Homeless

ultimatedingbat

I am asking this on behalf of a friend:

My friend has mental health issues (she has been diagnosed with bipolar but then had the diagnosis changed to BPD). She recently became homeless after losing her house with a friend.

She moved in with another friend but recently the relationship broken down with the friend (they were in the early stages of being together). Money troubles, recent divorce and children on his part are the issue. She has again been made homeless. Shei s currently sofa surfing but this is obviously not a good thing!

She is currently staying on a friends sofa with her stuff at her ex-partner/friends place ready to be collected.

My question is now what help can she get? She can not go into a hostel because she can not handle that. Please give me any info i can pass on as I just want ot help her get this sorted ASAP so she can begin to deal with her health.

lemontree

Contact Shelter, they may be able to help.
Find the nearest Branch online. Good Luck.

recoverydust

Does your friend have someone from the CMHT like a CPN or a social worker who she sees? They may be able to point her in the direction of supported housing. She should also go to the councils housing department and present as homeless and vulnerable. Which country of the UK is she in?

BigAunty

Read the homelessness section of the Shelter website as they give expert advice and might even have a local drop-in centre. The website will tell her her rights (how the council will process a homelessness application) and her options.

She needs to contact her local council homeless team asap if she wants state support. The Shelter website will tell her how they should deal with her application (sometimes councils ignore their statutory obligations so knowledge of her rights is a good thing).

Not sure there is any obligation on their part to take into account her dislike of hostels and let her skip into social housing directly but Shelter will advise on the process, there are usually huge demands on their services and only so much personalisation that the local council can do for each applicant.

If she wants to find private housing, many councils operate rent deposit guarantee schemes and other MSE members can tell her of the various loans she might be able to get from the DWP to assist. Some councils will help the homeless into private housing, too.

ultimatedingbat

It isnt a dislike of hostels. Her mental illness mean she can not go into a hostel as it will cause her to act more erratically and potentially harm herself. She has attempted this before (December 2011).

She is currently living in Leicestershrie but has only been living in that county for two months. She is from Nottinghamshire originally.

Before it is suggested parents is not an issue. They are seperated one lives down south, the other in Nottinghamshire with her other two sisters, one who is severly disabled.

princessdon

How old is she? Asking because this affects the rate payable for housing

ultimatedingbat

recoverydust wrote: »

Does your friend have someone from the CMHT like a CPN or a social worker who she sees? They may be able to point her in the direction of supported housing. She should also go to the councils housing department and present as homeless and vulnerable. Which country of the UK is she in?

She doesnt currently have that as she just moved health providers.

ultimatedingbat

princessdon wrote: »

How old is she? Asking because this affects the rate payable for housing

She's 22 (was 22 this Feburary)

bedpotato_2

What county is she in? Edit: oh, sorry, I just saw you've stated above Leicestershire / Nottinghamshire. If she's only been in her new county a few months, that may not be enough for her new local council to have an obligation to house her themselves. They may refer her somewhere else. The point is, someone will help her. They have a "duty of care." She will not have to end up sleeping in the street (that was what terrified me when becoming homeless but it turned out it's not like that. Councils really do help people in genuine need).

Each council may have different policies on where they house homeless people. I speak from experience. I was recently made homeless and like your friend I was terrified of being put into a hostel, but thankfully my local council has a "no hostels" policy so they put me in a temp house.

It would be worth phoning your local council's homelessness department and asking them whether they use hostels or actual houses to house homeless people temporarily.

The more urban you are, the more likely it will be a hostel. And the more rural and isolated you are, the less likely it will be that they have temp houses available. Therefore, it will be more likely to be a hostel if she lives in a big city or something like that. And if she lives way out in the country, the chances of them having temp housing are pretty slim. They may even resort to paying for a B&B.

You aren't going to know unless you phone your local council and ask. Merely making an enquiry does not commit your friend to making an application to be housed. She would merely be informing herself.

mynameistallulah

bedpotato wrote: »

What county is she in? Each council may have different policies on where they house homeless people. I speak from experience. I was recently made homeless and like your friend I was terrified of being put into a hostel, but thankfully my local council has a "no hostels" policy so they put me in a temp house.

I'm not sure about Leicestershire, but all the LA's in Nottinghamshire place people in hostels.

OP, does your friend receive DLA MRC or HRC?

princessdon

ultimatedingbat wrote: »

She's 22 (was 22 this Feburary)

Then I beleive she will only be entitled to a shared accomodation rate (not a 1 bed room rate)

If the LA can't house her in social accomodation - she will have to find a home under that value.

If she is allocated a larger home via social housing - she may have to pay the "bedroom tax"

I am not 100% sure how it works - just thought as she is looking it is a good time to flag this for your information to make informed decisions. Hopefully someone can clarify the situation