Homelessness - frequently asked questions

Am I eligible for assistance?

If you are not a UK resident or are subject to immigration control you might not be entitled to help with housing. If you are a UK resident but have not been living in the UK, you may also not be eligible for assistance. The law regarding eligibility is complicated and you should ask us for advice if you are concerned about eligibility for housing assistance.

Who can we help with housing?

We will aim to help anyone who approaches us for advice about their housing.

Homeless duties may be owed if:

  • you are threatened with homelessness within 56 days
  • you are homeless and have a local connection to Broadland or South Norfolk
  • you are homeless, have a priority need for accommodation (this means you or a member of your household are considered as vulnerable), you have not made yourself homeless and you have a local connection to Broadland or South Norfolk.
  • in some circumstances, temporary or emergency accommodation may be provided while this is investigate

Am I entitled to emergency accommodation?

This will depend on your circumstances. If you are homeless and you or a member of your household are considered vulnerable, you may be provided with emergency accommodation while we assess what homeless duties, if any, you are owed. If you are offered emergency accommodation and refuse this, or are provided with emergency accommodation and lose it, then further accommodation may not be offered.

If you or your household are not considered to be vulnerable, but you need emergency accommodation, you may be referred to our rough sleeper project if you are rough sleeping. Our team will need to be able to verify that you are rough sleeping before any accommodation can be offered.

For customers at risk of violence or abuse, we may look to help you access refuge accommodation, if appropriate, as this is often the safest option and there is usually high-quality support available at refuges.

Before any emergency accommodation is offered, we will risk assess you and any members of your household.

If emergency accommodation is offered there will be rules that you must adhere to in that accommodation and there will likely be a charge that you must pay for the accommodation.

Which Council should I apply to?

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.

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

You may have a local connection with Broadland or South Norfolk if you:

  • have lived in either Broadland or South Norfolk for at least six out of the last twelve months or three out of the last five years
  • are employed in Broadland or South Norfolk
  • have close contact with relatives, such as parents, adult children, brothers or sisters, who have lived in Broadland or South Norfolk for at least five years
  • have a special reason for needing to live in Broadland or South Norfolk
  • are a care leaver who has been accommodated in Norfolk or have been accommodated by Norfolk County Council.

If you do not have a local connection with Broadland or South Norfolk and you do have a connection with another area, we can ask the council there to help you and may refer your case to that council, provided it is safe to do so.

These connections are different to those used in assessing local connection for the Broadland and South Norfolk housing register.

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