Housing Options and Homelessness

Women’s Rough Sleeping Census

In the last week of September, we will be talking to women about their recent experiences of not having a safe place to stay. This research will help us understand women’s experiences with homelessness and rough sleeping and advocate for improved support and services for women.

Would you like to take part and tell us about your experience of homelessness?

If you would like further information or to take part in the census, please contact our Housing Options team on 0115 9173439.

Council Assistance

Broxtowe Borough Council’s Housing Options Team can help you in the following ways:

• Assessing your current housing situation and working out what your needs and requirements are
• Advising you on steps to take to avoid homelessness and stay in your home
• Being available for referral from partners and support services.
• If you have a physical or mental illness, if you are ex armed forces and homeless, a care leaver and homeless or if you have been released from prison and have nowhere to live, the Housing Options Team may be able to refer you to specialist support organisations that can help you.
• Referring you to specialist Domestic Abuse support
• Getting support from accommodation services, who can refer to legal specialists.
• Supported housing may be an option for you and the Housing Options Team can make referrals on your behalf in these circumstances.
• Helping you to make a housing plan so that you can work towards the next steps to find a permanent home.

If you are homeless now, or are threatened with being made homeless within the next 56 days please contact the Housing Options team for advice as soon as possible on 0115 917 3439.

Process for Preventing Homelessness

We will register a homeless application for all eligible customers who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. From 1st April 2018, we will make every effort to prevent or relieve homelessness after registering an application before it makes a final decision on the application. This means that applications will be open longer whilst we try to assist each customer in preventing or relieving their homelessness.

If it is not possible to prevent homelessness in 56 days we will then help to relieve homelessness for another 56 days. We will also start to register applications for those who are threatened with homelessness within 56 days to ensure that more people are assisted as soon as possible. We will make our decision for whether people are owed the full housing duty at the end of the relief stage if the homelessness has not been resolved. We will continue to provide some customers with interim accommodation where applicable while we seek alternative solutions to their problems.

Make a Homelessness Referral (Duty to Refer)

This duty requires specified public authorities from 1 October 2018 to notify a Housing authority of service users they consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness (It is likely they will become homeless within 56 days). The public authorities which are subject to the duty to refer are specified in the Homelessness (Review Procedure) Regulations 2018.

The public services included in the duty are:

• Prisons
• Young Offender Institutions & Youth Offending Teams
• Hospital Emergency Departments & inpatient care
• Jobcentre Plus
• Social Services Authorities
• Secretary of State for Defence
• Probation Services

Before making a referral, a public authority must have consent to make the referral and consent from the individual that their contact details can be shared so that the housing authority can contact them.

Referrals can be made via email, along with any supporting and additional documentation to dutytorefer@broxtowe.gov.uk

Specific Circumstances

Find more advice and guidance on housing options and homelessness and how we can help in these specific instances:

• Care Leavers
• Homeless After Leaving Hospital
• Homeless When Released From Prison
• Mental Health and Homeless
• Domestic Abuse and Homelessness
• Deposit Guarantee Scheme

Homelessness Strategy

The South Nottinghamshire Homelessness Partnership (Broxtowe Borough Council, Gedling Borough Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council) have worked together to develop a draft Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Strategy. 

The strategy aims to build on the priorities and progress made in the preceding strategy and enable us to respond to the new and emerging challenges that we face in tackling homelessness in South Nottinghamshire.

In accordance with the Homelessness Act 2002, all local authorities must have in place a Homelessness Strategy based on a review of all forms of homelessness in their district and demonstrating how homelessness will be prevented and resolved.  The Strategy must be renewed at least every 5 years.