Getting help from social services if you're homeless

Social services might be able to find you somewhere to live if you're homeless and:

• 16 to 17 and you don't have family you can live with

• 16 to 17 and you've recently been living in care

• responsible for a child who normally lives with you

• ill, disabled or have mental health needs

If you’re 16 or 17 years old, you can ask social services for help straight away.

If you're over 18 you'll usually need to ask your local council's housing department for help before trying to get help from social services.

If you’re not a British citizen and you’ve been rough sleeping your right to stay in the UK might be affected. If you’re applying to the EU Settlement Scheme your application cannot be turned down because of rough sleeping. Talk to an adviser if you’re worried that rough sleeping might affect your immigration status.

Immigration and housing rules

If you’re subject to immigration control, you might still be able to get housing from social services but this could affect your right to stay in the UK. Contact your nearest Citizens Advice to put you in touch with an immigration solicitor before speaking to social services.

Find out more about immigration and housing rules on the Housing Rights website.

Social services have to look into your situation to work out your needs and how they might be able to help you. This is known as carrying out a ‘needs assessment’.

Find out what help you can get

The help you might get from social services will depend on your circumstances.

Applying for help from social services

You should call your local councils’ social services department and explain your circumstances and ask them to assess your need or your family’s need for housing. Make sure you tell them that you’re homeless. If you have health problems explain how they affect you.

You don’t need to apply for help if you’ve been referred to social services by the council. But it’s still worth checking that they’II do a needs assessment.

Preparing for your needs assessment

Your assessment must be done in a suitable way for your circumstances and your child’s if you’ve asked for their needs to be assessed. For example, it can be done by:

• completing a form

• a telephone interview

• having a face to face meeting with a social worker

Get evidence of your situation or child’s if their needs are being assessed. You’II need to send the information to your local council’s social services office or take it to the assessment, if possible. You could, for example, get a letter from your doctor or support worker to explain how not getting housing will affect you and your household.

You can send evidence to your local social services office after the assessment if you can’t get it before.

Social services will usually also ask your doctor and other people who know you about your needs or your child’s, if you agree.

There’s no deadline for social services to do a needs assessment if you’re an adult, but they should give you an idea of how long it will take.

If you need an assessment for your child or you’re 16 or 17 and need one, it should be done in 45 working days of you making a request. If social services don’t meet the deadline they must explain why.  

After the assessment you’II get a written decision saying if social services can give you housing.

If the housing you’re offered is unsuitable

Explain to social services why you think it’s unsuitable and ask for alternative accommodation.

Give them any evidence to support your case, for example a letter from your doctor explaining that the property will be harmful to your health.

If social services won’t give you somewhere else to stay, ask your nearest Citizens Advice to put you in touch with a solicitor.

If social services don’t offer you housing

Social services must give you a clear reason for their decision. They’II usually also give you information on finding somewhere to live.

If you disagree with their assessment decision you can complain by following your local council's complaints procedure. Find your local council on GOV.UK.

If you’re still not happy with social services response

You can take further action by complaining to the Local Government Ombudsman.

You might also be able to take legal action in certain cases where making a complaint wouldn’t be appropriate. For example, if you’re a homeless 16 or 17 old and social services refused to help without good reason.

Contact your nearest Citizens Advice if you're considering legal action. An adviser can check if you can take action and if you can get legal help.