Help from the council when homeless

Your local council might have to help you if you are homeless or in danger of losing your home in the next 56 days. If you are in this situation, contact the council and ask to make a homelessness application. Make sure the person you speak to understands that you need help immediately.

The pages below provide lots more advice on getting help from the council and you could also look at our Step-by-step guide to making a homelessness application.

If you are applying to a council in England then the rules are different and you should get advice from Shelter.

GAZA UPDATE

In response to the outbreak of violence in Israel that commenced 7 October 2023, there has been an important change in law.

This change helps certain groups of people fleeing the violence to receive housing assistance.

The following people are now eligible for homelessness assistance and community landlord housing without having to satisfy the conditions of the ‘habitual residence test’:

People arriving in Wales who are subject to immigration control:

• who were residing in Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights or Lebanon immediately before 7 October 2023 and left in connection with the attack on 7 October 2023 or the violence which rapidly escalated in the region following the attack;
• who have been granted leave in accordance with the immigration rules;
• whose leave is not subject to a condition requiring them to maintain and accommodate themselves, and any person dependent upon them, without recourse to public funds, and
• whose leave was not given as a result of an undertaking that a sponsor would be responsible for the person’s maintenance and accommodation.

People not subject to immigration control:

• who were residing in Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights or Lebanon immediately before 7 October 2023 and left in connection with the attack on 7 October 2023 or the violence which rapidly escalated in the region following the attack.

If you have arrived from Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights or Lebanon elsewhere in the United Kingdom, please check Shelter England, Shelter Scotland, or Housing Advice Northern Ireland for updates.