Intentionally Homeless!?

Question

Please No Sarcastic Answers...
If the council decide you're intentionally homeless, how long can that saction last? please serious answers only.

Answer 1

Although the council does not have to provide you with longterm accommodation if you are intentionally homeless, it does have to give you some help.

It must give you advice and assistance to help you find
alternative housing. Although the council must assist you, you
are responsible for finding your own housing, so you will need
to look for housing for yourself. Advice and assistance should
be based on an assessment of your housing needs, so the
council should first discuss with you the type of housing you
need. If you are on a low income, assistance could include
help towards paying a deposit or rent.

If you have a priority need (eg because you have dependent
children or are pregnant), the council must give you temporary
housing for a period that will give you a reasonable
opportunity to find alternative housing. This is often a few
weeks, but will vary depending on your circumstances.
If you have children the council should - with your consent -
refer you to social services, and they should work together to
help you to find somewhere to live.

Answer 2

Intentionally homeless ... it's a get out clause, and they tend to use for anyone who has given up a tenancy no matter how awful a landlord was or how bad the state of the property was etc etc, it can stay for a long time... there is no set amount of time.. you usually end up having to try and convince them of your plight and then they normally only give in if you are a vulnerable case ie/ have children or medical conditions certified by a doctor .
One social landlord I work with refuses to even look at re homing people until the tenancy is up the very day and they require all the paperwork such as seeking possession letters etc etc
The only other option that some councils and social landlords have is a deposit scheme which helps towards finding you other private rented accommodation with private landlords that they have vetted etc you may want to look at this option, not all do it but it is worth a try.

Answer 3

"Intentional" Homelessness is a crock of ****.

Apparently this lasts until you find settled accommodation elsewhere. For example if someone was found "intentionally" homeless but then went to live with their sister, and stayed there for 3 months but then their sister threw them out, then the Council would have to a open a new homelessness application because the person had been living with their sister for a while, so the previous "intentionally homeless" judgement would no longer apply. they'd have to look at reasons why s/he eft their sister's accommodation, not the accommodation they left before that.

Its an absolute disgrace that councils use this ridiculous term to deny people help. We went through this. We nearly lost our house to repossession when I was 8 months pregnant and the Council refused to help us because they said we were "intentionally homeless". This was because our mortgage insurance refused to cover us because I was unable to work because of a pregnancy related illness and the Council said it was our fault that we took out a policy with no cover for pregnancy and then I got pregnant. The fact that I had been trying and failing to get pregnant for 8 years, had had many fertility investigations and had finally given up when I did fall pregnant, so we would never have thought "pregnancy" would be needed in our mortgage cover, bypassed them.

They said we' d have to go into a Bed and Breakfast until we could save up for a private rent. the Housing Associations in our area have 10 year waiting lists, (but still manage to house plenty of Somalian Asylum Seekers somehow.)

Luckily my mum in law managed to lend us money to clear the arrears off but only after a long court battle with Shelter Cymru on our side. We kept our house but it was a real fight. The stress of it all nearly caused me to lose my baby.

Answer 4

The decision tends to be based on circumstances. The most common reason is non-payment of rent, loss of house, through mortgage default.

There are a variety of remedies. It is best to consult:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/advice/advice-156.cfm#wipTest-467-2

Answer 5

I guess there is no limit as every case is individual, it would be at the discretion of who ever is in charge of the case !!

Answer 6

How can you be intentionally homeless?