Make a homeless application

Once you have registered as homeless on the Lichfield District Homes website, our duty officer will contact you on the same or following day (depending on when you register), or the following Monday (if you register over the weekend), to carry out an initial assessment of your situation.

We'll do this over the phone, as a face-to-face meeting isn’t necessary for the initial assessment - but we can arrange a face-to-face appointment if you need additional support.

Once the initial assessment has been carried out, provided you meet the qualifying criteria and are eligible for help (you are a UK citizen or resident and not subject to any immigration controls), we will arrange an appointment with you.

If you are assessed as homeless, we will make efforts to secure emergency/temporary accommodation for you that day.

Creating a personal housing plan

Your second appointment will be to conduct a full housing assessment to look at your circumstances in depth and devise a personal housing plan. This will help you secure alternative accommodation, or remain in your existing home.

As part of this we will ask you to provide documentation to support your application such as:

• Valid photo ID such as a passport or driving licence
• Citizenship and/or immigration status
• Court orders
• Notice of possession proceedings
• Income details
• Rent statements
• Crime numbers
• Evidence of local connection
• Supporting letters from health care workers
• Supporting information from other agencies that are helping you

How we will work to help you

Stage one - we will work to prevent you becoming homeless

If you are not yet homeless, but are facing homelessness within 56 days, our priority will be to try to prevent you from becoming homeless (this is called our prevention duty). 

We will do this by mediating with your landlord or family, helping you with a loan to reduce rent arrears, assisting you to maximise your income and advising you on your rights as a tenant etc.

We will also help you to make a housing register application. 

Our prevention duty lasts for up to 56 days, unless you become homeless sooner, when the next stage of the process begins.

Stage two - providing relief

If we are unable to prevent you from becoming homeless, or if you are already homeless, you will be given appropriate priority on the housing register (under our relief duty).

This lasts for 56 days, and during this period we will help you to find accommodation.

If you have been unable to secure accommodation after 56 days, you will be considered for our main housing duty.

Stage three - main housing duty

Our main housing duty is only awarded to applicants who meet certain criteria, including if you:

• are a UK citizen and are not subject to any immigration control and have recourse to public funds.
• have a priority need (for instance, dependent children that live with you, or medical condition that would make you vulnerable).
• have a local connection to Lichfield District through residence, employment or close family ties.
• are not intentionally homeless in that your actions have caused your homelessness.

If awarded main duty you will be given the emergency band on the housing register.

Find out what it means to be awarded the emergency band and how long you could wait for a new home.

What if you don't qualify for main housing duty?

If you don't qualify for main housing duty, we'll write to you to let you know why.

We will include details of the review and appeal processes so you can request a review if you don't agree with our decision. 

If you don't qualify for main housing duty, you will remain on the housing register, with the appropriate priority banding.