Who we find temporary accommodation for and what to expect.
Who we find temporary accommodation for
If you and your household are eligible for assistance, homeless, with no other options, and we think you have a priority need we may provide you with temporary accommodation.
A household is one person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) who are living together.
What is temporary accommodation
Temporary accommodation can mean staying in a hostel or a private rented room. You may have to share kitchen or bathroom facilities.
We’ll make sure the accommodation is suitable for you, but it's likely to be smaller than a settled home and may not be in a neighbourhood that you know.
Finding temporary accommodation for yourself
It may be better if you make your own arrangements while we consider your homelessness application.
Being in temporary accommodation doesn't give you more priority for housing than if you were staying with family or friends, so if there is somewhere else that’s suitable for you to stay in the short term you should consider that option.
Staying in temporary accommodation
Cost
You’ll have to pay for the temporary accommodation, even if you’re not working. You’ll also have to pay a service charge to cover things like electricity and gas. We’ll tell you the amount you have to pay before you move into the accommodation.
Your Housing Advisor will help you with any claims for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction, but you must provide the information needed for the claim.
Furniture and belongings
You probably won’t be able to take all your belongings into temporary accommodation, so you’ll need to arrange for them to go into storage. If you can’t do this, you can talk to your Housing Advisor.
Some temporary accommodation is fully furnished, some of it is partly furnished and some of it is unfurnished. You would not be expected to stay in unfurnished temporary accommodation if you had no furniture of your own to use.
You’ll have access to a fridge and washing machine, bathroom and cooking facilities.
Pets
Most of the temporary accommodation we provide won’t accept pets. You’ll need to arrange for your pets to be looked after by friends, family or an animal charity.
Moving to different accommodation
We may move you to different accommodation at short notice. This will depend on demand and availability across the city. We will always make sure the accommodation is suitable for your household’s needs.
Rules in temporary accommodation
When you move into temporary accommodation, you’ll have to sign an agreement or some ‘house rules’ that says you’re aware of the terms and conditions of where you’re staying.
This agreement will cover things like:
- how you’re expected to behave
- rules about visitors
- how much you’re expected to pay
If you break the terms of your agreement, you could be evicted.
Being evicted
You can be evicted for things like:
- anti-social behaviour
- not paying the rent, or paying it late on a regular basis
- refusing an offer of suitable, more permanent accommodation
If you’re evicted it will affect our decision about:
- your homelessness application
- whether we still have a duty to help you
What happens after we have considered your homelessness application
If we decide that we don’t have a duty to house you in the long term, you’ll have to leave the temporary accommodation and make your own arrangements. We’ll still have a duty to give you advice and assistance but won’t have a duty to provide you with housing.
If we decide we do have a duty to house you, we may move you to different temporary accommodation so you have somewhere a bit more settled to stay while you’re bidding for properties and waiting for an offer or until we have identified suitable accommodation for you in the private sector.