About temporary accommodation
When you approach us as homeless, you will be advised whether we will have a legal duty to place you in temporary accommodation whilst enquiries are being made into your homeless application.
We may provide you with temporary accommodation on the day you become homeless if we have reason to believe you are:
- Homeless
- Eligible (in terms of immigration status)
- In priority need
Further information on these definitions can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Supply of temporary accommodation is very limited. We would advise that if it is possible for you to stay with family or friends whilst we assess your homeless application. Please discussed this with your caseworker.
Types of temporary accommodation
Depending on availability, you may be offered one of the following types of temporary accommodation:
- Bed and Breakfast (B&B)
- Hostel
- Supported accommodation
- Council-managed accommodation (these are mostly flats on large estates or tower blocks and are based both within and outside of Wandsworth)
- Accommodation in the private sector (owned by private landlords, but let to us on a temporary basis)
B&B accommodation often has shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. If you are pregnant or have children and you are placed in B&B accommodation with shared facilities, you will join a waiting list of families for an offer of self contained temporary accommodation and be moved as soon as possible.
If no local accommodation is available, you could be placed in temporary accommodation out of the borough. It is important that you tell us of any reasons why you cannot live in a particular area or if you have any health or medical issues affecting the type of accommodation you need or the location. You will need to provide any supporting information regarding your reasons
Where you are placed very much depends on the availability and supply of temporary accommodation.
You should be aware that many of our temporary accommodations have a “no pets” policy, therefore you will need to make arrangements for them to be housed elsewhere.
Storing personal belongings
Depending on your circumstances, we may be able to assist with the storage of your belongings. You will need to repay any storage costs arranged by us by way of an interest-free loan. You will need to sign an agreement to arrange to pay back these costs in instalments.
In many cases it may be easier and cheaper for you to seek your own storage solutions with family or friends.
For further information about storage and all the associated costs you should speak to your Housing Options Officer.
Section 208 referrals
For other Local Authorities making temporary accommodation