Homeless housing options
Temporary housing
Sometimes we will provide temporary accommodation to people while we decide what kind of support we owe you, or while we help you with a long term housing solution. Your temporary accommodation is likely to be a bed and breakfast hotel, which may be anywhere in the county. In extreme circumstances, if nothing else is available, your temporary housing may be outside Gloucestershire.
Temporary housing will not be provided where we can be satisfied at the initial interview that you are not homeless or do not have a priority need for housing.
If we provide temporary housing this is not accepting any ongoing duty, it is only while the application is assessed.
Housing association properties
If we decide that you are homeless, entitled to our help, and have a priority need, we will invite you to join Homeseeker Plus and you will have priority status. You will be able to bid for available properties on the scheme when they are advertised.
You will have four weeks to make bids, and if at the end of that time you have not obtained a housing association tenancy, a review will be carried out. If we are satisfied that you are not bidding realistically we will start making bids on your behalf for any properties appropriate to your needs that are advertised. If one of these bids is successful we will offer it to you as a tenancy.
We only have a duty to make one such offer, and if you refuse an offer of suitable housing it will bring an end to any housing duty that we owe you. You will then be required to leave the temporary housing that we have provided. If this happens you will also lose the priority status that you were awarded on Homeseeker.
Private rented accommodation
As an alternative, we may offer you private rented accommodation. We can do this at any time during your homelessness application, including before temporary accommodation is needed, while you are in temporary accommodation, and even after a duty to accommodate you has been accepted.
We always seek to offer accommodation in an area of your choice, but where this is not possible we will offer you accommodation as close to your choice as possible. If this accommodation is in the private sector, it will be accommodation deemed to be suitable and affordable.
If you are offered private sector accommodation as part of our homeless duty but fail to accept the accommodation, we will no longer have a duty to house you. Your priority on Homeseeker will be reduced and any temporary accommodation you are provided with will be withdrawn. We will continue to assist you by providing advice on the range of options available, but this duty does not involve providing housing.
If you do not feel able to accept an offer of private rented accommodation from us, you can apply for a review within 21 days of the decision being made. We may not have a duty to continue to accommodate you while your review is being decided.