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When you tell us you’re homeless or worried about becoming homeless within the next 8 weeks (56 days) we’ll discuss your situation and needs with you.
As part of our assessment we'll make enquiries to determine if there's a risk that you'll become homeless. If we assess that there is a risk we’ll draw up a Personalised Housing Plan with you.
Your Personalised Housing Plan will list actions for both you and your Caseworker to take to either:
You probably won’t be offered a council property, even if you’re homeless.
There are approximately 1600 households in Sutton who are currently on the waiting list for council or housing association housing, and there are very few available properties.
Before you contact us you should complete the online Housing Options Assessment. This will ask you some questions about your situation and generate tailored advice on the potential housing options available to you. To access the Housing Options Assessment click here. If you still need our help, make a note of your reference number and call us on 0208 770 5000. The contact centre will pass your message to the Gateway and Initial Assessment Team, who will call you back within 4 hours.
When we speak to you, we will need to ask you a lot of questions in order to fully assess your circumstances. It would help if you have the following information to hand for everyone in your household:
We may also ask you to provide some or all of the following documents:
If we determine that you are homeless, or threatened with homelessness, we will work with you to agree the actions that should go in your Personalised Housing Plan.
It’s important for you to be open and honest at your assessment so your Caseworker can give you the correct advice and support.
If you don't have a local connection to Sutton and are already homeless, you may be referred to a local authority where you do have a connection. This doesn't apply if there is a risk of violence or domestic abuse to you in your local connection borough.
Your Personalised Housing Plan will include actions that you and your Housing Advisor will agree to take.
You may agree to:
Your Caseworker may agree to:
You must cooperate with us
It's your responsibility to cooperate with us and do things to help yourself while we're trying to sort out your housing problem.
You must tell us if any of your circumstances change.
We may decide that we have no duty to help you if we believe that you're:
After your assessment, we’ll expect you to take the actions in your Personalised Housing Plan. Your Caseworker will also take the actions they’ve agreed to. You can contact your Caseworker if you have any questions.
We hope that by taking the actions in your Personalised Housing Plan and with our support, you won’t become homeless, or if you’re already homeless, you’ll find a place to live.
We might provide you with temporary accommodation while we look at your homeless application. This will depend on your personal circumstances. Most people won't be offered temporary accommodation but we can provide you with information on hostels and other short term, emergency accommodation options.
If the actions in your Personalised Housing Plan haven’t been successful after we have been working with you for at least 56 days, we may be able to help you further. We call this further help qualifying for the ‘main housing duty’.
The main housing duty is:
To qualify for the main housing duty, all the following five conditions must apply to you.
The Shelter website explains these conditions in more detail
If all of the above applies to you then we will have a duty to provide you with temporary accommodation until you are either offered a council or housing association property or a privately rented property. The waiting time for council or housing association accommodation could be up to 5 years plus.
For more information about finding accommodation please see the following pages:
Privately Rented Accommodation
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