Housing advice

The sooner the better...

Our advisers will help you sort out your housing problems visit us or phone us for advice if you:

will lose your home because your tenancy is going to end
have been evicted from your home
need to leave due to violence
can't stay due to a fire or flood
are sleeping on the street
have been asked to leave somewhere temporary (such as a friend's house)

Be prepared...

When we talk to you;

You will be asked to read a Privacy Notice. This concerns the information we collect from you and how we share it with the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government.

Bring the right documents with you so we can speed up our advice. We will ask you to show proof of:

identity (for example, passport or ID card)
why you have to leave your home (for example, eviction notice)

If possible, also take proof of:

income (for example, bank statements, wage slips, proof of benefits)
children (for example, child benefit or tax credit letter and birth certificates)
pregnancy (a letter from your doctor or midwife)
medical conditions (a letter from your doctor or hospital)
immigration status (a passport or other document that shows you have the right to live in the UK)

It's important to tell us about anything that make your housing problem hard for you to deal with.

It can help to take someone with you for support and to take notes.

The Homelessness Reduction Act – what it means for you...

The new Homelessness Reduction Act starts in April 2018. It increases the help all eligible applicants will get from Bath and North East Somerset Council.

It builds on previous Acts by requiring public authorities (such as the NHS) to notify the Council if someone they’re working with is facing homelessness.

All applicants will be asked to agree a personal housing plan with the Council which will set out the steps that everyone needs to take to ensure they have suitable accommodation.

It adds two new duties:

Duty to take steps to prevent homelessness: We will have to help people at risk of losing suitable accommodation as soon as they are threatened with homelessness within 56 days. (It used to be 28 days).
Duty to take steps to relieve homelessness: We will have to help all those who are homeless to secure suitable accommodation by working together on the personal housing plan. (Only people with a priority need, usually because they have dependent children, retain the right to be rehoused).

Duty to Refer

The duty to refer requires public authorities in England to notify a local housing authority, such as Bath & North East Somerset Council, of service users they think may be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Please use the Homelessness Reduction Act Referral Form to notify us of such cases, so we can provide the appropriate support to the household. Key information you will need for the referral is the person’s name, address (if applicable), and contact details and consent of the service user.

The public authorities which are subject to the duty to refer are specified in the Homelessness (Review Procedure etc.) Regulations 2018. The public services included in the duty are as follows:

(a) prisons;

(b) youth offender institutions;

(d) secure colleges;

(e) youth offending teams;

(f) probation services (including community rehabilitation companies);

(g) Jobcentre Plus;

(h) social service authorities;

(i) emergency departments;

(j) urgent treatment centres; and,

(k) hospitals in their function of providing inpatient care.

The Secretary of State for Defence is also subject to the duty to refer in relation to members of the regular forces. The regular forces are the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the regular army and the Royal Air Force.