Priority Need

Will the Council provide me with temporary accommodation?

If the Council agrees that you are homeless today and have nowhere you can stay temporarily, the Council must determine whether it has to provide you with temporary accommodation.

The Council has a legal duty to provide you with temporary accommodation if we determine that you are in Priority Need. This is the term used to identify persons who the homelessness legislation stipulates should be provided with temporary accommodation if they are homeless.

Here is the Priority Need list

You may be in priority need if you are:

• A pregnant woman or a person with whom she resides or might reasonably be expected to reside.
• A person with whom a dependent child resides or might reasonably be expected to reside.
• A person       

i) Who is vulnerable as a result of some special reason (for example: old age, physical or mental illness or physical or mental disability), or

ii) With whom a person who falls within sub-paragraph (i) resides or might reasonably be expected to reside.

• A person       

i) who is homeless or threatened with homelessness as a result of an emergency such as flood, fire, or other disaster, or

ii) with whom a person who falls within sub-paragraph (i) resides or might reasonably be expected to reside.

• A person       

i) who is homeless as a result of being subject to domestic abuse, or

ii) with whom a person who falls within sub-paragraph (i) resides (other than the abuser) or might reasonably be expected to reside.

• A person       

i) who is aged 16 or 17 when the person applies to a local housing authority for accommodation or help in obtaining or retaining accommodation, or

ii) with whom a person who falls within sub-paragraph (i) resides or might reasonably be expected to reside.

• A person       

i) who has attained the age of 18, when the person applies to a local housing authority for accommodation or help in obtaining or retaining accommodation, but not the age of 21, who is at particular risk of sexual or financial exploitation, or

ii) with whom a person who falls within sub-paragraph (i) resides (other than an exploiter or potential exploiter) or might reasonably be expected to reside.

• A person       

i) who has attained the age of 18, when the person applies to a local housing authority for accommodation or help in obtaining or retaining accommodation, but not the age of 21, who was looked after, accommodated, or fostered at any time while under the age of 18, or

ii) with whom a person who falls within sub-paragraph (i) resides or might reasonably be expected to reside.

• A Person       

i) who has served in the regular armed forces of the Crown who has been homeless since leaving those forces, or

ii) with whom a person who falls within sub-paragraph (i) resides or might reasonably be expected to reside.

• A person who has a local connection with the area of the local authority and who is vulnerable as a result of one of the following reasons:

i) having served a custodial sentence within the meaning of Section 76 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000,

ii) having been remanded in or committed to custody by an order of a court, or

iii) having been remanded to youth detention accommodation under Section 91(4) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, or a person with whom such a person resides or might reasonably be expected to reside.

• A person who is street homeless.