The moment you fear you're at risk of losing your home, contact us for help and advice.
The sooner we speak to you, the more time we have to stop you losing your home or find you somewhere else to live when you do.
It's important you know your rights when it comes to what you can expect us to do to help.
We have a legal duty to:
You don't need to be sleeping rough or not have a roof over your head to be considered homeless.
We'll consider you to be homeless under a range of different circumstances, and may have a legal duty to help with your housing.
Such circumstances include:
If one or more of the above apply to you, our homelessness and prevention team may be able to help.
We'll draw up a personal housing plan so you can work with us to solve your housing problem.
Call the team on (01788) 533468.
1. You must have a reason to believe you might be homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days. At this point you can make a homeless application.
2. You must be eligible - normally having lived in the UK long-term and not subject to immigration control.
3. We must be satisfied you're homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days. When we're satisfied you meet the criteria to make a homeless application, we'll draw up your personal housing plan. If you're homeless and have nowhere to stay, we'll decided whether to provide you with temporary accommodation while we work together to solve your housing problem.
If your housing problem remains unresolved after a certain period of time, we'll make a final decision on your homeless application to determine what, if any, accommodation duty we have.
We'll consider personal and housing circumstances such as:
If you meet the above criteria, we have a duty to offer you a suitable home in the private rented sector (eg with a private landlord or estate agency).
Due to the availability of homes in the social housing sector, we can only offer individuals and families social housing in limited cases.
You can register with us via our online housing portal.
Register with our self-referral housing options service
If you're homeless today, please call us on (01788) 533468 during office hours (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday). Out of office hours, call our emergency number on (01788) 579706.
Domestic violence can range from violence and abuse to controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour.
Abuse can be:
If you're unsafe in your home and want to move out, call our homelessness and prevention team on (01788) 533468 for advice on finding somewhere to live.
If you think you're in immediate danger, call the police on 999.
For confidential support and advice about domestic abuse, call Warwickshire Against Domestic Abuse's talk2someone freephone helpline on 0800 4081552.
If you need help, you can contact us to make a homeless application. If necessary, we'll try and find you somewhere to live in the short term.
We'll never turn you away. If we cannot help you, we'll put you in touch with organisations which may be able to help.
If you're 18 to 21-years-old and spent at least one night in care when you were 16 or 17-years-old, our homlessness and prevention team can help you find somewhere to live.
You can call the team on (01788) 533468.
With your consent, your personal adviser can make a referral for you to receive housing help and advice under the duty to refer.
View information about the duty to refer
If you're leaving the armed forces, or have served in the forces, you may be entitled to extra support if you become homeless.
We have signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant for Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire, a commitment to treat members and former members of the armed forces with fairness and respect, and to ensure armed forces members, both past and present, face no disadvantages when trying to access public services.
When you contact our homelessness and prevention team, we'll first decide whether you qualify for help under our general policy for individuals considered to be in priority need (for example, you have dependent children).
We'll also consider whether you're vulnerable and whether an issue, such as disability, mental health problems or addiction, impacts on your ability to secure housing for yourself.
Call the homelessness and prevention team on (01788) 533468.
When considering whether you're vulnerable and in priority need, you can support your case by showing your service with the armed forces has contributed to your vulnerability.
We'll consider:
If you think you'll be homeless on leaving the armed forces, contact our Community Advice and Support team.
If you can provide a letter of discharge or other evidence which confirms the date of your discharge, we should accept your date of discharge as the date you become homeless.
If you fail to contact us for help before your discharge, you may need to stay in your accommodation and wait for Defence Estates to evict you.
Defence Estates have to give you Notice to Vacate. A copy of the notice can support your homeless application.
A number of organisatons offer housing advice and support for veterans:
If you're concerned about being homeless on release from prison, the prison or probation service, with your consent, can make a referral for you to receive housing help and advice under the duty to refer.
View information about the duty to refer
If you have a mental illness or impairment and face losing your home, we may be able to help.
The moment you fear you're at risk of losing your home, call our housing advice and benefits team on (01788) 533468. The sooner we speak to you, the more time we have to stop you losing your home or find you somewhere else to live when you do.
We may decide the vulnerability caused by your mental illness or impairment qualifies you as priority need for accommodation. When considering your case, we'll collect information from health professionals to help make our decision.
If you find yourself homeless and suffer with mental health difficulties, the following orgnisations can offer advice and support:
If you think you could be homeless after being discharged from hospital, you should raise your concerns with the hospital nursing staff at the first opportunity.
The hospital discharge team can offer you advice and, with your consent, can make a referral under the duty to refer.
View information about the duty to refer
If you have a home but require adaptations to carry on living there, you'll be referred to our Home Environment Assessment and Response Team (HEART).
