What do I do if I want to apply to be on the Council’s Waiting List?
Craven District Council holds a joint Housing Waiting List with Craven Housing. To apply to go on the Waiting List either download an application form or contact Craven Housing's Housing Options Team.
HOMELESSNESS:
The Application
How do I make a homeless application?
If you wish to make a homelessness application, contact the Housing Options Team at Craven Housing to make an appointment. If you are unable to attend their offices in Skipton, they may be able to visit you. The advisor will also tell you what documents to bring to your interview. These will normally be:
- proof of your identity (for example your passport or birth certificate)
- proof of your income (for example your benefit books and/or most recent payslips)
- proof of your children’s identity (their birth certificates)
- proof of any tenancies or licence agreements you may have or used to have
- proof of any illness or disability you may have (your medicines and letters from your GP or hospital doctor)
The interview
Who will see me and what will they ask me?
When you arrive at Craven Housing you will be interviewed by an assessment officer (who will be your caseworker).
They will ask you questions about your housing history and why you think you are homeless. They will also want to know about other people in your household.
How long will the first interview take?
Your first interview will take about an hour. It is important that they collect as much information about you as possible, in order to help you quickly. In some circumstances when applicants have brought along all the information and proof required, they are able to make a decision about your application straight away.
Can I be seen by a female Housing Options officer?
Yes, but this may be subject to availability.
Can I be seen in a private interview cubicle?
Yes, ask the receptionist or the officer who is interviewing you.
Can I be interviewed in another language?
Yes Craven Housing can arrange that for you. Please note the process of arranging for an interpreter may take time and can be speeded up if you can supply a friend or acquaintance who can interpret on your behalf.
If your housing problem is an emergency they may use `Language Line’, which is a service we use to speak to you in your own language.
Can I see the same officer each time I visit the office?
Yes, subject to availability. As this may not be your caseworker, you may be asked questions that will require you to repeat information you may have already given. Please be patient if this happens. It is best if you can speak to your caseworker to avoid this.
What happens if I suddenly become homeless and need to help straightaway?
Come to Craven Housing as early as possible in the morning. The office is open from 8:45 until 5:15pm Monday to Thursday and 8:45am until 4:45pm on Fridays. Craven Housing will try to give you an appointment to be interviewed on the day of the emergency.
What if I am not able to come to Craven Housing’s Offices?
In some circumstances they can arrange an interview outside the office, for example, if you are in hospital and are unable to call into the unit because of your illness.
We will then arrange for one of their officers to interview you in hospital, or at a convenient place.
Please phone Craven Housing about this on 01756 704500
What do I do if I’m homeless when the office is closed?
For people who become homeless when the office is closed, we operate an out of hours service.
The service is for emergencies only and is not able to give general advice or assist in dealing with any problems relating to interim or temporary accommodation that has already been provided.
You can contact the out of hours service after 5.30pm each weekday, or anytime at weekends and bank holidays:
The out of hours service
Phone: 0800 0856 635
The person who answers the phone will ask you a number of questions to make sure you are put in touch with the correct officer.
You will also be asked for a contact number where the duty officer can telephone you.
What happens if I need to see my caseworker again?
If you need to come back to the office to see your caseworker, please contact them to make an appointment first to ensure they are available to see you. This will also save you time as s/he will be able to inform you what you need to bring with you, and may save you unnecessary visits.
In the case of an emergency you will always be seen. You may, however, not be able to see your caseworker.
Information you give us
What do we do with the information you give us?
We have procedures in relation to confidentiality. We are, however, required to give information relating to your application to other councils or departments, if you are placed in their area.
We also have a duty to protect public funds, and may use information stored on our computer systems for the prevention or detection of fraud.
What happens if some of the information I have given changes?
You must keep Craven Housing informed about any changes in the information or circumstances which you have given.
If you are not sure if you need to tell Craven Housing something, please speak to your caseworker, who will be able to advise you. We suggest you take the view that it’s better to tell Craven Housing if you are not sure.
False or misleading information
Craven Housing and Craven District Council are under a duty to protect the public funds we administer and may use the information you provide to match it against other information held by the council, for example Council tax, or Housing benefits. We may also disclose any such information to other public bodies, or similar external agencies, for the purpose of the prevention or detection of fraud.
You are required to sign a declaration on the application form, which states that you will give us correct information and will not withhold relevant information, or mislead us in any way.
