What to do if you are homeless or at risk of homelessness
If you are homeless or at risk of losing your home, you should call our contact centre on 01276707100, or visit our offices at Surrey Heath House and speak to a Housing Officer.
We can tell you about the rights you have in your current home, how you can protect those rights, and the help you can get to find somewhere else to live.
If your home is at risk, you will usually be advised to stay there for as long as legally possible, to give you time to resolve your housing difficulties, or look for a new home. You will not be expected to stay if it is unreasonable to do so. For example, if you are at risk of violence, or cannot afford to continue living in the property.
For more information on what to do if you find yourself homeless or at risk of homelessness, please visit the Shelter Website or the GOV UK Website.
You can also read our Temporary Accommodation Policy for Homeless Applicants and our Interim Accommodation Placement Policy below:
Services available
We opened an emergency accommodation service in Camberley in January 2022. The facility offers short-term accommodation for people needing emergency housing. This service is only for people with a local connection to Surrey Heath.
We work in partnership with The Hope Hub (external website), a charity working to prevent and end homelessness in Surrey Heath.
Rent Choice scheme
The Rent Choice scheme is available to people with a connection to Surrey Heath who are homeless or likely to become homeless. The scheme gives you the option of looking for a home of your choice in the private rented sector with financial help from the Council. We could help you with the advance rent and a deposit bond to secure a home with a private landlord.
Find out more about the Rent Choice scheme.
Homelessness application
If you do not agree with our decision on your eligibility to receive assistance from us if you are homeless or at risk of homelessness, you can request a more senior officer to review the decision. We will advise you on how to do this when you are informed of our decision.
If your request is unsuccessful, you can appeal to the County Court on a point of law. You can also view our complaints procedure on our dealing with compliments and complaints webpage if you feel you have not been treated fairly. You can make a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman (external website) if you believe your application has not been administered correctly.
Homelessness Data England Project
Please be aware that if you use our homelessness services, your information will be shared with the department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for the purposes of the Homelessness Data England (HDE) Project. The information that is shared includes your name and other identifiable data, as well as personal data about your homelessness situation. For more information view the Homelessness Data England (HDE) privacy notice on the Government website (external link).
If you wish to opt out of your identifiable data being used for this project, please contact the Housing Team.