Homelessness

If you are threatened with homelessness or about to become homeless we may be able to help.

Every year approximately 2,500 people contact us because they are worried about losing their home.

How we can help

The Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Act 2002 places obligations on us with regards to the homeless.

We may meet its obligations in a number of ways:

• in most cases we will only provide advice, rather than finding you a home
• in some instances we will help you find a home with a private landlord with your signed permission

• for those eligible we may provide you with short-term housing or hotel accommodation until suitable permanent housing is found

Please remember that any accommodation that may be provided is not free. A charge will be made, which will be at the market price. Of course, if you have a low income help may be available in the form of housing benefit.

Who can we help

To qualify for further assistance we will need to establish that:

• you are eligible for assistance
• you are homeless
• you have a priority need
• that there is no other suitable accommodation in the borough or elsewhere, which you could reasonably use
• you are not intentionally homeless
• you have a local connection with Brent

Find out more about these qualifying criteria on the 'Homelessness - the people we can help?' page.

Who to contact

If you know that you will be becoming homeless in the near future you, phone us on 020 8937 2000, to make an appointment. In appropriate circumstances home visits can be arranged.

In an emergency, that is if you are homeless on the day of contacting us, you may be given an appointment to see a Homeless persons officer.

Come to the reception area at:

Mahatma Gandhi House
34 Wembley Hill Road
Wembley
Middlesex
HA9 8AD

Our opening hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 9am to 4pm and Friday 9am to 12pm. Our office is closed on Wednesday.

If you are immediately homeless outside of normal working hours, phone 020 8937 1234.
 
Downloadable guide
 
We have also produced a guide to homelessness booklet (.pdf, 286Kb).
 
This booklet explains how we assess customers who are homeless.