Homelessness

The Housing Advice Team gives free advice and assistance on housing matters to anybody in the District who needs it. We also have a responsibility to help people that are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

If you think you may be homeless soon it is important that you come and speak to us as soon as possible so that we can try and prevent your homelessness and help you find an alternative home.

Please contact the team directly in the first instance by telephone, e-mail or fax and a housing advice interview will be arranged.

This is a guide to the assistance that can be provided under the 1996 Housing Act (as amended by the 2002 Homelessness Act). It sets out the legal duties that we have, where we are satisfied that a household is:

• homeless
• eligible
• has a priority need
• and is not intentionally homeless.

We will consider you to be homeless if:

• you have nowhere to live
• you have been living somewhere, but you have no legal right to stay there and have been told to leave
• you have somewhere to live, but someone else who lives there has been violent towards you, or is likely to be violent towards you
• you have somewhere to live, but nowhere for the people who normally live with you
• you have been made homeless as a result of an emergency, such as fire, flood or some other disaster

We will consider you to be threatened with homelessness if you are likely to become homeless within the next 28 days.
This may be because:

• you have been taken to court by your landlord and the court has said you must leave
• you have been living with friends or relatives who have told you to leave

Certain categories of people are not 'eligible' for assistance under the homelessness legislation, because they do not usually live in the UK or are subject to some form of immigration control. You are likely to be eligible for assistance if:

• you usually live in the UK and are not subject to any form of immigation control
• you usually live in the UK and are subject to immigration control but your right to stay here is not subject to any time limit or condition/s
• you have been given refugee status, or exceptional leave to remain here, as a result of an application for asylum

You may be in priority need for accommodation if:

• you are 16 or 17 years old, and are not a child in need as defined by Social Services.
• you are 18 to 20 years old and were looked after by a local authority or fostered between the ages of 16 and 18
• you have dependent children who are under 16, or under 19 if they are in full time education, who live with you
• you, or any member of your household is pregnant
• you are at risk of violence
• you have been made homeless as a result of fire, flood or some other disaster

You may be 'vulnerable' because:

• you are an older person (over 60 years old as a guide)
• you suffer from mental illness, disability, or physical illness (when homeless, the applicant would be unable to fend for himself than an ordinary homeless person)
• you are at risk of domestic or other violence
• you are at risk as a young person
• you are over 21 but used to be looked after, accommodated or fostered

Intentionally Homeless

We may consider you to be intentionally homeless if you have become homeless as a result of something you have deliberately done or failed to do. There are two areas we may consider.
The first area is:

• You have deliberately done something, or have failed to do something, the consequence of which is that you have lost or are likely to lose accommodation which was or is available.
• It must have been reasonable for you to have continued to occupy accommodation, and
• You must have been aware of all the facts before deliberately taking, or failing to take, the actions referred to above

The second area is:

• You have entered into an agreement under which you are required to cease to occupy the accommodation
• It must have been reasonable for you to have continued to occupy the accommodation
• The purpose of the arrangement is to enable you to become entitled to assistance under Part VII of the 1996 Act, and
• There is no other good reason why you are homeless or threatened with homelessness

We are unlikely to consider you intentionally homeless if we decide that:

• It was not reasonable for you to stay in your last home
• You left home because of violence or fear of violence
• Your home went with your job and you lost it through no fault of your own

Each application is looked at individually.

Local Connection

We also have to establish if you have a 'local connection' with North West Leicestershire District Council. If not, we have to establish if you have a 'local connection' with any other district in England, Scotland or Wales.
Local Authorities have agreed guidelines to help them decide whether you have a local connection with their borough. You may have a local connection if:

• you have lived in the borough for six out of the last 12 months, with the exception of interim or temporary accommodation provided to you by another local authority
• you have lived in the borough for three out of the last five years, with the exception of interim or temporary accommodation provided to you by another local authority
• you have permanent employment in the borough
• you have a close family member who has lived in the borough for the last five years(e.g. mother, father, sister, brother, son or daughter)

We may refer you to another council and ask them to assist you if:

• you have no local connection with North West Leicestershire District Council, but do have a local connection with the other council
• you made a homeless application to another local authority in the last five years and were placed in the borough by that local authority

We have to make sure that the other council has agreed to assist you before sending you here. While these arrangements are being made, North West Leicestershire District Council has to consider whether to offer you interim accommodation if this is required. (Interim accommodation is accommodation provided whilst we are carrying out our investigations).
We will not force you to return to an area where you have experienced, or are likely to experience violence.