Homelessness advice
These guides provide an overview of the steps the council will follow if you apply for help as being homeless.
You do not have to be sleeping on the street to be homeless. You might be homeless if you have:
- Nowhere you can live together with your family
- A home but it is not reasonable to expect you to remain there. This may be due to violence, overcrowding or poor living conditions
- Been living with friends and family and they want you to leave
- Been locked out of your home by your landlord
- A mobile home, boat, or caravan as your home but you have nowhere to put it
- Nowhere to live in the United Kingdom or elsewhere
I am about to become homeless, what do I do
Please visit the Housing Solutions Team at the Town Hall, Coton Road, Nuneaton, CV11 5AA or call 024 7637 6406.
Homeless applications will be investigated from those who are going to lose their home within 56 days or are being threatened with homelessness within 56 days. We will try and help you, but you must come to us as soon as possible, don't leave it until the last moment.
I am homeless, what now
We will want to know four things - are you:
- eligible for assistance
- in priority need
- intentionally homeless
- do you have a local connection
Who is not eligible for assistance?
- Person who is subject to immigration control
- Asylum seekers having accommodation, however temporary
- Person who fails the 'habitual residency test'
- Person who is an EEA National who has been required to leave the United Kingdom
- Person subject to a sponsorship agreement
If I am not eligible for assistance, what will you do for me?
A person not eligible for assistance cannot be given temporary or council accommodation but help may be available from the social services department if their criteria for a "person in need" is met.
What is a priority need?
You might be in priority need if your household includes:
- a pregnant woman
- dependent children (who are under the age of 16 or between 16 and 19 if they are in full time education)
- someone vulnerable as a result of old age, mental illness or handicap or physical disability or other special reason
- someone homeless or threatened with homelessness as a result of an emergency such as flood, fire or other disaster
- aged 16 and 17 years old
- aged under 21 years old who were in local authority care between the ages of 16 and 18
- aged 21 and over who are vulnerable as a result of leaving local authority care
- vulnerable as a result of leaving the armed forces
- vulnerable as a result of leaving prisoner
- vulnerable as a result of fleeing domestic violence or the threat of domestic violence
You say I am not in priority need, what will you do for me
If you are found not to be in priority need we will still give you advice and assistance to find a home. Advice will be given on how to register on the council's housing register, how to apply to Housing Associations and information will be given on home ownership.
You say I am in priority need, what now
If you are eligible for assistance and in priority need we will look into the reasons why you became homeless to see if you are intentionally homeless.
What is intentionally homeless
Intentionally homeless means that we have established that you chose to leave a home that you could have reasonably stayed in, or that it was your own fault that you lost your home. If you leave your home because of violence or lose your home through arrears which were no fault of your own or your partner, you will not be classed as intentionally homeless.
What happens if these investigations take time to complete
We will provide you with temporary accommodation until we decide if you are intentionally homeless. You may have to make some contribution to the cost of this accommodation but it should not be more that you can afford.
You say I am intentionally homeless, where do I go
If we establish you are intentionally homeless, we may still house you but only temporarily. It should be for long enough for you to find accommodation of your own with our advice and assistance.