Homeless, or in danger of becoming homeless?
Homelessness
If you are having difficulty in paying your mortgage or worried about becoming homeless, homemaker Southwest can offer specialist advice and support to individuals and families across Devon who may be at risk of losing their homes.
If you are faced with homelessness in East Devon, please contact the Housing Needs Team for advice as soon as you can by
- telephoning (01395) 517469,
- emailing housingneeds@eastdevon.gov.uk,
- or writing to: Housing Needs Team, East Devon District Council, Council Offices, Knowle, Sidmouth, EX10 8HL.
A member of the Housing Needs Team will normally be available for interviews at the Knowle, Sidmouth, during office hours (8.30am to 5pm). Please telephone (01395) 517469 first to be sure of an appointment, and to find out what information may be useful to bring with you.
Advice is also available from the Housing Needs team at Exmouth Town Hall, 9am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
Remember, the sooner you approach East Devon District Council about your housing problem, the more we can try and do for you.
To find out more about the advice service available, download the leaflet below.
Housing Advice Service Leaflet (114KB - PDF Help)
Emergencies Out of hours
If you find yourself homeless outside of normal working hours please contact: (01395) 516854.
The Housing Needs Team can help prevent your homelessness by:
- Providing you with an ‘options’ interview
A ‘duty’ officer will see all visitors to the offices in Sidmouth or Exmouth. This initial interview takes about 15 to 20 minutes and aims to resolve most housing and homelessness issues. If a more in-depth ‘options’ interview is required this is organised the same day or the next day. This will involve a lengthy interview where detailed information about the applicants housing situation and needs are explored. At this time extensive efforts are made to resolve the housing issue and/or prevent homelessness. - Providing a Rent Deposit Scheme (RDS)
This scheme provides financial assistance to an applicant to access accommodation in the private rented sector. Normally this is a deposit and sometimes rent in advance to a landlord. Applicants are assessed under homeless legislation and are considered eligible for assistance, in priority need and would probably be ‘statutorily homeless’. The applicant repays the deposit over a period of time – minimum payment acceptable is £20 per month. - Referring applicants to Young Devon (previously Devon Youth Association)
Young Devon work with young people, either preventing them being excluded from home or helping them access suitable alternative accommodation such as, a supported lodgings placement or a support housing project. - Referring applicants with debt problems to the ‘homelessness prevention advisor’ with CAB Honiton
Primarily providing debt and money advise to households who are threatened with homelessness because of rent and mortgage arrears or other debts that may place them at risk of homelessness. - Negotiating with landlords to help you remain in your home and sustain your existing tenancy.
- Negotiating with landlords or mortgage lenders to delay or prevent your homelessness.
- Support elderly or disabled applicants and prevent their homelessness by offering settled accommodation immediately.
In exceptional circumstances we are able to offer accommodation in our Sheltered Housing Schemes rather than go through the usual process of taking a homeless application and placing elderly/disabled person in temporary accommodation. - We will visit your home and speak to your parent(s) if you are a young person excluded from the family home. Housing officers will negotiate with parents to allow young people to remain home.
- We will liaise with other agencies about your application, such as prison service, probation, youth offending team, Children and Young Persons Services, PCT and CMHT.
- If it is not possible to ‘prevent’ homelessness a homelessness application is made and if the Housing Assistant has ‘reason to believe’ an applicant is homeless, it may be necessary to provide temporary accommodation and begin an investigation into the households homelessness situation.
