The letter from the council's housing team says you are intentionally homeless, and it reads like a door closing. Being found intentionally homeless is a legal decision the council has to justify point by point, and you can challenge it by asking for a review within 21 days. It also does not end every kind of help.
This covers councils in England. Wales has its own rules under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014. If you have not left your home yet, read how to get council help before you are evicted first, because moving out before a court order without asking the council in writing can lead to exactly this decision.
What does intentionally homeless mean?
Section 191(1) of the Housing Act 1996 sets the test. The council has to be satisfied of every part of it, and the Code of Guidance says it is generally not for you to prove your case. Test your own situation against each question.
- Did you deliberately do, or fail to do, something? Choosing not to pay rent you could afford is deliberate. Falling behind because you genuinely could not afford it, or because your benefits were delayed, generally is not.
- Did you lose your home because of it? What you did has to be the reason you stopped living there.
- Was the home available to you? It counts only if your household could live there with you, under section 176.
- Would it have been reasonable to stay? If not, you are not intentionally homeless, however you left.
Something done in good faith by someone who did not know a relevant fact is not deliberate, under section 191(2). Moving out because you wrongly believed you had to go when a notice ran out can fall within this.
Arranging with someone, such as a friend, relative or landlord, to ask you to leave a home you could reasonably have stayed in, so that you qualify for help, counts as intentional under section 191(3). That does not apply if there is some other good reason you are homeless, such as overcrowding or a relationship breaking down.
Since 30 September 2026, most care leavers under 25 in England cannot be found intentionally homeless at all. The FAQ below explains who that covers.
Does mental health affect an intentionally homeless decision?
It can. The Code says an act is generally not deliberate if you could not manage your affairs because of mental illness, disability or age, or if it came from limited mental capacity or a temporary lapse caused by mental illness. Tell the council about it and back it up with a letter from your GP or support worker.
Can you be intentionally homeless because of rent arrears?
Yes, but only if the council decides you chose not to pay. The Code tells councils that arrears from financial difficulties beyond your control, or from Housing Benefit or Universal Credit delays, should generally not count as deliberate. Councils should also watch for economic abuse, where a partner controlled the money. Refusing again and again to pay rent you could afford can count as deliberate, and so can being evicted for anti-social behaviour.
Affordability can work in your favour. The Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) Order 1996 makes the council ask whether the home was affordable when it decides whether staying was reasonable. It weighs your income and benefits against the rent, council tax and your other reasonable living expenses. If the rent outgrew what you could pay, staying may have stopped being reasonable.
The state of the home counts as well. Serious disrepair or overcrowding can make a home unreasonable to stay in, and under section 175(3) a home like that does not count as accommodation at all.
What if you're intentionally homeless but in priority need?
The finding costs you the main housing duty, the council's duty to keep you housed, usually until you are offered a settled home. Some help stays.
The relief duty under section 189B is to take reasonable steps to help you secure somewhere suitable to live for at least 6 months. It is owed to anyone the council accepts is eligible and homeless, and the intentionally homeless finding makes no difference to whether you get it. For you it does not end automatically after 56 days. The council has to send a notice ending it, usually once 56 days have passed, and that notice must tell you that you can ask for a review.
Priority need includes people with dependent children, pregnant women and anyone made homeless as a result of domestic abuse, which counts on its own without proving vulnerability. If you are in priority need, section 190(2) says that once relief ends the council must provide accommodation for long enough to give you a reasonable opportunity to find somewhere, plus advice and help with looking. The Act sets no fixed length, so ask the council in writing how long it is giving you and why.
Without priority need, the relief help is all the council owes. It has no duty to house you once relief ends.
What happens if you're found intentionally homeless with children?
If your dependent children live with you, or could reasonably be expected to, you are in priority need, so the council must house you for a reasonable period, as above. Under section 213A it must also ask your permission to share your case with children's services, so they can look at what help your family needs. If you agree, they are told the housing decision too. Saying no does not stop the council sharing information where another law allows it, for example if it is worried about a child's safety.
How to challenge an intentionally homeless decision
Ask for a review within 21 days of being told of the decision, under section 202. Do it in writing. The council can allow longer, but only in writing too. A short letter asking for a review is enough to meet the deadline, and you can send fuller reasons afterwards.
Point to the part of the test the council got wrong, such as arrears caused by a benefit delay, rent that had become unaffordable, a notice you misunderstood in good faith, or a mental health problem nobody asked about. Send evidence with it, such as bank statements, benefit letters, a GP letter or messages with your landlord.
The review must be done by someone who was not involved in the first decision and is more senior, under the Homelessness (Review Procedure etc.) Regulations 2018. If the reviewer finds a flaw in the first decision but still intends to decide against you, they must tell you why and let you respond, by speaking to them or in writing. The decision should normally arrive within 8 weeks of your request.
If the review goes against you, or the council misses the 8-week deadline, you can appeal to the county court on a point of law within 21 days under section 204. The court can allow a late appeal if there was a good reason for the delay. The council may keep you housed while the review or appeal runs, under section 188(3) and section 204(4), but it does not have to, so ask in writing.
Remedy can read the council's decision letter, check it against each part of the section 191 test, and help you write a review request inside the 21 days.
