Homelessness Support (UK & NI)

If you are homeless or at risk of homelessness within the next 56 days, the first people to get in touch with are the housing team at your local council. If you, need a place to stay immediately (i.e. tonight), see our list further down the page. Your university/college should help you too, ring their security/out of hours team.

If you are unsure which council you fall under you can enter your postcode here, and check what counts as a local connection to a council here.
If you are struggling to find the contact details for the Housing Team, both Shelter and Centrepoint can help you out.

Shelter

Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through their advice, support and legal services. They also campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. They can provide you with support around:

Homelessness
Private renting
Tenancy deposits
Repossession

Eviction
Repairs
Benefits
Council housing

They have an online chat, physical advice centres (to talk directly with an adviser) and you can give them a call on their helpline: 0808 800 4444

Wales Website: https://sheltercymru.org.uk/

England Website: https://england.shelter.org.uk/

Scotland Website: https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/

N.I. Website: https://shelterni.org/

Centrepoint

Support for Young People aged 16-25.

Everyone deserves a safe and stable place to live. The housing system can be confusing, but there is help out there and you don’t have to wait until you’re on the streets before you can get it. Centrepoint has created these guides to help you find the right support.

Website: https://centrepoint.org.uk/youth-homelessness/get-help-now/

Centrepoint Helpline (free): 0808 800 0661 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or leave your details on the webpage and a Centrepoint Helpline Advisor will get back to you as soon as possible.

Your Landlord has asked you to leave.. what now?

There are proper steps that a landlord must take to evict you. It’s illegal for them not to do this.

How will I know if it is an illegal eviction?

It is likely that your landlord is evicting you illegally if:

They have tried to make you leave with no written notice or prior warning.
They have locked you out of your home/changed the locks.

If you think you might have been evicted illegally, there are some steps you may wish to take:

Speak to Shelter or the Citizens Advice Bureau for some free advice - they can help you identify if you are being evicted illegally.
Ask the council for help by speaking to the tenancy relations officer or housing team.

To evict you, your landlord would usually need to start court proceedings. However, on 18 March the Government announced that landlords would not be able to apply to the courts to do this for at least three months. This should provide additional protection for tenants, as your landlord will not be able to begin proceedings to evict you legally.

If you are a lodger, your landlord does not need to apply to the courts, but should provide you with reasonable written notice. You can read a bit more about your rights as a lodger here.

The Centrepoint and Shelter helpline teams are here to help answer any questions that you may have, and if they don’t have the answers they’ll do their best to help you find them.

The Mix - Essential Support for Under 25s

If you’re under 25 and need help but don’t know where to turn, call The Mix for FREE on 0808 808 4994. They’ll explore your situation with you and find organisations that may be able to help you further.

Their phones are open 7 days a week from 4pm to 11pm. You can also webchat to them 7 days a week from 4pm to 11pm, however chats may not be connected after 10:15pm.

They also provide: email support, one-to-one chat online, crisis messenger and counselling services.

Website: https://www.themix.org.uk/get-support/speak-to-our-team

I need a place to stay tonight

Find a hostel or shelter

Many hostels and shelters only give beds to people who’ve been referred by other agencies. Read the general advice on hostels, below, from homelessness and housing charity Shelter if you need a hostel or night shelter now. The Pavement magazine also has a list of night shelters on its services page.

Hostels ~ Day Centres ~ Night Shelters ~ Winter shelter ~ Women’s Refuge ~ B&Bs

Young People (aged 16-25)

Nightstops provide homeless people under 25 with free overnight accommodation in the home of a trained volunteer. You can use the scheme for up to 3 weeks and might stay with the same host or different hosts during this time.

You get: your own room, use of the bathroom and washing machine, breakfast, packed lunch and an evening meal. Depending on the scheme, you may need to contact them direct or get a referral from another organisation. You'll be asked for references. Some schemes won't accept young people with a criminal record, history of violence, or a drug or alcohol problem. If you're offered somewhere, you can usually go there the same night. A Nightstop volunteer driver can help you get there.

Also see:

Centrepoint - 0808 800 0661
The Mix - 0808 808 4994
Rock Trust (Scotland) - 0345 222 1425.
Shelter (England)

Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT) - 020 7831 6562 - for LGBT+ people

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