Homelessness help from Hounslow Council

If you are homeless tonight, or worried you are about to lose your home, contact Hounslow 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.^[29]

In office hours, phone or apply online. Call the council's housing team on 020 8583 3942, which it lists as open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. You can also apply through its online form.^[16]

Out of hours. Outside office hours, call the council's emergency line on 020 8583 2222 if you are homeless tonight and have not already spoken to the day team, or are at immediate risk of violence or abuse at home. The council will not answer a withheld number, so call from one that shows, or leave a message with a number it can call back.^[17] If you or someone else is in danger, call 999.

Domestic abuse. If you are in immediate danger, call 999. The council says that, after assessing your circumstances, it may provide emergency accommodation, help you find a refuge, or help you get legal help to stay in your home. Its Domestic and Sexual Abuse Team gives free, confidential advice on 07810 031 780, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.^[21]

Sleeping rough. If you are sleeping rough, or worried about someone who is, contact StreetLink. The council says StreetLink alerts its outreach team to where you are.^[25]

Free advice is available at any point. The council names Shelter, Citizens Advice and Crisis, and Centrepoint for people aged 18 to 25.^[16]

Hounslow'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 detail. In short:

• If you are eligible and likely to become homeless within 56 days, the council owes you the prevention duty — reasonable steps to help you keep your home or find another before you lose it.^[29]
• If you are already homeless and eligible, it owes you the relief duty — reasonable steps to help you secure accommodation.^[29]
• In both cases it must assess your circumstances and record the steps you and the council will each take in a personalised housing plan.^[29]
• 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.^[29]

What the council says it can do. It will try to help you stay in your current home.^[18] If it has accepted a duty to help you and you find your own private rented home, it may make a one-off payment, equivalent to a deposit, if the home is affordable and suitable for you.^[18] It encourages people to look at cheaper areas outside London. It warns that if you turn down a home it considers suitable, for reasons it does not accept, its help may end.^[18]

Immigration status. The council says it may not be able to help if your immigration status means you have no recourse to public funds.^[16] Who is eligible is set out in the general homelessness guide.^[29]

Without a local connection to Hounslow, your case may be referred to a council where you have one — but never where you would be at risk of domestic abuse, or where you have suffered other violence and would probably face more.^[29]

If Hounslow has reason to believe you may be homeless, eligible and in priority need, it must secure interim accommodation for you while it looks into your case. The duty arises before any decision on your application.^[29]

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 where nothing else is available — and then for no more than 6 weeks in total.^[29]

What the council provides. The council says it may place you in a homeless hostel, bed and breakfast or a self-contained home. It may be outside Hounslow if it is short of properties.^[18] It says where it places you depends on what is available and your circumstances. It will consider how far you have to travel for work, school or caring.^[18]

Turning down an offer. The council warns that if you refuse a reasonable offer after it has accepted your homelessness application, it may end its housing duty. That could mean eviction from your temporary accommodation.^[18] Get advice before you refuse anything.

The local picture. The council's own dashboard recorded 542 households in temporary accommodation, including hostels, in August 2026.^[27]

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.^[29]

Section 202 of the Housing Act 1996 gives you the right to have most important homelessness decisions looked at again.^[29] 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.^[29]

You have 21 days from the date you are told the decision, unless the council agrees in writing to give you longer. A review that goes against you — or one you do not hear back about in time — can then be taken to the county court on a point of law under section 204, again within 21 days.^[29]

Asking Hounslow for a review. The council's complaints policy says homelessness decisions, including the suitability of temporary accommodation, go through the statutory review process, not its complaints process. It gives Reviews@hounslow.gov.uk as the contact for a review.^[26] Ask within the 21 days, even if you are still gathering your reasons, and keep a dated copy.^[29]

Homelessness cases fall within civil legal aid, so a legal aid solicitor can advise on and run a review or appeal at no cost if you qualify. Check through the government's Find a Legal Aid Adviser tool.^[44] The council names Hillingdon Law Centre as giving housing advice to people who live in Hounslow.^[16]

A complaint about how your case was handled, rather than what was decided, goes through the council's complaints process first, then 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.^[41]