The Housing Options and Homelessness Team offer a free and
confidential advice service on a wide range of housing matters for
people who live in the Bath and North East Somerset area.
Appointments to see an adviser can be booked in advance by
phoning 01225 396296. In an emergency people can
be interviewed immediately. We also offer appointments
at Council Connect at The Hollies in Midsomer Norton on Tuesday
mornings 9.30 til 12.30.
Opening times:
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 8.30am - 5.00pm
Wednesday 9.30am - 5.00pm
Friday 8.30am - 4.30pm
If you need help outside of office hours, please
contact the emergency duty team on 01454 615165.
Email: housing@bathnes.gov.uk
Drop in: Lewis House, Manvers Street, Bath
Council Connect, The Hollies, Midsomer Norton.
One of our main roles is to prevent homelessness and to work
with service users to find a solution for their immediate and
longer term needs by offering practical guidance. If you are
experiencing problems with paying your rent or mortgage, it is
important that you seek advice quickly. We can give you legal
advice and can refer you for specialist support to assist you in
dealing with your landlord or lender.
Moving or finding a private rented home
If you are looking to move or find a home, it is always better
to try and give yourself plenty of time for a planned moved.
We can provide you with advice and information on finding and
paying for private rented accommodation. You can refer to our more
detailed guide
Finding and paying for private rented accommodation.
Home Swapper
Home Swapper is for Housing Association or council tenants who
want to swap with other tenants, either here or in other parts of
the country. The Home Swapper scheme is popular particularly now
that it is available on the Internet by logging onto www.homeswapper.co.uk and
registering. You can also apply to go on your landlords
transfer waiting list by contacting your landlord directly for
advice and an application form.
Homesearch - social housing register
Bath and North East Somerset Council does not own any council
houses but we administer the Homesearch housing register
which is a choice based lettings system. We work in
partnership with the majority Housing Association who are landlords
of social housing in our area. The register is very
oversubscribed, lettings are usually made to those in greatest
housing need and many applicants have to wait a number of
years. www.homesearchbathnes.org.uk
to register and for more information.
Low Cost Home Ownership
If you are considering buying a home but cannot afford to do so
outright this could be an option for you either because you cannot
afford the full mortgage payments or the deposit, or both.
Some schemes may offer you a purchase share in a property with an
opportunity of buying more shares at a later date. Other
schemes will provide you with a loan to enable you to purchase a
property of your own choosing. Anyone who is interested in
low cost home ownership needs to contact Home2own the Homebuy Agent
for the South West.
Home2own operates and maintains the Low Cost Home Ownership
Register. Registered Providers (formerly known as Housing
Associations) with low cost home ownership homes for sale obtain a
list of potential purchasers from Home2own by matching details of
applicants on the register to the properties available.
To obtain an application form and guidance notes from Home2own
either telephone 0300 100 0021or by website www.home2own.org.uk.
Supported housing
Supported housing is available for people of all ages who may
need support to live independently. It includes
lodgings for young people, sheltered housing for the elderly
and supported housing for people with mental or physical
disabilities.
- Low-support hostels offer accommodation to people in housing
need, but for only a limited time.
- Low to medium supportive hostels provides accommodation for
people wanting to live fairly independently with some personal
support.
- Higher support hostels give accommodation for up to 2 year with
an emphasis on counselling, education and training, and they aim to
prepare their residents for independent living.
If you think this may be the option for you ask the Housing
Options and Homelessness Team for more detailed information on all
the projects and their referral criteria.
Emergency night shelter accommodation
If all else fails and you don’t have friends or family who can
let you sofa surf for a while, you can try the Night Shelter at
Julian House. Our reception has leaflets on the Services
provided by Julian House. www.julianhouse.org.uk
This information can be made available in a range of
languages, large print, Braille, on tape, electronic and accessible
formats. Contact the Information Officer on 01225 477983,
Minicom 01225 477043 or email information_officer@bathnes.gov.uk