Challenging a homeless decision
If you disagree with the council's decision about your homeless application you can usually challenge it by asking for a review. This means the council will have to look at their decision again.
You can ask for a review if the council:
- decide they won’t help you or are going to stop helping you
- decide you don't have a local connection
- offer you housing that you don’t think is suitable
Challenging other types of decisions
The council won’t review other types of decision, for example if they:
- refuse to let you start an application for homeless help
- refuse to give you ‘emergency accommodation’ while they make their decision about your application
- give you emergency accommodation that you don’t think is suitable
- refuse to protect your belongings - for example if there isn’t room to take it with you when you’re offered housing
Talk to an adviser if you want to challenge a decision the council won’t review.
Ask for a review within 21 days
You must normally ask for a review within 21 days of getting your decision.
If you need more time to collect evidence or get help from someone, you should still ask for a review within 21 days. You might want to send a short letter to ask for a review and say that you’ll send more information later. The council should still look at information you send after the deadline.
Asking for a review after the deadline
In some cases you might be able to ask for a review after the deadline, but this can be complicated. If you’ve missed the deadline and you want to ask for a review, talk to an adviser.
Making a new application
If you’ve missed the deadline to ask for a review, you might still be able to make a new homeless application. You can only do this if you have something new to include in it - this means either:
- your situation has changed since you last applied - for example, if you’ve had a child
- you got new evidence since you last applied - for example, a medical report from your doctor
The council should let you apply again if you include something new. Talk to an adviser if the council refuses to accept your application.
Preparing to ask for a review
The council will usually send you a decision letter explaining their decision.
Read your letter and make a note of anything you disagree with and anything you think the council has missed. If you can, you should get evidence to show they’re wrong.
How to prepare depends on the decision you want to challenge. If you got a decision letter, it should say why the council made the decision.
If the council won’t help because of your immigration status
You can check if your immigration status lets you get homeless help.
If you think the council is wrong about your immigration status, talk to an adviser.
If the council say you’re not ‘habitually resident’
You’re habitually resident if you can show that the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man is your main home.
If the council say you’re not ‘legally homeless or threatened with homelessness’
You can check the rules about legal homelessness.
You should look for evidence to show you’re homeless - or you have to leave your home in 8 weeks. This might be:
- evidence of why you had to leave your home, for example an eviction notice
- a letter from your support worker or a police report if you had to leave because of domestic violence
- a letter from a friend or family member saying you can't continue to stay with them
If your friend or family member has written a letter, the council might contact them and try to make them feel guilty so they agree to let you stay. It’s worth warning your friend or family member that this might happen and that they can say no.
If the council say you aren’t in ‘priority need’
Priority need depends on things like your family, your health and whether you’re sleeping on the streets. You can check the rules about priority need.
For example, one way to show that you’re in priority need is if you’re ‘vulnerable’. This means your personal situation would make it more difficult for you to cope with being homeless than the average person.
You might have an illness, disability or mental health condition, but the council might not accept that it makes you vulnerable.
In this situation it’s worth asking a medical professional or support worker to write a letter. They should explain:
- what your illness, disability or mental health condition is
- how long you’ve had your condition
- how your condition affects your daily life
- any support you need from other people - for example family or a support worker
- how being homeless affects you or will affect you
If the council say you’re ‘intentionally homeless’
This means the council thinks you caused yourself to be homeless.
If the council say you didn’t co-operate or didn’t do things you said you’d do
The council might stop giving you help if for example:
- you missed appointments with them
- they gave you a ‘personal housing plan’ and you didn’t do what it said you had to do
You can ask for a review if there was a good reason you didn’t do what they expected you to do. For example you might have missed an appointment because you were ill.
If you refused temporary or long-term accommodation
The council can stop helping you if they offered you suitable accommodation and you refused it.
If the council offered you long-term accommodation, they should have warned you that they might stop helping you if you refuse the offer. If they didn’t warn you, you can ask for a review - check any letters they sent you.
If the council offered you temporary or long-term accommodation, you can ask for a review if it wasn’t suitable - check if the housing was suitable. Try to get evidence to show why it wasn’t suitable.
For example, if you have a disability that stops you using stairs, accommodation with stairs usually won’t be suitable for you. You could ask a medical professional or support worker to write a letter to explain your condition.
If the council decided you don’t have a local connection
Local connection only affects which council will deal with your application for long-term housing. The council can't stop you applying for homeless help just because you don't have a local connection.
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.
The council will send you a decision letter explaining how they made the decision. You can check how the council should decide if you have a local connection.
If the council refers you to another area and you disagree with their decision, you should first ask them not to refer you by speaking to them. It's worth doing this because they don't have to refer you to another council.
