Key announcements

Due to maintenance, some of our online forms and systems will be unavailable from 6:00am on Saturday 30 March to 7:00am on Monday 1 April. We are sorry for any inconvenience. To find out more about the section 114 notice, visit our section 114 page

What a housing needs assessment is

A housing needs assessment is used to determine whether you are homeless, or threatened with homelessness within 56 days. During your housing needs assessment we will look at what issues you may have with your housing and how we can help you.

Accessing social housing

The demand for social housing (council and housing association properties) is very high. The waiting time for an offer of social housing will depend on:

  • the number of properties available to meet your bedroom needs within your chosen area
  • the priority status, or "banding", given to your social housing application

If you are homeless, this does not mean that you automatically qualify for social housing. You also need to qualify under our allocations scheme.

If you are at risk of losing your current housing

We will support you to stay in your current housing as long as it is still suitable for you to live in. If this fails, we will try to find you alternative housing.

If you lose your housing

We will support you to find alternative housing as soon as possible. In the first instance, this will be within the private rented sector.


Page last updated: 16 May 2023

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