The best advice is to contact the Council responsible for the area you wish to live in. You should not be turned away without any advice or assistance or simply told to go to another Council without any help being offered.

Councils may consider whether you have a local connection with their area and whether or not you have a local connection may affect the types of assistance you are offered.

Local connections may include:

living in a Council area for a certain amount of time
working in a particular area
having close family members who have lived in the area for a period of time
having been in care in a particular area
having a special circumstance that means you need to live in a particular area.

Please see the Shelter website about homeless local connections.

If you do not have a local connection with a Council, it may limit the assistance they will offer if you are at risk of homelessness, but you should still be able to apply to see whether a homeless prevention duty is owed to you. If you are homeless, not having a local connection may mean that your case is referred to another Council that you do have a connection with provided it is safe to do so.

No council should ever refuse to help you if you are homeless or threatened with homelessness because they do not consider you to be safe in their district or simply turn you away because you do not have a local connection.

Homelessness frequently asked questions

Am I eligible for assistance?

Who can we help with housing?

Am I entitled to emergency accommodation?

Which Council should I apply to?

Do I have a local connection with Broadland or South Norfolk?