The Veteran, The Council & Homelessness
By
Carole McEntee-Taylor
Copyright Carole McEntee-Taylor
Smashwords Edition
The following is guidance to show how some local authorities interpret their duty to single people who are homeless. Not all councils are the same and it will depend very much on where you are in the country. Some councils will be excellent, others will be less helpful. But forewarned is forearmed and this is intended to give you some idea of what could happen.
Are you homeless?
Q. You are sleeping in a cardboard box, on a park bench, in a disused building, in a shop doorway. Are you homeless?
A Yes
Q. Your family/friends have said you can stay for the weekend but on Monday you have to go and find somewhere else. Are you homeless?
A. Yes
Q. Your family/friends have said you can stay for a couple of months, maybe three at a push but you have to find somewhere else to live as you can’t stay there indefinitely. Are you homeless?
A. Yes
You are homeless if you have nowhere to live or you only have temporary accommodation.
Q. What should you do?
A. Seek advice as soon as possible. First contact your local council or Shelter
Q. If you go to your local council will they accept you as homeless?
A. Only if you can jump through several hurdles first. Just because you have served your country it does not mean you have an automatic right to council housing or the council has to accept you as homeless. The only thing you have a right to is a Homeless Assessment Interview, the same as any other person who arrives at the council offices and says they are homeless.
Hurdle Number 1
Are you in priority need?
Being homeless does not make you a priority unless you are also vulnerable. There are lots of reasons someone may be considered vulnerable but these are the main ones:
You
are pregnant
You
have children,
You
are elderly,
You
have physical or mental health problems,
You
are leaving prison (this includes the MCTC) but will depend on how
long you were there
You
are under 18
You
are fleeing violence,
You are under 21 but have been fostered or in Social Services care from the age of 16-18.
You
are over 21 but have been in social services care or fostered.
There is also a clause that says you may be vulnerable through being institutionalised because you have been in HM Forces. Not everyone who has been in HM Forces will be considered vulnerable through institutionalisation and this has to be proven on a case by case basis.
If you going to claim that any of these apply to you, you will need written evidence to back it up.
Hurdle Number 2
Are you intentionally homeless? In other words, is it your own fault that you have nowhere to live?
The
most obvious
ways of being intentionally homeless are things like not paying your
rent/mortgage or being evicted from your accommodation for
anti-social behaviour.
But there are other ways you may not have thought of:
If
you sign off from HM Forces and you have not found anywhere to live
the council can say that you are intentionally homeless because you
have left a job where you had a home without finding somewhere first.
However, if you had plans to stay with family/friends and something
has happened to change that ie: the relationship between you has
broken down, they have moved abroad, downsized, etc. then you are not
intentionally homeless.
If
you own your property but have lots of debt so decide to sell your
property to pay them off you must
find
yourself somewhere to live first. If you go to the council as
homeless they will ask if you have ever owned a property. You have to
be honest because you are going to sign a declaration at the end to
say you have told the truth. If you lie you can be fined up to £5000
and any accommodation you may have been offered will be taken away.
When you say yes, they will ask what you have done with it. When you
tell them that you sold it to pay off your debts they can tell you
that you are intentionally homeless.
Hurdle Number 3
Do you have a local connection to the council you have applied to?
All councils must give you a Homeless Assessment Interview but one of the things they will be looking for is a local connection. If you do not have a local connection they will refer you to a council you do have a connection with.
What is a local connection?
Residence:
Your
family live in the area and you used to live there before you joined
HM Forces. They may ask if you have lived there for 3 out of the past
5 years or 6 months out of the last 12 months. They may also want
evidence that your family live there: utility bill or something with
their name and address on.
Your family is normally considered to be:
Parents; Grandparents; brother/sister, possibly aunt/uncle/cousins if they are the only family support you have.
Your base also counts as residence. So if you have been based in a particular place for some time you would have a connection to that local council.
Employment/training
You might not have any family there but you have a job to start or training to go to. You must produce written evidence to support this.
Family
connections
Your family may have moved since you joined up. Some councils have tightened the rules on this and will want your family to have lived in the area for 5 years They will also want evidence that your family live there.
They
don’t
like
girlfriends/boyfriends or fiancées as local connections. However, if
you have no family and your girlfriend/boyfriend/fiancée and their
family is the only family/support you have you may be able to argue
this.
Special
circumstances
Maybe there is particular medical treatment that you need and can only access in that area. You will need written evidence to support this.
Hurdle Number 4
You
have arrived at the council offices and have nowhere to sleep that
night. Will they put you in temporary accommodation?
Scotland
Yes, they probably will while they assess you and work out how best to help you, but there may be exceptions.
Wales
Most councils in Wales are quite good and again they will probably put you in temporary accommodation while they asses you. Others won’t.
England
Only if they think they are going to have to house you. All they have to do by law is to give you advice so may just point you in the direction of a night shelter or advice centre.
London
No chance at all. There is no accommodation in London so unless you have children the chances of temporary accommodation are very remote and even then there is no guarantee.
Summary
You
have no automatic right to be accepted as homeless. It will depend on
whether you are considered to be vulnerable.
There
is little point applying as homeless to a council where you do not
have a connection. All they will do is assess you and refer you to a
council where you do have a connection.
Never
leave your accommodation unless you have somewhere to go or you have
a good reason to leave or you will be classed as ‘intentionally
homeless’.
If
you are lucky enough to be offered temporary accommodation do not
walk away. It is TEMPORARY! The council will want to move you on as
quickly as possible because while you are there they cannot use it
for anyone else. If, after they have completed their assessment, they
are unable to offer you council accommodation you can use the time to
find somewhere to rent privately. If the council is unable to help
with a deposit and advance rent then contact either SSAFA
or the Royal
British Legion
who may be able to help.
DO
NOT
leave it until the last minute to seek advice. Do not bury your head
in the sand and hope it will sort itself out. It probably won’t!
The sooner you seek help the less likely you are to end up sleeping
rough.
If you find yourself homeless and your local council does not help you contact SSAFA Royal British Legion or Veterans UK
If
you are homeless in London contact
Veterans
Aid