Homelessness Prevention

No-one wants to become homeless, but if you think you may be going to lose your home, seek help early. The Council will work with you to prevent your homelessness and the sooner we can get involved, the more likely we are to be able to help.  See the navigation on the left of this page for links to more pages providing advice on homelessness prevention.

Help Which Can be Provided

The Council will work with potentially homeless households and other parties to try and prevent the homelessness, this includes talking to:

• Landlords
• Housing Associations
• Mortgage Companies
• Housing Benefits Staff
• Debt Agencies
• Other Advice Agencies
• Other Support Agencies

We can also provide mediation, such as talking to family, friends and relatives if this is helpful.
Where this is not possible you will be offered advice on other options, such as private renting. This will include information on private lettings agents, schemes such as the Rent Deposit Scheme (PDF Document, 1.5 Mb) and how you apply for benefits if you might need help with the rent.

Arrears

If you are in arrears with your rent and you are a Council, Housing Association or private rented tenant you should:

• Speak to your local housing officer or landlord as soon as possible. They may be able to agree a repayment schedule with you to help you repay your rent arrears and this would enable you to make regular payments to repay your arrears.
• Seek assistance and advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau who may be able to give money or debt advice. Do not borrow more money. Don't enter into repayment agreements with companies that charge you for this, the Citizens Advice Bureau will help you for free!
• Contact the Housing Advice Team
  at the Council offices as soon as possible. The sooner we are aware of your situation the sooner we will be able to work with you to try to resolve the problem.
• If you lose your home because of rent arrears then you may be considered as intentionally homeless.

Mortgage Payment Arrears

If you are in mortgage arrears or in financial difficulty which means you cannot afford to pay your mortgage you should contact your lender in the first instance and discuss the situation. If you cannot pay the full mortgage amount, you should pay what you can. You should list all of your regular incomings and regular outgoings along with any other debts you may have. This should indicate how much money you have left to repay your arrears. Your mortgage debt is a priority debt. The Citizens Advice Bureau or a solicitor may be able to assist you with your difficulties. Contact the Housing Advice Team at the Council offices as soon as possible who will be able to work with you and other agencies to try to resolve your problems.

Accommodation Lacking Essential Services or Badly Maintained

If you are renting accommodation that is lacking essential services such as hot water or is being badly maintained, the landlord may have a legal duty to put the problems right. You should contact the Council's Environmental Services Division. You could also contact the Citizens Advice Bureau, a solicitor or Shelter who may also be able to advise you.

Tenancy Coming To An End

If you have been given notice by your landlord to leave your accommodation you should contact the Housing Advice Team on 01530 454811 for advice as soon as possible. The Council will check to ensure that the notice given is legally valid. Also, the Council will check with your landlord to see if you really do need to leave.

Harassment and Illegal Eviction

If your landlord is harassing you or attempting to illegally evict you, the Council could prosecute them. Harassment is a criminal offence and in the first instance, you should contact the police. If a landlord persists in harassing you or illegally evicting you, the Council has the power to prosecute the landlord and if found guilty in a court of law, the landlord may face a fine and imprisonment.

Harassment includes your landlord cutting off essential services such as electricity or your landlord entering your accommodation without permission. If you are experiencing any problems, please contact the Housing Advice Team at the Council offices.

Accommodation Tied To Your Employment That Is Coming to an End

If you are in tied accommodation such as a publican, agriculture worker or a quarry worker and you are going to lose your employment, you should contact the Housing Advice Team on 01530 454811 for advice as soon as you receive notice of the termination of your employment.

Fleeing Your Accommodation Due to Harassment, Threats of Violence or Actual Violence.

Please contact the police in an emergency. You can also contact Women's Aid Helpline on 0116 2550004. They provide support to women experiencing domestic violence and when necessary, emergency accommodation for safety reasons can be arranged.
Other accommodation may be made available to others. You can also contact the Housing Advice Team at the Council offices.

Requested To Leave by Friends or Relatives.

If you are being made homeless because friends or relatives are evicting you, you should contact this office as soon as you know. In some situations when being asked to leave by friends or relatives, the Council may wish to speak with the person responsible for evicting you and when possible, we may wish to mediate between yourself and this person in order to prevent homelessness altogether or to extend the amount of time that you have before you become homeless.

Young, Single and Homeless

If you are a young single person and threatened with homelessness, we would require that you inform your youth worker such as a Connexions Advisor, Social Worker or Youth Offending Officer. We would expect you to participate in an interview and if possible, the Council may wish to mediate between yourself and the person who is making you homeless in order to prevent homelessness altogether or, to extend the amount of time that you have before you become homeless.

See related documents below for more information.