EMERGENCY ACCOMMODATION

 

Night Shelter

 

Scrine Foundation - Canterbury Open Centre

Palmers Building, Station Road East, Canterbury. 

(opposite Canterbury East Station)

Tel: 01227 464904

 

  • To book a place at the Night shelter you need to contact the Canterbury Open Centre during the day to make a pre-booking for the night.

 

  • If there are no spaces left, you will be put on a waiting list.

 

  • You must confirm your pre-booking every night between 5.00pm and 8.00pm.

 

  • Once you have confirmed your booking you must return to the night shelter by 10.30pm, there is no re-admittance after that time.  There is no morning curfew and you can leave when you want.

 

 

The Quays

 

Crown Quay Lane, Sittingbourne, Kent.

Tel: 01795 471376

 

The Quays provides cluster and self-contained flats for a maximum of 84 people.  There are regular one to one meetings with a keyworker, providing support.  They will not generally accept people who are abusing drugs or alcohol.

Telephone them in the first instance.

 

 

Porchlight

 

Porchlight is an organisation that has various forms of accommodation.  They have a direct access hostel at 106 Whitstable Road, Canterbury; this is subject to an interview, so can take some time to access.

You can get in touch with the hostel directly by phoning 01227 785037.

Porchlight also have Outreach Workers who can assist people who are street homeless or facing homelessness.  They may be able to help you to access Porchlight's own accommodation or other hostels etc. in the area.  Contact them on 01227 452570 or on their free helpline 0800 567 7699.

 

 

 

 

 

OTHER SOURCES OF ACCOMMODATION

 

The local newspapers are published every Thursday and advertise local accommodation; they are the Kentish Gazette and the Canterbury Times. At the Canterbury Housing Advice Centre, we produce a list from these papers every Thursday and can offer you the use of telephones to make contact with landlords.

 

It is always worth looking in shop windows etc, as accommodation is often advertised in this way.

 

There are many Letting Agents in Canterbury but they will often not accept tenants who are in receipt of benefits – we do have a list of these, here at CHAC.

 

We operate a SmartMove scheme where we can provide a deposit guarantee for single people or childless couples, who are homeless or about to become homeless.  This is not a cash deposit.  To apply for this scheme, it is again necessary to have an interview at Canterbury Housing Advice Centre, in order to see if you are eligible.  If you have found accommodation and require a deposit, it takes approximately one week to access.  Acceptance is subject to an interview.

For more details, please contact the Canterbury Housing Advice Centre, SmartMove project, 2ND Floor, 24 Burgate,Canterbury, CT1 2HA tel: 01227 762605

 

 

HOW TO GET MONEY FOR RENT IN ADVANCE

 

In general, all landlords require a payment of rent in advance, before you move into their accommodation.  There are two ways of borrowing money from the Social Fund, depending on how long you have been in receipt of benefits:

 

Budgeting Loan

You can apply for a budgeting loan for rent in advance (not a deposit) if:

 

  • You are in receipt of Income Support or Income based JSA and
  • You have been receiving that benefit for the past 26 weeks (6 months)

 

You do not have to have already found accommodation to apply for this loan.  You need to complete Form SF500 (available from the Benefits Agency), tick the box in Part 3 that says rent in advance, and put in the amount that you think you will need. If you already have social fund loans owing, you may not be entitled to any more, or the amount may be limited.

Budgeting Loans can take up to 28 days to process but you can ask the Benefits Agency to ‘fast-track’ your application if you are homeless, or likely to become so.  The loan is gradually repaid from your benefit.  You can download a claim form by clicking here -www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/claimforms/sf500_print.pdf

If you have not been receiving Income Support or JSA for 26 weeks or more, or if you receive Incapacity Benefit without an Income Support element, you can apply for a Crisis Loan, see below.

 

Crisis Loans

You can apply for a Crisis Loan for rent in advance if:

 

  • You are eligible for benefits (or in certain circumstances working)

And

  • Are homeless or about to be

And

  • You have found private rented accommodation.

 

This loan is for rent in advance only, and will not be issued for a deposit.

