Preventing homelessness

It is our duty to help you avoid becoming homeless. If you are homeless or think you might be at risk of losing your home, contact us as soon as possible so we can try to help.

You can book an appointment by phoning 01344 352010.

Everyone can get advice from the council about their housing, but the amount of assistance we can provide will be determined by a number of tests within the legislation that are applied to all homeless applications.

What do I need to bring to the appointment

We will need to see certain documents to fully assess your application. For example, we need to know what your nationality is and if applicable, what your status is in the UK. Try to bring as many of these with you as you can:

• identification for all family members in the household:
  • full birth certificates
  • passports
  • European identity cards
  • Home Office immigration papers
• proof of pregnancy (if applicable)
• proof of residency for the last 7 years
• tenancy agreement, notice to quit, possession summons/order, bailiff's warrant
• letter from parents, relative or friend saying they can no longer accommodate you
• rent book, receipts or any other proof of rent
• marriage certificate, divorce papers (if applicable)
• injunction orders, custody orders (if applicable)
• contract of employment, letter terminating employment (if applicable)
• wage slips, benefit books, bank statements, savings accounts

What legislation do we assess against

We will use relevant housing legislation and guidance to your housing assessment. This is set out in Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

Whilst we will assist all eligible households threatened with homelessness or who are homeless by carrying out a housing assessment and providing help, if we are unable to prevent or relieve your homelessness we will then consider the rest of the legislation against which you will be assessed.

A summary of this legislation against which you will be assessed is as follows:

• you have the right to reside in the United Kingdom, and you are entitled to access Public Funds
• you are homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days
• you are considered to be in ‘priority need’:
  • you have dependent children in full time education
  • you are pregnant
  • you are homeless following an emergency such as a fire or flood
  • you are significantly more vulnerable than an ordinary person would be if you were made homeless as a result of your age, mental illness, disability or are fleeing domestic violence
• you should have not made yourself intentionally homeless
• you have links or connections to the area, in this case Bracknell Forest

If you do not have a local connection to Bracknell Forest, we will refer you to a council with whom you do have a connection.