Homelessness

You are eligible for assistance if you are a British citizen and usually resident in the UK.

Are you homeless?

You are homeless if:

• you have no accommodation anywhere that you can legally occupy
• it is likely that you will lose your accommodation within 56 days. For example, if you have a court order or legal notice from your landlord requiring you to leave your home
• you have somewhere to live but are unable to get into the property
• it is unreasonable for you to continue to live in your home.

Priority need

You have a priority need if you or a member of your family:

• are pregnant
• have dependant children under the age of 16 (or 19 if in full time education)
• are vulnerable for a particular reason e.g. a medical reason
• are homeless due to an emergency, such as fire or flood
• are homeless due to violence or the threat of violence, including domestic violence.

If you are in priority need, we can provide you with somewhere to live temporarily. This could be a hostel, refuge or temporary flat.

We only use bed and breakfast as a last resort.

Sometimes to provide you with temporary accommodation we have to place you outside the Chorley area.

Intentionally homeless

You may be considered intentionally homeless if you left secure accommodation that was reasonable for you to continue to live in without good reason. If this is the case, we may decide not to offer you accommodation as a homeless person.

If you have a priority need but are intentionally homeless we may provide you with somewhere to live for a short time if a property is available.

This would be for a maximum of 28 days, whilst you find your own accommodation.

Local connection

You have a local connection if:

• you have lived in Chorley for 6 of the last 12 months or 3 of the last 5 years
• you have close relatives living permanently in Chorley 
• you have permanent employment in the Chorley area
• if you do not have a local connection to the Chorley area you may be referred to an area where you have a connection, unless you will be at risk of violence in that area.