Homelessness help from Havering Council

If you are homeless tonight, or about to lose your home, contact Havering Council straight away. It cannot turn you away without looking at your case. You do not have to wait until you are on the street. For anyone eligible, the council's duties begin once you are likely to become homeless within 56 days.^[30]

In office hours, phone or apply online. Call the council's Housing Solutions team on 01708 432824, from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. You can also register as homeless through its online form.^[18]

Out of hours. If you have been made homeless outside those hours, the council runs an emergency out-of-hours service on 01708 433999. It covers 5pm to 9am on weekdays, and all day at weekends and on bank holidays.^[20] If you or someone else is in danger, call 999.

Domestic abuse. If you are in immediate danger, call 999; the council says it will also put you in contact with a refuge. If domestic abuse makes you homeless, it says it will do all it can to find you a safe place to stay, which may be outside Havering. It names the free 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247, and Havering Women's Aid on 01708 728759 for local support.^[18]

Sleeping rough. If you are sleeping rough, or worried about someone who is, contact StreetLink, which the council says connects rough sleepers to local support. The council says it checks the borough regularly and makes sure shelter is available in severe weather.^[23]

Free advice and drop-ins. The council names Shelter and Havering Citizens Advice for housing advice. It also lists a drop-in at The Salvation Army in Romford, where its Housing Solutions service joins a multi-agency session on the first Tuesday of each month. Check the time with the Salvation Army before you go.^[18]

Havering's duties come from Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and are the same across England. The general homelessness guide explains each one. In short:

• If you are eligible and likely to become homeless within 56 days, the council owes you the prevention duty. It must take reasonable steps to help you keep your home or find another.^[30]
• If you are already homeless and eligible, it owes you the relief duty — reasonable steps to help you secure accommodation.^[30]
• In both cases it must assess your circumstances and record the steps you and the council will each take in a personalised housing plan.^[30]
• If you are eligible, in priority need and did not become homeless intentionally, the main housing duty can follow once the relief duty ends. The council must then secure accommodation for your household until the duty ends in one of the ways the law allows.^[30]

How the council says it helps. It agrees a Personal Housing Support Plan with you, setting out what you and the council will each do. It expects you to keep in touch about the steps you have taken.^[18]

Private renting, not council housing. The council says council housing in Havering is very limited and has a long waiting list. So it helps people find private rented homes, sometimes outside Havering.^[18] Its Find Your Own scheme can pay one month's rent and one month's deposit directly to the landlord. The home must be within Local Housing Allowance rates.^[18]

Immigration status. The council says people whose immigration status makes them ineligible for public funds are excluded from its homelessness help.^[18] Who is eligible is set out in the general homelessness guide.^[30]

Local connection. The council looks at how long you have lived in the area, work, close family and other special circumstances.^[18] Without a local connection, your case may be referred to a council where you have one. It is never referred where you would be at risk of domestic abuse, or where you have suffered other violence there and would probably face more.^[30]

If Havering has reason to believe you may be homeless, eligible and in priority need, it must secure interim accommodation while it looks into your case. The duty arises before any decision on your application.^[30]

Whatever is provided must be suitable for your whole household. For households with dependent children or a pregnant member, bed and breakfast can be used only when nothing else is available. Even then, it can be used for no more than 6 weeks in total.^[30]

What the council provides. The council says demand is extremely high. So emergency accommodation is likely to be a hotel, nightly let or hostel, inside or outside the borough.^[26] Its placement policy says an emergency placement will very likely be outside the borough. It also says most hotels, nightly lets and hostels do not allow pets.^[26]

What it expects of you. You must claim housing benefit. The council warns your accommodation is at risk if you do not complete the claim within 28 days.^[26] Tell the council about any change in your details or situation.

Moving on. The council says it moves households on to longer-term accommodation within a 60-mile radius of Havering, and makes one suitable offer.^[26] Its placement policy says it weighs medical needs, schooling, work and safety when deciding where to place you.^[26]

Turning down an offer. The council makes only one offer of emergency accommodation. If you refuse it without a review in your favour, you will not get another offer, and its duty may end.^[26] It strongly advises moving in and asking it to review the accommodation's suitability at the same time, by email. That is the council's own advice; the legal review rights below work differently for emergency accommodation.^[26] Get advice before you refuse anything.

If you think accommodation offered under a duty is unsuitable, you can normally ask for a review. Emergency accommodation provided while the council investigates is challenged differently.^[30]

Section 202 of the Housing Act 1996 gives you the right to have most important homelessness decisions looked at again.^[30] That covers decisions on:

• your eligibility, or whether you count as homeless
• priority need, or a finding of intentional homelessness
• the council bringing a duty to an end
• whether accommodation offered to you is suitable.^[30]

You have 21 days from the date you are told the decision, unless the council agrees in writing to give you longer. If the review goes against you, or you do not hear back in time, you can appeal. The appeal goes to the county court on a point of law under section 204, again within 21 days.^[30]

Asking Havering for a review. The council's placement policy says a suitability review must be asked for in writing, by letter or email. Its temporary accommodation page gives housingapplicationappeal@havering.gov.uk for suitability reviews. Its complaints page says appeals against housing decisions do not go through the complaints process.^[26] Ask within the 21 days, even if you are still gathering your reasons, and keep a dated copy.^[30]

Homelessness cases fall within civil legal aid. If you qualify, a legal aid solicitor can advise on and run a review or appeal at no cost. Check through the government's Find a Legal Aid Adviser tool.^[45] The council names Shelter and Havering Citizens Advice for housing advice.^[18]

A complaint about how your case was handled, rather than what was decided, goes to the council first. After that, it can go to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. That route cannot replace a section 202 review or a section 204 appeal, which have their own strict deadlines.^[42]