What is homelessness

Homeless means:

• you do not have any accommodation available to you,

OR you do not have accommodation available to you:

• that you have a legal right to occupy, or
• which is accessible and physically available to you (and your household), or
• which it is reasonable for you to continue to live in.

If you are not yet homeless but are worried this might happen to you, see Losing Your Home.

To report that someone is sleeping rough please call Housing Options on (01283) 508120.

16 and 17 Year Olds

If you are 16 or 17 and homeless you are normally entitled to help from Staffordshire County Council. Call First Response on 0800 131 3126. You can ask the Borough Council for help, but please be aware that we will still refer your case to the County Council. For more information see advice from Shelter.

People aged 18+

If you think you are homeless please contact the Council's Housing Options service:

• Tel or text (01283) 508120 and we will be pleased to call you back, 9am-5pm Mon-Fri
• See us at the Customer Service Centre, Market Place, Burton, 9am-5pm Mon-Fri (9.45am-5pm Wed)
• Speak to us by phone from the Customer Service Centre, Uttoxeter Library, High Street, Uttoxeter, 9am-5pm Mon-Fri (10.30am-5pm Wed)

Emergency accommodation

If you suddenly find yourself without accommodation your best emergency option is generally to stay with family or friends.

Alternatively your best option may be to stay in a guest house or hotel see Tourist Information; if you own your home and have to leave it due to an emergency then your buildings insurance policy may cover the cost of hotel accommodation.

If you are female and leaving your home because of domestic violence you may be able to stay at a Women's Refuge. See Domestic Violence for contact numbers.

If you cannot find anywhere yourself and

• you or a household member are pregnant, or
• you have dependent children living with you, or
• the Council has reason to believe that you are vulnerable because of old age, mental illness, disability, physical illness, you have been in care, in the forces, or in custody, you are fleeing violence, or for another special reason;

then the Council can help by securing temporary accommodation for you. Depending on your circumstances and what is available this may for example be with a bed & breakfast provider or in a hostel out of the area. If possible visit or call Housing Options during office hours (see above). If you have no accommodation for tonight and it is after office hours or a day the office is not open, you can call the duty officer on (01283) 508126.

If this does not apply to you then you may be able to access emergency accommodation in a nearby district yourself, particularly if you come from that district:

More advice about homelessness is available from Shelter.

Review of Homelessness Decisions

If the Council has informed you of its decision about your homelessness application and you request a review, the Council aims to notify you of its decision within 4 weeks. Where this is not possible the Council will notify you of its decision:

• within 10 weeks in the case of a review into an agreement with another Council about local connection referral
• within 8 weeks in all other cases