Help and advice with housing
If you're not at immediate risk of homelessness but are struggling, we can help you if you're concerned about losing your home.
In any situation that means you are concerned about losing your home, such as accumulating rent arrears, being threatened with eviction, struggling with benefits, experiencing anti-social behaviour or harassment, living in overcrowded, unsafe or unsuitable accommodation.
Our support services include:
- Steering you towards free legal advice from housing solicitor
- Help to work with your landlord to resolve issues
- Help to access grants and payments to pay rental debt or deposits if it will prevent homelessness
- Help you understand your housing rights and assisting you in securing them
Tenant information you need to know if you are at risk of losing your home:
- Always put your safety first
- You have rights. Most tenants cannot be evicted until court says so
- If you have to leave your home to keep safe, do so, but read on for more information
- Illegal evictions and harassment from your landlord are crimes. If you are being illegally evicted or harassed call us and we can investigate, tell your landlord to stop and take action if the harassment continues
- Don't leave your home just because you've been told to. Doing so when you don't have to may affect your rights to help getting somewhere else
- Try to keep hold of all the paperwork related to your tenancy and deposit
Support and advice enquiry form if worried about becoming homeless outside of 56 days
Homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days
If you consider that you will be homeless within a period of 56 days, and that you have a likely significant vulnerability or priority need for rehousing please complete the help with homelessness form below.
The homeless assessment form will provide you with advice and guidance if you are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless within a period of 56 days.
If you are not able to resolve your housing situation with the advice that we provide, the assessment tool also contains link to our housing options referral form on Kent Homechoice.
Before you start
The form is easy to complete, but in order to provide you with the best advice and options we require information about your:
- housing
- finances
- household
- employment status; and
- health issues
It will be useful to have these ready before starting.
If you complete the form your details will be sent to our housing options team and one of our officers will make contact with you.
Homelessness assessment form if you are homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days
If you have previously registered for the housing list, you will need to log into your Kent Homechoice account and complete the change of circumstances form rather than this pre-assessment.
What happens next?
An officer will contact you within 7 working days to discuss your situation.
If you are homeless today, please call us on 01303 853300 and a Housing Options Officer will contact you. You will still need to complete the referral form.
If you have a support worker they can complete the referral form on your behalf if you prefer. Your Housing Options Officer will assess your circumstances and support needs and:
- offer you tailored advice to help you stay in your current home or
- find alternative accommodation before you become homeless.
- Even if you are not homeless right now, contacting us as soon as possible means we can begin to help you.
- Our referral form will give you an indication of whether or not we can help you.
Homelessness: Duty to refer
The duty to refer will help to ensure that services are working together effectively to prevent homelessness by ensuring that peoples' housing needs are considered when they come into contact with public authorities. It is also anticipated that it will encourage local housing authorities and other public authorities to build strong partnerships which enable them to work together to intervene earlier to prevent homelessness through, increasingly integrated services.
This guidance is designed for those working in a specified public authority, which is subject to the duty to refer
Domestic abuse
If you are in immediate danger
Call the police on 999
If you cannot speak, press 55 when you are prompted and listen for more instructions. You'll be able to conduct your whole call in silence if needed.
If you need to seek refuge
If you are female and need to seek refuge you can telephone the National Domestic Abuse helpline and the national database will be searched to find a space at a woman's refuge for you.
Telephone: 0808 2000 247 - open 24 hours
If you are male then you can telephone the Respect men's advice line for specialist support. This is an outreach and independent advocacy service for male victims of domestic abuse across the country.
Telephone: 0808 8010 327
Guides and leaflets
Link to our guides and self-helps leaflets for specific advice on what steps you can take such as where you can access support and secure accommodation.