The Homeless Procedure
The Council has a legal duty to help anyone who is homeless or about to become homeless. Depending on your circumstances, the Council will advise you and sometimes offer emergency and more permanent accommodation.
Contacting the Council: If you’ve got nowhere to stay or you know that you’ll have nowhere to stay in the next few weeks, you should contact Durham County Council’s Housing Solutions team. You can do this by e-mail housingsolutions@durham.gov.uk or by contacting one of the Council offices. The offices open between 8.30am and 4.30pm Monday to Thursday, and 8.30am and 4.00pm on Fridays.
- Chester-le-Street - 0800 587 0001
- Derwentside - 01207 237 983
- Durham - 0191 386 6111
- Easington - 0800 032 0835
- Sedgefield, Teesdale and Wear Valley - 01388 816 166
If you need emergency accommodation and the Council offices are closed, there are several emergency out-of-hour services to allow you to talk with a housing solutions adviser throughout the county. In case of an emergency, please select from one of the numbers above.
If you’ve nowhere to stay from today - the Council will be able to advise you and they must arrange a same day homelessness interview with you so they can assess how much help they can give you.
If you’ve nowhere to stay from today and there’s a problem with getting a same day interview from the Council then contact the Citizens Advice Bureau or Shelter for help.
If you’re at risk of becoming homeless in the next 28 days - the Council should offer you advice and set up a homelessness interview for you sometime soon if needed. They will try to prevent your homelessness if this is at all possible.
If there’s a problem with getting advice or an interview with the Council then contact the Citizens Advice Bureau, Shelter or a Law Centre for help - see local help directory at the back of this book.
The help the Council will offer you immediately depends on your circumstances and whether you are someone who is:
- Eligible for help?
- Legally homeless?
- And in priority need?
If you pass all three tests then the Council must arrange some emergency accommodation for you.
You need to know what these terms mean!
Test 1 - am I eligible for help?
Most people are eligible for help, including refugees. The law in this area is complex so if you find you are not eligible for help then get help from a Citizens Advice Bureau, Shelter, or a Law Centre.
Test 2 - am I legally homeless?
You are legally homeless if;
- you have nowhere to live
- you are staying in temporary accommodation such as a hostel or bed and breakfast.
- you can’t stay in your home because of violence or threats of violence
- you are staying temporarily with friends or relatives who have asked you to leave
- you have somewhere to live but it is not reasonable to expect you to stay there. For example this could be because of poor conditions or overcrowding.
You are threatened with homelessness if you are likely to become homeless within 28 days.
Test 3 - am I in priority need?
You are automatically in priority need if:
- you are 16 or 17 years old, unless you have been the responsibility of Social Services and have been in their care
- you are 18-20 and used to be in care
- you are responsible for dependant children
- you, or someone you live with, is pregnant
- you are homeless because of flood, fire or other disaster
You may be in priority need if you are vulnerable
The answer could be YES if…
- You have a health problem, mental health problem or disability
- You are aged 21 or over and have a care background
- You have been in prison, custody or detention in the past
- You used to be in the armed forces
- You can no longer stay in your home because someone has been violent or abusive to you or has threatened you with violence.
- You have no family or other support networks - you may have had to leave home because of violence or sexual abuse.
Remember! If you are homeless from today and will have nowhere to stay tomorrow AND you think that you pass the first 3 tests, the Council may have a legal duty to provide emergency accommodation.
What to do next:
You need to contact the Council and ask them to arrange a same day interview for a homelessness assessment - this is known as making a homeless application.
Making a homeless application is different to joining Durham County’s Durham Key Options scheme.
A Housing Solutions Officer will need to interview you to confirm that you are homeless and they will need to ask you questions about your personal circumstances.
What will the homelessness interview be like?
The interview will take place in a private interview room between yourself and the Housing Solutions Officer - there is nothing to stop you bringing someone with you for support.
If you prefer a same sex interview, let the officer know this and they will do their best to arrange this. If English is not your first language and you need an interpreter then the Council will arrange this service for you.
The Housing Solutions Officer will need to ask you questions to check that you’re someone who is eligible for help, that you’re homeless, and that you have a priority need.
As part of the interview the officer will need to find out where you have been living in the past. The officer may ask your permission to contact friends or relatives that you have been staying with or for example previous landlords.
However if you feel that it is inappropriate for the Council to contact someone - for example, it would put your safety at risk - then you must make it clear that you do not give your permission for this to happen.
If possible it is a good idea to take certain documents with you to the interview which will make it easier for the Housing Solutions Officer to help you.
Examples of these are:
- Proof of identity-birth certificate or passport
- Proof of income
- Immigration documents
- National insurance number
- Written notice to leave from landlord friends or relative
The Housing Solutions Officer decides that I’m homeless and in priority need
If the Housing Solutions Officer decides that you are someone who qualifies for help and that you are homeless and in priority need, the Council has a duty to find you some emergency accommodation to stay in while they look into to your case further.
This will depend on what’s available! The Council has some flats and bedsits in the area which it uses as emergency accommodation or it may arrange for you to stay in a hostel or sometimes a bed and breakfast.
The Council will try to find you somewhere which is suitable for you. If you think that you would have a particular problem staying in the accommodation they offer, you should explain this to the Housing Solutions Officer.
If all the emergency accommodation is full in Durham County then the Council will try to find you somewhere outside the area. Depending on your circumstances, the Council may help you to get to your accommodation if it’s outside the area. The Council will also make a charge for the emergency accommodation it provides but you can claim housing benefit for this.
If you don’t think that is it is possible for you to accept the emergency accommodation offered and you need help, seek advice.
This depends how long it takes the Council to make a final decision on your case. In general, the Council shouldn’t take more than 30 working days to reach a final decision on your case.
If the Council decides that you are:
- definitely homeless,
- in priority need,
- that you haven’t made yourself homeless deliberately and...
- you have some local connection with the area
then… there is a duty on the Council to help you to get somewhere more permanent to live - but this could take time!
Test 4 - am I intentionally homeless?
Even if you are in priority need, the Council can decide that you have made yourself homeless by:
- choosing to leave a home which you could have stayed in or because
- it was your fault you lost your home, or
- you made yourself homeless to take advantage of the system.
If the Council decides that you are intentionally homeless then the only duty they owe you is to provide you with emergency accommodation, usually for 28 days. If you have children then the Council should also ask you whether you want help from social services. If you are aged 16 or 17 and the Council find you intentionally homeless you could also contact Social Services for help.
Social Services has a duty sometimes to help and house young people aged 16 and 17 who are homeless or living in unsafe or unsuitable accommodation.
You should contact Social Services for further information about their duty to help you under the Children Act 1989. You can also ask for advice about this from the Citizens Advice Bureau, Shelter, or a Law Centre. See the local help directory at the back of this booklet.
Test 5 - do I have a local connection?
Even if the Council decides that you have passed all the tests so far you will need to show that you have a local connection with the area. This means that you or someone who is part of your household:
- lives, or has lived, in the area for some time - usually 6 out of the last 12 months or 3 out of the last 5 years
- has a job in the area
- has a close relative, for example parent, adult, child you wish to live near who has lived in the area for some time
- usually the last 5 years
- needs to live in the area for special reasons.
If the Council decides that you do not have a local connection with Durham County but you do have a connection with another Council area then they will tell the other Council they have the duty to help you. BUT special rules apply if you are fleeing violence from the area where you do have a local connection.
The Council should not refer you to an area where you have a local connection if you would be at risk of violence or threats of violence there.
