Check if you can get homeless help from the council

It’s usually worth applying to your local council for help if you're homeless - or if you’ll be homeless soon.

Depending on your situation, the council might:

• find somewhere for you to stay short term

• help you stay where you’re currently living - for example by talking to your landlord

• find somewhere for you to live long term - for example this might be council housing or renting from a private landlord

If you’re aged 16 or 17

It’s usually worth applying to social services instead. Social services are more likely to help you, and they’ll usually give you more help.

If you’ve recently been living in care, you usually have to apply to social services.

Check how to get homeless help from social services.

If other members of your household also need homeless help

If the council find you somewhere to live, they’ll make sure it can also house the other members of your household. This includes any family members who normally live with you.

It also includes people who don’t live with you now, but who might be expected to live with you in future. For example it might include your child who isn’t living with you because where you live isn’t suitable for a child.

Check what information the council will ask for

When you first apply for homeless help, the council will ask you questions to check if they should give you short-term help.

The council will check if your immigration status lets you apply for help.

If you moved to the UK in the last 2 years, they’ll check if you’re ‘habitually resident’ in the UK - even if you’re a British citizen.

They’ll also check if you’re legally homeless now or you will be in the next 8 weeks.

If the council believe you can apply for help based on the information you’ve given, what they’ll do depends on your situation.

If you aren’t homeless yet, they should try to stop you becoming homeless. For example they might pay off some of your rent arrears, or pay the deposit so you can find somewhere else to rent. 

If you’re already homeless, the council will also ask questions to check if you’re in ‘priority need’. This depends on things like your family, your health and whether you’re sleeping on the streets.

If the council believes you’re in priority need, they should find you somewhere to stay - this is sometimes called ‘emergency accommodation’.

Check if you can get long-term housing

After the council decide if they should give you short-term help, they’ll work out if you meet the requirements to get long-term housing.

They’ll check the answers you originally gave them to work out if you meet the requirements. For example, they might:

• contact your landlord

• check what benefits you’re getting

• look at your council tax records or the electoral roll to check where you’ve been living and for how long

Depending on your situation, they might also check if you caused yourself to be homeless - this is called being ‘intentionally homeless’.

If you meet all of the requirements, you have a right to get long-term housing.

Finally, the council will check who will find you long-term housing - them or a different council. They’ll do this by checking if you have a ‘local connection’ to their area. If they think you don’t have a local connection, they’ll pass your case on to the council in the area you have a local connection with.

While the council is looking for long-term housing for you, they’ll usually house you in ‘temporary accommodation’.

Your immigration status

You’re allowed to apply for homeless help if you:

• are a British or Irish citizen

• have settled status from the EU Settlement Scheme

• have indefinite leave to remain - unless someone had to sign a ‘maintenance undertaking’ that says they’ll support you financially

• have refugee status or humanitarian protection

• have right of abode

• have leave to remain in the UK as a ‘stateless person’

If you have pre-settled status from the EU Settlement Scheme, you can only apply for homeless help if you have a ‘right to reside’.

If you’ve applied to the EU Settlement Scheme and you’re waiting for a decision,  you can only apply for homeless help if you have a right to reside.

Check if you have a right to reside.

If you’re from Ukraine

You're allowed to apply for homeless help if all of the following apply:

• you were living in Ukraine immediately before 1 January 2022

• you left Ukraine because of the invasion
• it doesn’t say ‘no public funds’ or ‘no recourse to public funds’ on your immigration documents

You don't have to show you're habitually resident.

If you’ve come from Afghanistan

In some situations you’re allowed to apply for homeless help - and you don’t have to show you’re habitually resident.

You’re allowed to apply if you came to the UK through one of these schemes at any time:

• the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP)

• the Afghanistan Locally Employed Staff Ex-Gratia Scheme (ALES)

• the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS)

You're also allowed to apply if all of the following are true:

• you came to the UK from Afghanistan because of the fall of the government on 15 August 2021

• you’ve been given ‘leave to remain’

• it doesn’t say ‘no public funds’ on your immigration papers

Talk to an adviser if you have a sponsor, or if you’re not sure about your immigration status.

Your local council might ask you to prove your immigration status. You’ll need to show one of the following:

• a document showing you have come to the UK through one of the schemes

• a stamp or visa in your passport

• a letter from the Home Office that shows when you arrived and why

If you’re from Sudan

You’re allowed to apply for homeless help if all of the following are true:

• you were living in Sudan immediately before 15 April 2023

• you left Sudan because of the violence there

• it doesn’t say ‘no public funds’ or ‘no recourse to public funds’ on your immigration documents

Talk to an adviser if you have a sponsor, or if you’re not sure about your immigration status.

You can’t apply for homeless help if:

• you don’t have a right to be in the UK

• you’re in the UK as a visitor

• you’re seeking asylum

• it says ‘no public funds’ or ‘no recourse to public funds’ on your immigration documents

If you have any other type of immigration status, talk to an adviser.