You must also keep us informed of any changes in your circumstances.
The declaration informs applicants that they will be liable to prosecution if any of the information is subsequently found to be false. We will prosecute, and if you are found guilty, you could be ordered to pay a fine of up to £5,000, as set out in Section 214 of the Housing Act 1996, Part VII.
Home visits
What do the visiting officers do?
They are asked to complete a report for the assessment officer dealing with your case. They have to confirm your homelessness and where appropriate discuss alternative ways of assisting in resolving your housing problems.
The visiting officer will not discuss any personal details with your landlord, other than your living arrangements.
How long does a visit take?
Home visits will only take place for those who are unable to attend the office. Craven Housing expect visits to last no more than an hour.
Medical assessments
How do we carry out a medical assessment?
Craven Housing will write to your doctor to ask for information about your condition and how it may impact on your homelessness.
Will a medical assessment delay my decision?
This depends on the reason for the medical assessment. In some cases the medical assessment will determine whether you are priority homeless, and in such cases Craven Housing will need to wait until this is complete, before they are able to make a decision on your application.
If the assessment is being carried out to assist them with any decisions relating to your long term housing need, they may not have to wait until it is completed.
Do I need to pay my doctor for completing this Medical Assessment Form?
In cases where Craven Housing are carrying-out a homelessness investigation, they have an arrangement where the Local Authority pays your GP for completing their medical questionnaire.
Who makes the decision on whether I am a medical priority?
The Housing Options Officer will assess the information available and will make a decision on your application.
Decisions
How long will it take to make a decision?
Craven Housing aim to carry out all homelessness investigations within 33 working days of the original application.
How can I help speed up the decision on my application?
You can help in a number of ways:
- by bringing documents to Craven Housing when asked by your caseworker (they will need to see originals, but once seen they will be happy to photocopy them and return them to you)
- by responding quickly to letters and messages sent to you by your caseworker
- by giving us accurate information about your housing history
Who makes the decisions on homelessness applications?
Your caseworker makes the decision. The decision will be based on information collected and investigations undertaken.
How will I know what the decision is?
When a decision is made on your application, your caseworker will write and tell you what our decision is.
If the decision is not to accept a duty to provide you with temporary accommodation, or to refer you to another council, the letter will set out the reasons why. Craven Housing will provide a leaflet if you wish to challenge the decision.
Challenging the decision
Can I challenge the decision on my homeless application?
Yes, if you are unhappy with the final decision you can request a review of the decision.
When you receive your decision you will also receive information on how to request the review. This must be requested within 21 days of the date the letter is written.
How will the review be dealt with?
Craven Housing will consider the information supplied by you and consider all the information held on their files. The officer who deals with your request for a review will not have been involved in making the original decision.
Once the officer has carried out the review of your case, they will write to you setting out the review decision, giving reasons.
If you are still unhappy with this decision, Craven Housing will be able to give you details of independent advice agencies that would be able to advise you further.
Sometimes they don’t treat additional information you send as a formal request for a review. They may simply ask your caseworker to consider the new information to see whether it allows us to accept a duty towards you.
Do we ever change our decision?
Yes, a number of decisions have been changed following a request for a review and further consideration of all the information. In some cases the officer dealing with the review has asked the caseworker to make further investigations
Temporary accommodation
What help will you give me with somewhere to stay while you are assessing my application?
If we consider that you are homeless, eligible and in priority need, we have a legal duty to find `interim’ accommodation for you, until a decision is reached on your application.
What help will you give me if you approve my application?
If the decision made is to accept a duty to house you in temporary accommodation, Craven Housing will make this accommodation available to you until our duty comes to an end.
Our duty may come to an end for a number of reasons, the most common ones are:
- you or the person giving you priority stops being eligible,
- you find alternative accommodation
- you refuse a suitable offer of temporary accommodation
- you voluntarily leave accommodation we have made available to you
- you become homeless from temporary accommodation intentionally
- you accept an offer of permanent accommodation
What sorts of temporary accommodation do you have?
We use a number of different types of temporary accommodation. They are as follows:
Bed & breakfast hotels may not be self-contained and you may have to share bathroom facilities with others.
We are committed to avoiding the use of Bed & breakfast accommodation.
We do, however, need to use it from time to time. If you are placed in this type of accommodation, Craven Housing may ask you to move to other temporary accommodation as it becomes available.
Not all bed and breakfast accommodation is in Craven.
