Homeless or at risk of homelessness

We can help if you are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless

Homeless

If you are homeless, get in touch with us as soon as possible, so that we can help.

We may consider you to be homeless if you:

  • have been issued with a notice to quit, a possession notice or eviction warrant
  • can't go home because of violence or harassment
  • have somewhere to stay, but it's not reasonable for you to do so
  • have been living with friends or family and been asked to leave
  • are sleeping rough

At risk of homelessness

Come to us for help as soon as you are worried about losing your home. The sooner you come to us, the more we can help.

Our main aim is to help keep you in your home and we can provide free advice and support to help you. If it isn't possible for you to stay in your current home, we may be able to help you find somewhere else to live.

Everyone is different, so we need to know about your individual circumstances to find the best solution to your housing problem.

We can help you with:

  • your rights and responsibilities
  • finding the right accommodation
  • improving communication with family, landlords or lenders
  • having your home repossessed
  • being evicted
  • dealing with violence or aggression
  • getting help from other organisation

We may also be able to give you financial support to prevent you becoming homeless. This could include: rent deposits rent in advance help with rent or mortgage arrears We will need to carry out a financial assessment to check that you are eligible. You can apply online (above) or contact us.

Contact us

You can apply online (below) and then a member of our housing team will get in touch with you. Depending on your circumstances you may not hear from us for up to 5 working days. If the system advises you are NOT eligible for assistance can you please contact us on 01271 388870.

Apply for housing advice or support

If you'd rather speak to someone on the phone or in person, you can do that too.

We are here to give advice and information to everyone. We will assess your need and advise you of the help we can provide. In some cases we may have a duty to provide you with temporary accommodation. This could be in a private rented property, bed and breakfast or women's refuge.

If you aren't eligible for temporary accommodation but are at risk of becoming homeless, there may still be lots of things we can do to help.

Reviews

When you make a homeless application to us, we will tell you of all our decision’s either in writing or via email to your mobile device. If you do not agree with any of the decisions made then you have the right to ask us to reconsider our decision, this is called a ‘review’.

If you decide to request a review you need to be able to tell us why you think our decision is wrong and any additional information you wish us to consider. Before making contact with us you may wish to talk to a solicitor or an independent advice agency. In some cases they may actually agree to contact us on your behalf.

The procedure for requesting a review is outlined below:

  • it would be appreciated if you could contact us within two days to advise that you intend to request a review of the decision 
  • submit your review letter within 21 days from the date of the original decision
  • the review will be considered by a Housing Officer, senior to the officer who made the original decision 

Our Senior Housing Officer will respond with a decision to the review:

  • within three weeks (although we will try and respond quicker if possible) if the review is about the steps we have asked you to take
  • within eight weeks (although we will try and respond quicker if possible) if the review is about any other decision we have made
  • within 10 or 12 weeks if the review is about the referral of our duties to another local authority

Please note

We are currently experiencing extremely high service demand, and so temporarily it is taking longer than the normal 5 working days for officers to make contact.

Please bear with us at this time, a housing officer will contact you as soon as is possible. If you are going to be homeless within the next week, please make this clear on your referral form.

If you do not have accommodation that is safe for you to access tonight, please continue to apply online (below) or call our customer service line on 01271 388870. Our town centre offices in Barnstaple and Ilfracombe are open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 9am to 1pm.

Please use the online referral form or telephone and only attend a town centre office at these times if this is not possible for you. If it is after 5pm or at the weekend please call the out of hours number 01271 388240.