After you submit our online referral form, we will contact you within 48 hours.

We’ll carry out an initial assessment with you to work out whether you’re eligible to get help and whether you’re threatened with becoming homeless within 56 days.

We will look at:

• your current housing situation
• what support you need to change your situation
• what steps that we and you should take to help you stay in your home or find somewhere else to stay

You may be asked to bring documents with you, such as:

• your tenancy agreement
• the notice to quit from your landlord
• letters threatening repossession
• letters from mortgage lenders or court orders

You should also bring:

• identification for all members of your household
• details of any debts
• proof of household income, such as wages slips or details of benefits you get

You may need to bring other documents for help with homelessness.

Personalised housing plan

We’ll produce a personalised housing plan with our understanding of your situation, the steps we both agree to take and the dates they should be completed by.

The plan will be updated when any step is completed by you or by us, or when we agree on new steps following changes in your situation.

This work is known as our duty to prevent homelessness. This duty to assist you will continue until you find a place to live which has reasonable likelihood of lasting 6 months or longer. If you become homeless, a different duty to help with your homelessness may start.

You will be expected to work with us to carry out the reasonable steps identified on the plan - we may not be able to continue to help if you do not. Our non-cooporation procedure has more information.

Where it’s not possible to stay in your current home

If it’s not possible to stay in your current home, we’ll try and help you find alternative accommodation before you become homeless. We can:

• refer you to a number of agencies who may be able to offer you additional support
• help you search for a privately rented home
• provide access to schemes which provide financial assistance to help get a home in the private rented sector
• help you apply for social housing through the BCP Homechoice housing register process
• provide advice on home ownership schemes
• refer you to supported housing schemes