 

The maximum issued is 4 weeks rent in advance, although the rent must be reasonable.

If you already have large outstanding loans, this may stop you getting a loan for rent in advance but you should not be refused without completing a claim form/ interview.  The loan is gradually repaid from your benefits.

 

HOW TO APPLY

 

To apply for a crisis loan you can contact either of the following addresses, although you must first phone for an appointment.

 

  • Contact the Department of Work and Pensions at Thanet:

Queens House

Queen Street

Ramsgate

Kent

01843 258000

 

  • Contact the Department of Work and Pensions at Canterbury:

Nutwood House

Chaucer Road

Canterbury

Kent

CT1 1ZZ

01227 596700

 

Take the following information, in writing, to Queens House or Nutwood House as applicable.

 

  • Tenancy start date
  • Address of accommodation
  • Amount of rent due each week
  • Landlord/lady’s name, address and telephone number
  • Letter from the landlord stating how much rent in advance he/she requires.

To apply for a Budgeting Loan you must contact the following:

 

Aylesbury Jobcentre Plus

Sunley House

Oxford Road

Aylesbury

Buckinghamshire, HP19 8EZ

Telephone: 01296 314827

Fax: 01296 314707

Switchboard: 01296 314700

 

If you apply for a Crisis Loan but have been in receipt of JSA or Income Support for more than 6 months, you will probably be refused, and asked to apply for a Budgeting Loan instead.

 

 

COMMUNITY CARE GRANTS

 

Community Care Grants do not have to be paid back to the Social Fund.  They are intended, amongst other things, to help people set up a home following a period of imprisonment or an unsettled way of life (being homeless for a long period) and setting up a home as a planned programme of resettlement.

 

To be eligible for this Grant you have to be in receipt of JSA, Income Support, or be likely to be receiving it once you have left prison, for example.  You should apply for this Grant as soon as the need arises.

 

The criteria for applying for a Community Care Grant is fairly wide; for instance you can apply if you have undergone treatment for drug or alcohol misuse and are now wanting to set up a home.  If you enclose a letter from your drug/alcohol agency or GP, you have greater chance of a successful application.

 

Setting up home as part of a planned resettlement programme

 

To qualify, you must have been living an unsettled way of life before resettlement.  This could be living on the streets, in a hostel, night shelter or bed and breakfast.  In addition to this, the housing must be part of a planned resettlement programme.  An example of this could be leaving the Cyrenians, having been helped to find other accommodation.  Another would be by gaining accommodation having stayed at the night shelter for some time, and having been assisted by them.  An application can be made up to 6 weeks before moving into new accommodation.

 

Leaving Prison

 

A person leaving prison and needing items to set up a home can apply up to 6 weeks before release, if they are likely to be in receipt of JSA or Income Support once they leave.

Items that you can apply for include:

 

  • Furniture, furnishings, bedding and household equipment.
  • Clothing and footwear
  • Removal expenses
  • Connection charges
  • Travelling expenses

 

This is not a complete list.  Costs should be estimated by using a catalogue, usually Argos.

 

The Citizens Advice Bureau can give you more information on Community Care Grants.  The application should be made on Form SF300, available from the Benefits Agency.

 

Return the form to:

Lloyds Court

C/O Bowback House

299, Silbury Boulevard

Milton Keynes

Buckinghamshire, MK9 1NS

SSMG tel: 01908 458601

Kent review team; 01908 458648

 

 

EXTENDED HOUSING BENEFIT

 

If you are on Income Support or Income-Based jobseekers allowance and your entitlement ends because you start work, or increase your hours of pay, you may be entitled to extended payments of Housing Benefit and Council tax benefit.  This means that for up to 4 weeks you continue to receive the same amount of Housing benefit and Council tax benefit as you did before you took up full time, paid work.

 

How to claim

 

Although you do not have to make a claim for extended payments of Housing benefit and Council tax benefit, you must let your local authority and DWP office know that you are starting full time paid work or increasing your hours or earnings.  Unless you qualify for a lone parent run-on, you must do this within a strict 4 week time limit.  Your extended payments of Housing benefit and Council tax benefit should then be made automatically.