If you’ve been rough sleeping

Rough sleeping is sleeping outside overnight. It doesn’t include staying with friends or family members, even if you can only stay there temporarily.

If you’re not a British citizen and you’ve been rough sleeping, your right to stay in the UK might be affected - even if you’re allowed to apply for homeless help.

If you’re applying to the EU Settlement Scheme your application can’t be turned down because of rough sleeping. Talk to an adviser if you’re worried that rough sleeping might affect your immigration status.

Habitual residence

You can only get homeless help if you’re habitually resident - this means you can show that the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man is your main home. 

You’ll only have to show you’re habitually resident if you’ve moved or returned to the UK in the last 2 years.

Check if you’re habitually resident.

Legal homelessness

To get help from the council you’II need to be either legally homeless or ‘threatened with homelessness’.

You’re legally homeless if:

• you have nowhere to live in the UK or abroad

• you have a home but you can’t access it - for example if your landlord has unlawfully evicted you by changing the locks
• it wouldn’t be reasonable for you and the members of your household to stay in your home - for example because of abuse, poor conditions or you can’t afford it
• you have nowhere you can keep your home if it’s moveable - for example if it’s a caravan or house boat

You're threatened with homelessness if you have to leave your home within 8 weeks. For example, this includes if:

• your landlord gives you a valid notice to leave your home and the notice ends within 8 weeks

• you're asked to leave somewhere temporary

Priority need

You need to be in priority need for the council to find short-term or long-term accommodation for you. You don’t need to be in priority need for ​​the council to try to stop you becoming homeless - or give you support if you’re already homeless.

Depending on your situation, you might automatically be in priority need. If not, you’re still in priority need if the law says you’re ‘vulnerable’.

You’re automatically in priority need if any of the following apply:

• you don’t have anywhere you can stay tonight - this is sometimes called being ‘street homeless’

• you’re pregnant or living with someone who is

• you’re living with a child aged under 16

• you’re living with a child aged 16 to 18 who is in full-time education or training

• you’re homeless because of domestic abuse

• you’ve been homeless since leaving the armed forces

• you’re homeless because of an emergency - for example a fire or flood

• you’re 16 or 17 years old and you’re not living with your family

• you’re 18 to 20 years old and you were living in care - or you’re at risk of being sexually or financially exploited

You’re ‘vulnerable’ if your personal situation would make it more difficult for you to cope with being homeless than the average person. For example, you might be vulnerable because:

• you’re disabled

• you have a mental health condition

• you’re an older person - this usually means over 60 years old

• you’ve experienced domestic violence

• you’ve been in prison

If you’re not in priority need

The council should check if anyone else in your household is in priority need. This includes anyone who it would be reasonable to expect to be living with you. For example, your partner might not be able to live with you because your home is overcrowded.

The council might not check if anyone else in your household is in priority need, so make sure you tell them if anyone does. This will help you get the help you need.

Intentional homelessness

In some cases, the council won’t find you long-term accommodation if they think you’re intentionally homeless.

You’re intentionally homeless if you caused yourself to be homeless, for example because you:

• chose to leave a home you knew you could have stayed in

• didn't make rent or mortgage payments you could afford

• were evicted for antisocial behaviour

If you chose to leave a home, you’re only intentionally homeless if it would have been reasonable for you to stay there. For example, you won’t be intentionally homeless if you left a home because:

• you couldn’t afford the rent

• it’s too small for the number of people living there

• you’re at risk of domestic abuse

If you think you might be intentionally homeless

The council might still find you long-term accommodation. They should ignore the fact that you’re intentionally homeless if any of the following apply:

• you’re pregnant

• you live with a child aged under 16

• you live with a child aged 16 to 18 who is in full-time education or training

• you were under 21 years old when you applied

• you were in care before you reached 18 years old, and you were under 25 years old when you applied

If you’re in any other situation, the council usually won’t find you long-term accommodation if they decide you’re intentionally homeless. It’s still worth applying for homeless help because:

• they still have to try to stop you becoming homeless - or help you find accommodation if you’re already homeless

• it will make it easier if you need to apply to social services in the future

Local connection

Local connection only affects which council will deal with your application for long-term housing. It depends on your links to the local area.

The council you apply to might accept you have a local connection if any of the following are true:

• you've been living in the area for some time - usually for 6 months in the last year or 3 years out of the last 5

• you work in the area - this includes unpaid work

• you have family who have lived in the area for a long time - usually at least 5 years

You might have a local connection for another reason - for example if you need special medical or support services that are only available in the area.

If the council don’t think you have a local connection, they’ll check if you have a connection to another area. If you do, they’ll pass your application on to that council.

They can't pass you to a council if you would be at risk of violence in that area - for example this might apply if you have an abusive ex-partner who lives there.

Making your application

You can check how to start your homeless application.

If the council won’t help you

If the council refuse your application and you disagree with their decision, you can check how to challenge a homeless application decision.

If you can’t get help from the council, check what you can do if you're homeless and the council won’t house you.