You may need to ask the government for help with housing. To ask for help with housing for you and your family you need to go to the Local Authority (also called your local council) for help if you are homeless or threatened with homelessness within the next 56 days. You can find which is your Local Council by entering your postcode on this website https://www.gov.uk/findlocal-council You can request help from your Local Authority if your accommodation is overcrowded, in a poor state of repair or you are at risk of violence. The Local Authority should carry out a ‘homelessness assessment’ to establish what kind of support you need and what they can offer. The Local Authority will ask for evidence to assess your needs such as:
  • Evidence you have Leave to Remain in the UK
  • Evidence of ‘priority need’
  • Evidence that you are not homeless through any fault of your own
  • Evidence of a ‘local connection’

Priority need

To assess who is most in need of help the Local Authority will want to know; If anyone in your family is a child under 18 years old; If anyone in your family is pregnant If anyone is ‘vulnerable’ (this may be because of disability, serious health condition or because they are at risk of domestic violence).

local connection

Most Local Authorities apply a residency test, or wider local connection test, as part of their qualification criteria to go on the waiting list. A ‘local connection’ may usually be established through living or working in an area, or through have close family living in an area.

Once you have somewhere to live, you will need to sign a ‘tenancy agreement’. This is a legal contract between you (the tenant) and the landlord who owns the housing (this might be the local authority, a housing association, or a private individual). Your tenancy agreement sets out the rights and responsibilities of the tenant and the landlord. It will also state the date you can move in, how long the contract is for, how much the rent is and when you must pay it.