- Properties managed for us by Craven Housing
Craven Housing manage an 11 unit hostel for homeless households on our behalf and in some cases provide temporary accommodation from their own housing stock. At the Hostel you will have your own bedroom, kitchen and toilet but you may have to share showers as not all units are self-contained.
- Properties managed by other Housing associations
Housing associations are `not for profit’ organisations that provide social housing for their own tenants and temporary accommodation for local authorities.
Do I have to pay Housing Benefit & Council Tax?
Yes you will. You should claim Housing Benefit to help you pay the cost of the accommodation. To do so, you have to complete a Housing Benefit form.
You should also claim Council Tax Rebate to help you pay your Council Tax. Details of the address of where to claim can be obtained from the Craven District Council's Housing Benefits Department or through Craven Housing’s Hostel Support Worker who provides assistance to Hostel tenants.
If you would like to find out more about which benefits you may be entitled to, call the Benefits Team on 01756 706285.
Remember you will need to re-claim if you move. If you have any further enquiries regarding your interim or temporary accommodation, please contact the Housing Options Team or the Hostel Support Worker.
What happens to my furniture?
We may be able to store your furniture for you. If you need help with storage, you should speak to your caseworker or Hostel Support Worker.
Can I take my pet into temporary accommodation?
We will consider allowing you to take your pet with you into temporary accommodation but this depends on the type of pet. Guide Dogs would be allowed.
If you have any pets or other animals you should inform us.
What if my accommodation needs some repairs?
If you have any problems in relation to any repairs, or day-to-day management issues, you should contact Craven Housing on their repair Hotline or contact the Hostel Support Worker who will provide you with all information required relating to the hostel and a contact number when you move in.
Will I be given a choice of interim or temporary accommodation?
No, however, you will have the opportunity to tell us about the type of housing you require. This will be taken into account when we allocate interim or temporary accommodation.
If there are reasons why you want to be in a particular area, please let the Housing Options Team know and they will take this additional information into consideration. However, there is no guarantee you will be placed in this area.
Unless there are very strong reasons why you cannot accept the interim or temporary accommodation we offer, you will be asked to accept it straight away.
You should also be aware that we operate a policy of one offer only of suitable interim or temporary accommodation.
What happens if I refuse the interim or temporary accommodation?
When you have viewed the accommodation, if for any reason you wish to refuse it, you will need to tell us why.
If we still consider it to be a suitable offer, we may no longer have a duty towards you. It is very important that you speak to us as soon as possible after you have viewed the property, if you do not intend to stay there.
Under the law, you cannot ask us to review the suitability of interim accommodation, but you can ask us to review the suitability of temporary accommodation. Interim accommodation is accommodation provided whilst we make a decision and temporary accommodation is accommodation provided after a decision is made.
If you do not feel the offer of temporary accommodation is suitable, please contact an Accommodation Officer who will give you advice about requesting a review.
You should think very carefully before turning down an offer of interim or temporary accommodation. If we do not accept your reasons for refusal, our duty to provide you with accommodation will come to an end and you will have to find your own accommodation.
What are acceptable reasons for refusing an offer?
- property allocated is the wrong size to accommodate the household
- where there is a need for regular specialist medical treatment that cannot be provided at a local hospital or a hospital that is within travelling distance
- where a child attends a special school and this cannot be provided more locally, or where a change would prove detrimental to the child’s welfare
- clients would be contravening conditions of probation/court judgments in relation to themselves or any member of the resident household
- property squatted at the time of offer, or where there are maintenance problems that cannot be repaired quickly
- other very special reasons, for example, where a child is on the Child Protection Register, every effort will be made to keep the family in the Craven area.
As far as possible, proof should be provided to confirm the information you have given to us for your refusal.
Can my temporary accommodation be cancelled at any time?
Yes, but only with good reason. Some examples are listed below:
If you:
- do not keep appointments with us
- do not provide the documents we ask for
- do not take reasonable care of the accommodation
- do not accept other offers of interim or temporary accommodation made to you
- do not pay your share of the charges for the interim or temporary accommodation
- do not tell us when you stay away from the interim or temporary accommodation
- have not been staying in your room when we do accommodation checks
- do not find or accept and move into any suitable settled offer of accommodation available to you
- or any member of your family behaves in a racist, sexist or aggressive way, or cause nuisance to other residents. (Unfortunately some people do behave unreasonably and therefore we have to give these warnings to everybody).