When you make a homelessness application, the council will want to check certain information so that they can make decisions about what help to give you.
In response to the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on 7 October 2023 and the violence which rapidly escalated in the region following the attack, there has been an important change to the 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:
People not subject to immigration control:
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.
From 1 January 2021 important new rules affect European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss citizens applying for homelessness help from the council.
If you are an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen living in the UK on 31st December 2020 you must apply to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to continue to be entitled to apply to the council for social housing and homelessness help. The deadline to apply is the 30th June 2021.
For more details about these new rules and how to apply to the EUSS, click here.
The council will want to know:
The officer should allow you to explain your situation and allow you to feel able to discuss all of your options and concerns.
The council will look at the information you provide and any documents you take with you.
The council may also contact people and organisations that know about your housing situation to find out more about your circumstances. This might include your previous landlord or mortgage lender and/or any agencies that have provided support for you in the past.
If there are people you do not want the council to contact because, for example, you have been experiencing violence or threats, you should say so.
At different stages in your application, the council might need to decide:
The council may also decide to check whether you are intentionally homeless, although not all councils will do this. If you are homeless, eligible and in priority need when you apply, the council will probably have to give you emergency accommodation even if they are considering whether you are ‘intentionally’ homeless.
Each of the criteria below have special legal meanings. For more information on each criteria and when they are considered click on the links below:
When deciding whether you are entitled to emergency housing or a duty to secure final accommodation, the council will want to consider whether you are in ‘priority need’.
In some circumstances, when deciding whether it must find you a place to live, the council can decide to look at the law to see if you are intentionally homeless.
The council may check if you have a local connection to the area. If you do not have a local connection it can decide to send you to another area, provided you have a connection with that other area and you are not at risk of abuse there.
The council will have to decide if you meet the legal definition of being homeless or threatened with homelessness.
The council will want to decide if you are legally eligible to receive homelessness assistance.
We are sorry that we cannot provide this information in Welsh, however if you would like to speak to an adviser in Welsh please contact 08000 495 495.
This page was last updated on: November 17, 2023
Shelter Cymru acknowledges the support of Shelter in allowing us to adapt their content. The information contained on this site is updated and maintained by Shelter Cymru and only gives general guidance on the law in Wales. It should not be regarded or relied upon as a complete or authoritative statement of the law.
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