Homelessness

Homeless Tonight

If you are Homeless tonight you will need to call us immediately on 01623 463121 to speak to an Early Intervention Officer so that an immediate decision can be made about your housing situation. You will need to provide proof of your eligibility for housing in order to access any temporary or emergency accommodation.

Temporary or Emergency accommodation

Temporary or Emergency accommodation is only provided if we think you may have a priority need as well as being homeless.

If you present as Homeless and require temporary or emergency accommodation we will require proof of your eligibility for housing this will be in the form of photographic ID, for example photographic driving licence, passport or identity card, band statements and proof of income or benefits. If you cannot provide evidence of eligibility for housing we may not be able to offer temporary or emergency accommodation.

Being in temporary or emergency accommodation does not improve your priority banding on Homefinder.

If you are threatened with Homelessness and not homeless tonight you can contact via email at homelessenquiries@mansfield.gov.uk.

Your Early Intervention Officer will assess your current circumstances and support needs and:

• offer you tailored advice to help you to stay in your current home or
• find alternative accommodation before you become homeless

Private Rented Tenants

If your landlord is threatening to evict you without a court order or is harassing you with the intention of making you leave your home please contact us and download the following guide. 

My Landlord wants me out.

Contact your local police station immediately if your landlord:

• comes into the property without permission
• threatens or harms you or your family
• attempts to remove your belongings from your home 

If your Landlord is entering into legal proceedings to evict you please get in touch with us immediately, the longer we can work with you the more chance we have of preventing your homelessness. 

The help we can give you will depend on an assessment of your circumstances:

• we will normally interview you to find out if you meet certain legal criteria
• we will draw up a Personal Housing Plan stating what help we will give you and what you need to do for yourself
• we may come to see where you are living now
• we may ask you to produce evidence and we may contact other people to back up what you tell us

When we have finished our enquiries we will write to you and tell you:

• what our decision is and the reasons for it
• what your options are to help you decide what to do next

Homelessness - What enquiries will be made?

There are five enquiries which need to be made to find out what kind of help we have a duty to provide you with. It is important that you provide full and truthful information when requested.

We will look at whether:

• you are eligible for assistance
• you are homeless
• you have a priority need
• you are intentionally homeless
• you have a local connection

Are you eligible for assistance?

You will be Eligible for Assistance unless:

• you are subject to immigration control (with certain exceptions)
• we decide that (with certain exceptions) you are not habitually resident in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

Are you homeless?

You will be considered to be homeless if you are one of the following:

• you or your family have no accommodation which you are all entitled to occupy
• you have a home but cannot gain entry to it
• you have a home but we consider that if you continue to live there it is probable that this will lead to violence against you or a member of your family
• you have a home but we consider that it is unreasonable for you to go on living there.

Are you in 'Priority Need'?

You will have a Priority Need if:

• you have a dependant child normally living with you
• you or someone living with you is expecting a baby
• you are 16 or 17 and have not previously been looked after by social services however you will be referred to Social Care for assistance
• you are 18, 19 or 20 and have been previously in care
• we consider that you or someone living with you is vulnerable because of old age, mental illness/disability, physical disability or other special reason. We consider that you are vulnerable because of:
  • having been in care and you are over 21
  • having been in the armed forces
  • having suffered violence or threats of violence
  • having been in prison for a considerable length of time
  • you are homeless following a fire, flood or similar emergency

Are you intentionally homeless?

We may decide that you have become intentionally homeless if we believe that:

• you have given up accommodation that you could have continued to occupy
• you have lost accommodation through your own fault or action
• you have made an arrangement with somebody in order to take advantage of the homeless legislation

It is unlikely that you will be treated as being Intentionally Homeless if you are homeless through no fault of your own and in circumstances beyond your control.

If you think you may lose your home, get advice immediately as there may be ways of preventing you becoming homeless. Do not leave your home while you have a right to remain there, unless you have arranged somewhere else to live on a long term basis.

Do you have a 'local connection'?

You will usually have a Local Connection with a council if you, or anyone who usually lives with you, have:

• lived in the Mansfield district for 6 months in the past year or 3 years in the last 5 years
• been permanently employed in Mansfield District
• close family who have lived in the district for the last 5 years
• any other special connection with the Mansfield district

Contact Housing Solutions

You can call us on 01623 463121 or email us at homelessenquiries@mansfield.gov.uk.