If speaking to the council doesn't help, you should ask for a review of their decision. To get them to change their decision you'll need to explain why you have a local connection. Give as much detail as possible.
Send evidence, if possible. This could include:
- bills and tenancy agreements - to show how long you or close family members have been living in your area
- a letter from your employer - to show you work in the area
- a letter from your doctor - saying you need to live in the area to get specialist treatment
If the council offered you housing that you don’t think is suitable
If the temporary or long-term housing you’re offered is unsuitable you can ask for a review.
It’s usually best to accept the housing you’re offered and ask for a review at the same time. This is because there’s no guarantee you’ll be offered anything better. You’II also have somewhere to stay while the council reviews its decision.
You can check if your housing is suitable and your options if it isn’t.
Make notes about why you think the housing isn’t suitable, so you can explain it to the council. It’s also worth trying to get evidence to show why the housing isn’t suitable.
For example, if you have a disability that makes it difficult to use stairs, housing usually won’t be suitable if you have to go up stairs to enter it. You could ask a medical professional or support worker to write a letter to explain your condition.
If you’re in emergency accommodation
You can’t ask for a review because the emergency accommodation is unsuitable. Talk to an adviser if you want to challenge the suitability of emergency accommodation.
Asking for a review
Check your decision letter. It should tell you how to ask for a review and include an email address and postal address - it might also include a phone number.
It’s best to write to your local council asking them to review their decision - you can find your local council on GOV.UK. Keep a copy of your letter or email for evidence. Get a proof of posting receipt when sending your review and evidence.
You can also phone or go to the council in person to tell them you want a review. It's worth doing this if you're close to the review deadline. They should give you confirmation that you’ve asked for a review, so you can prove this later.
You’II need to say you want a review and explain why you think the council should change their decision. Make sure you say when you got your decision letter and which decision you want them to review.
You should also let the council know if your circumstances have changed as this might help your review. For example, if your health has got worse.
What you tell the council will depend on why you're asking for a review.
It’s best to have evidence to support your request for a review. If you’re sending evidence, make sure you send copies and not original documents.
If you’re waiting to get evidence, it’s still important to ask for the review within 21 days. You can send your evidence after asking for a review. Tell the council when you think you’ll be able to send your evidence and ask them to wait for it before they make their decision.
Ask for somewhere to stay during the review
The council might give you housing while they review their decision - this is called 'accommodation pending review'. If you’re already homeless or the council tell you to leave emergency accommodation, you should ask for accommodation pending review when you ask for the review.
If the council say they won’t give you accommodation pending review and you want to challenge this, talk to an adviser.
Before you get your review decision
The council should write to you with their decision within 8 weeks - unless you agree to let the council have more time.
After requesting a review the council might ask you to meet with a housing officer to give more information.
You should go to the meeting - it’s your chance to make sure the council fully understands your situation and why you disagree with their decision.
It's worth taking another copy of your evidence with you - so you can refer back to it if you need to.
You can take someone with you - to take notes, or just for support.
You can also send further written information or evidence to the council after asking for a review. Talk to an adviser if you need help putting together a further written case.
Getting your review decision
If you disagree with the council's review decision you might be able to appeal to the county court. You must do this within 21 days of getting the decision.
You can only appeal if the council got the law wrong or didn’t investigate properly.
You can also appeal if the council miss the deadline to decide on your review. This is 8 weeks after you asked for the review, unless you agreed to give them more time. You must appeal within 21 days of the deadline.
Talk to an adviser if you want to appeal a decision to the county court.
Making a complaint to the council
Complaining won’t usually make the council change their decision. It might make them improve their service, and they might give you money as an apology.
You should consider complaining if the people dealing with your homeless application or issue have handled it badly. They might have:
- handled your application wrong - for example, if they took too long to look at it
- discriminated against you - check if you’ve been discriminated against
- tried to stop you from applying for help
Check how to complain on your council's website - you’ll usually need to make a written complaint. Find your local council on GOV.UK.
Make sure your letter explains what the council did wrong and what you want them to do - include evidence to support your case.
Making a complaint to the ombudsman
You can complain to the Public Services Ombudsman if you’ve already complained to your local council and either:
- you’ve gone all the way through the council’s complaints procedure - this usually includes 2 or 3 stages
- the council hasn’t replied to you within 12 weeks and you haven’t agreed to give them more time
The ombudsman is independent and will examine the case from both sides to recommend a decision they think is fair.
Check how to complain to the Public Services Ombudsman on their website. Your local council will be listed as a type of ‘public service provider’ - it might also be called a ‘local authority’.
Talk to an adviser if you need help complaining.