Accessing permanent housing
If a homelessness duty is owed to you by the Council, the Housing service will work with you to understand your circumstances and create a pathway to find you secured accommodation. Your housing officer will explain your pathway options with you, and you will be required to keep them up to date with any changes in your circumstances to ensure the pathway is still the correct one.
The number of applicants on the Housing Register outstrips the supply of social housing in the Borough, and therefore you should look to other forms of accommodation to solve your homelessness:
Private rented accommodation is the main pathway for homeless households, and you are expected to search for your own PRS property whilst you are owed a duty by the Council, as there is a long waiting list for PRS properties that the Council is offered.
You can view available properties through sites such as Zoopla, Rightmove, OnTheMarket. If you find a property you like, you can contact your housing officer to discuss the property and what support is available to you.
Homefinder is a nationwide scheme to help applicants find permanent social housing all over the country. If you wish to apply to Homefinder, you should visit Homefinder.
If you want to apply to join the Housing Register you should visit the HomeOption website and complete an online application form. Your application will then be assessed within 28 days and the outcome will be sent to you.
You can also find out if you would be entitled to any benefits to support you Benefit calculator.
You can find out the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates for different areas to assist your search on the LHA Rates website.