Interim and temporary
accommodation
The Council has a legal obligation
to accommodate those we believe are homeless, eligible and in
priority need, and we will arrange interim accommodation for you,
until a decision has been reached on your application. Temporary
accommodation is used by the Council to house people in the
short-term, or until permanent accommodation is secured.
What help will you give me with
somewhere to stay while you are assessing my application?
What help will you give me if you approve my
application?
What happens to my furniture?
Will I be given a choice of interim or temporary
accommodation?
What happens if I refuse the interim or temporary
accommodation?
Can my temporary accommodation be cancelled at any
time?
What help will you give me with
somewhere to stay while you are assessing my application?
If we consider that you are homeless, eligible and
in priority need, we have a legal duty to find `interim'
accommodation for you. In some cases you may be able to stay with
family or friends whilst your initial application is being
assessed.
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What help will you give me if you approve my application?
If the decision we make is to accept a duty to house you
in temporary accommodation, we will make this accommodation
available to you until our duty comes to an end.
Our duty may come to an end for a number of reasons, the most
common ones are:
- You or the person giving you priority stops being
eligible, e.g. their asylum application being rejected by the home
office
- You find alternative accommodation
- You refuse a suitable offer of temporary accommodation
- You voluntarily leave accommodation we have made available to
you
- You become homeless from temporary accommodation
intentionally
- You are evicted from our temporary accommodation
- You accept an offer of permanent accommodation
The Accommodation Team is responsible for
allocation of all forms of interim or temporary accommodation for
homeless applicants.
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What happens to my furniture?
We may be able to store your furniture for you. If you need help
with storage, you should speak to your caseworker. There is a
charge for this service. Once your belongings have been stored, you
will not be able to gain access to them easily (and you will have
to pay to gain access).
If we do not accept a duty towards you, your belongings will have
to be collected from storage. Items left uncollected may be
disposed of.
You will also need to note that we arrange limited insurance cover.
We would advise you to take out any additional insurance you wish
to cover your belongings.
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Will I be given a choice of interim or temporary
accommodation?
No. If there are reasons why you want to be in a particular area,
please let
the section know and they will take this additional information
into consideration. However, there is no guarantee you will be
placed in this area.
Unless there are very strong reasons why you cannot accept the
interim or temporary accommodation we offer, you will be asked to
accept it straight away.You should also be aware that we operate a
policy of one offer only of suitable interim or temporary
accommodation.
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What happens if I refuse the interim or temporary
accommodation?
When you have viewed the accommodation, if for any reason you wish
to refuse it, you will need to tell us why.
If we still consider it to be a suitable offer, we may no longer
have a duty towards you. It is very important that you speak to us
as soon as possible after you have viewed the property, if you do
not intend to stay there.
Under the law, you cannot ask us to review the suitability of
interim accommodation, but you can ask us to review the suitability
of temporary
accommodation.
If you do not feel the offer of temporary accommodation is
suitable, please contact an Accommodation Officer who will give you
advice about requesting a review.
You should think very carefully before turning down an offer of
interim or temporary accommodation. If we do not accept your
reasons for refusal, our duty to provide you with accommodation
will come to an end and you will
have to find your own accommodation.
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Can my temporary accommodation be cancelled at any time?
Yes, but only with good reason. Some examples are listed
below:
If you:
- Do not keep appointments with us
- Do not provide the documents we ask for
- Do not take reasonable care of the accommodation
- Do not accept other offers of interim or temporary
accommodation made to you
- Do not pay your share of the charges for the interim or
temporary accommodation
- Do not tell us when you stay away from the interim or temporary
accommodation
- Have not been staying in your room when we do hotel checks
- Do not find or accept and move into any suitable settled offer
of accommodation available to you
- Or any member of your family behaves in a racist, sexist or
aggressive way, or cause nuisance to other residents. Unfortunately
some people do behave unreasonably and therefore we have to give
these warnings to everybody.