Intentionally Homeless
The Council may decide that you made yourself homeless if it believes that:
- you chose to leave a home that you could have stayed in, or
- it was your fault you lost your home, or
- you made yourself homeless to take advantage of the system.
If the Council says that you are intentionally homeless, contact a housing aid centre or Citizens Advice Bureau for a second opinion. The Council should not say you are intentionally homeless if:
- it wasn’t reasonable for you to remain in your last home, for example because of disrepair or overcrowding
- you could no longer afford the high cost of your rent or mortgage
- you left home because of violence or fear of violence
- you lost your home because of rent or mortgage arrears, which built up because of circumstances beyond your control, for example job loss, wage cut or problems with benefits
- you sold your home because you got into mortgage arrears through financial difficulties and you were going to lose your home if you didn’t sell
- your home went with your job and you lost your job through no fault of your own
- you lost your home because you didn’t know your rights, for example you didn’t know that your landlord needed a court order to get you out, or that you could get Housing Benefit to help pay your rent
- someone else’s actions made you lose your home and you didn’t know what they were doing, or didn’t agree with what they were doing but couldn’t stop them.
If the Council say you are intentionally homeless and you are in priority need, it must still house you temporarily.
If you have children, the housing department must ask you if you would like social services to help you. If you agree, they must tell social services your situation. Social services may help you find somewhere to live. They may pay for your accommodation for a short time while you look for somewhere to live, and/or they may give you money to give to a landlord for a deposit on a property. Sometimes social services will say that they can only house your children. If this happens, contact an independent adviser in your area, or call Shelter’s free housing advice helpline on 0808 800 4444.
If you don’t want the Council’s housing department to ask social services to help you, they must give you help finding somewhere else to live and should house you for long enough to find somewhere. You should be able to put your name on the waiting list for housing or another scheme. Ask the Council what housing schemes they have. If they tell you that you can’t join a scheme, go to a local advice centre for help.
