250 or speak to our Homelessness Officer on the number listed at the bottom of this page.

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Are you intentionally homeless? 

We can decide that its is your own fault that you have become homeless. We will make this judgement if you deliberately and knowingly do something - or failed to do something - which cause you to become homeless.

However, if you lose your home, for example because of rent or mortgage arrears and the circumstances were beyond your control, we may decide that it is not your fault.

If we decide that you are intentionally homeless we will only be able to provide you with accommodation for a short time. We will, however, give you a reasonable opportunity to find somewhere to live and will help you in the search.

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Do you have a local connection to Babergh?

We have to decide if we have a duty to help or whether another Council should help instead. To help make this decision we have to decide whether you have a local connection to Babergh.

You will have a local connection if:

• You live, or have lived, in the area for some time - usually at least 6 months in the last year, or 3 out of the last 5 years;
• You have a regular job in the area;
• You have a close relative you wish to live near who has lived in the area for 5 years;
• You need to live within Babergh for a special reason;
• You have no local connection with any other area.

If we decide that you do not have a local connection with us, we will refer you to another Council where a connection can be established. If you are actually homeless and in priority need, we will also provide you with temporary accommodation whilst the other Council considers your case further.

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The decision on your homelessness

Once we have completed all our checks we will write to you with a decision. This tells you whether we can accept your application or whether it is rejected and the reasons why. We always aim to provide this notification within 33 working days of applying or as soon as possible after that.

If the circumstances of your homelessness are complicated and need further consideration or investigation, we will explain what information is needed and why. If we have requested information, it is important that you can provide it or provide details of where can get the information ourselves as any delay will mean that we will not be able to make a decision.

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Unhappy with our decision?

If you disagree with our decision, you do have the right to request a review. The law says that you only have 21 days from the day you receive our decision and so it is important that you make contact with us as soon as possible.

The homelessness law is complicated and so you may want to seek specialist advice. For this, you could contact Shelter or the Citizens Advice Bureau.

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Other homelessness matters

"I'm homeless. You have to help me!"

The law does not allow us to help everyone who is homeless. Single people and childless couples, who are not considered to be "vulnerable", cannot he housed. However, we will still try to help by offering advice and assistance on where they can find housing themselves.

"Do I have to go into temporary accommodation?"

If we have a legal duty, then the answer is probably "Yes". Most Councils use temporary accommodation for the homeless and we are no exception.

However, we do try to move people straight into settled housing who have specific housing needs, for instance, a disability that requires ground floor accommodation.

What kind of temporary accommodation do you use?"

We have relied on our main Homelessness Centre, Stour House in Sudbury, to accommodate homeless households for many years along with a smaller Centre in Hadleigh. We also use some other self-contained flats. We intend to close Stour House in 2007 and replace it with some more self-contained homes instead.

"How long will I wait before I'm housed?"

This can change over time but the current waiting is about 9 months. Homeless people in temporary accommodation are awarded housing points, which increase each month until they reach the top of the "list" to be housed. We have to consider the size and type of home needed and where in the District people want to live. All these things help to determine the length of time people have to wait. It is not possible to give a precise date and so we average out the waiting time.

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Some useful points

• If you are at risk of losing your home, contact us immediately, we may be able to do something to help.

• Get advice first before leaving or selling your home. You could make yourself intentionally homeless.

• If you are a tenant, you are entitled to legal notice before being asked to leave. Most tenants are entitled to stay in their home until their landlord applies for a Possession Order.

• If you are a tenant on a low income ask our Benefits Department whether you qualify for help with your rent.

• Seek legal advice immediately if you are separating from a partner or are the victim of domestic violence.

• If you move into temporary accommodation and find it difficult to cope, we may be able to offer you special support.

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When should I contact you?

You need to contact us as soon as you think you will become homeless.  It is better to telephone our customer services team first on 01473 825757 for an appointment.  Please try to avoid turning up at the office without an appointment, as we cannot guarantee that someone will be available to see you.

If you are NOT already on the Common Housing Register, you may be asked to complete a form which will enable you to be considered for all social housing vacancies in Babergh. To download a copy, see our Housing Register pages.  Once completed, you could bring it with you when you have your appointment with one of the Homelessness Officers.   

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