HEART offers advice and assistance to deliver disabled adaptations and home improvements to support you in staying in your home. A caseworker can assess your needs and provide tailored advice on home aids and adaptations.
Depending on your needs, HEART can arrange:
HEART also may be able to arrange financial support for adaptations through our Disabled Facilities Grant.
If your home cannot be adapted, HEART can offer advice and support to identify suitable alternatives. HEART can also explore other options, such as supported or extra care housing.
Visit the HEART website on Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough's Council website
You can call HEART on 024 7637 6294 or email HEARTnorth@nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk
Advice on what to do when faced with eviction depends on the type of tenancy you have - the majority of tenants have an assured shorthold tenancy, but you can check your type of tenancy or licence on Shelter's website.
If you receive a notice of eviction from your landlord, call our homelessness and prevention team straight away on (01788) 533468..
A landlord can issue a section 21 notice or a section 8 notice to end a private tenancy but must follow certain rules in order for for the notice to be valid. Invalid notices can be challenged in court.
A landlord does not need to give a reason to end your tenancy with a section 21 notice. With a section 8 notice, a landlord must have a legal reason to end your tenancy.
We may be able to negotiate with your landlord on your behalf in order to stop the eviction.
It's a criminal offence for a landlord to evict a tenant without following the correct legal procedure.
Illegal eviction can include:
Harrassment can take the form of:
Shelter has a range of advice and information regarding your legal rights as a tenant. You can visit Shelter's website or call the helpline on 0808 800 4444.
Rugby Citizens Advice offers free, confidential and impartial advice on a wide range of issues, including your housing rights. For more information, visit the Rugby Citizens Advice website.
Due to a severe shortage of council and social housing accommodation, the quickest solution to your housing problem can often be finding private rented accommodation.
You can search for private rented accommodation via estate agents, letting agents and private landlords, and we can offer you advice and support.
When looking for a home, it's important to consider the following:
If you've found a suitable property and the estate agency, letting agency or private landlord considers you a suitable tenant, bring the property details to your case officer (when applicable) so we can make sure it's the right property for you.
We'll carry out an income and expenditure assessment with you to make sure you can afford to live in the property. DO NOT sign a tenancy agreement or pay any fees until you have discussed the property's suitability with your case officer (where applicable).
If you're homeless or at risk of becoming homeless within the next 56 days, we may be able to offer you financial support to help you find suitable private rented accommodation.
You can check online what benefits you're eligible to claim.
Visit the Turn2Us online benefit calculator
If you're entitled to benefits to help pay your rent, make sure you take into account the Local Housing Allowance - the maximum allowance paid to claimants to pay rent.
The allowance rarely covers all of your rent in the private accommodation, so you'll need to pay the difference between the Local Housing Allowance and your monthly rent.
If you're working, it may affect your entitlement to benefits.
Depending on your circumstances, we may be able to offer you financial support.
When you pay your landlord a deposit for your tenancy in private rented accommodation, your landlord has a legal duty to protect your deposit of you have an assured shorthold tenancy.
You can check the type of tenancy you have on Shelter's website.
Your estate agent, letting agent or landlord should tell you which scheme your deposit has been protected by.
For more information on deposit protection schemes, visit Shelter's website.
If you need to discuss your circumstances with us in more detail, please register with us via our online housing portal.
Public bodies specified in the Homelessness Reduction Act have a duty to refer consenting individuals believed to be homeless or at risk of homelessness within 56 days to our housing advice and benefits team.
The duty to refer applies to the following public bodies:
By referring individuals to us, public bodies can support our work to prevent and relieve homelessness.
Please note, organisations not subject to the duty to refer can still make referrals to us.
Before making a referral, you must:
You can make a referral through ALERT.
ALERT supports partnership working by providing a secure and easy to use platform for making referrals and notifications, including the 213B duty placed on specified public bodies.
Referrals from the Department for Work and Pensions, including Job Centre Plus, can be made by completing our online form.
For cases already homeless or who have nowhere to stay tonight, call us on (01788) 533468 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) or, out of office hours, on (01788) 579706.
Our housing advice and benefits team contacts all referrals within five days and, if necessary, supports referrals to make a homeless application.
If you're sleeping rough or have nowhere to stay tonight, call our homelessness and prevention team on (01788) 533468.
Out of office hours (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday), call our emergency number on (01788) 579706.
During the winter months, we operate the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol, which comes into effect when weather forecasts predict the temperature to drop to zero degrees or below for three consecutive nights.
If you're homeless or threatened with homelessness within the next 56 days and need housing help and advice, you need to register with us via our online housing portal.
Register with our self-referral housing options service