Homelessness prevention advice and support
Are you building up rent arrears, being threatened with eviction, struggling with housing benefits, experiencing anti-social behaviour or harassment, living in overcrowded, unsuitable or unsafe accommodation or in any situation that means you are worried about losing your home?
We are here for your with our FREE homelessness prevention services. When you get in touch, a member of our team will ask questions about your situation and help you work out what your options are.
If you haven’t already, you should speak to Buckinghamshire Council. They may have a legal duty to help you.
We can help you over the phone, by email, by video conference and can arrange to see you in person. Let us know what works for you.
You may be invited to our housing legal clinic to speak with our panel that includes a housing solicitor, a housing benefits specialist from the Wycombe Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme and our homelessness prevention team.
We providing free support including
- Free legal advice from a housing solicitor
- Help to work with your landlord to resolve issues
- Help access grants and payments to pay rental debt or deposits if it will prevent homelessness
- Helping you understand your housing rights and assisting you in securing them
- Going with you to court (in person and online) and we will help you prepare for hearings
- Help you appeal decisions relating to your housing crisis and more!
Typical housing related issues that we can help with include:
- Rent arrears/debt
- If you are threatened with an unfair or illegal eviction
- Where an eviction notice has been served, we can look at whether it is legal and can advise on what you can do if you have been served a notice
- Where there are court proceedings on housing matters e.g. possession claims, injunctions, warrants of eviction
- If you are facing housing benefit problems
- Anti-social behaviour
- Homelessness applications, decisions, reviews and appeals
- Immigration issues - if your immigration status is stopping you getting access to housing or financial support
- Bedroom tax issues
- If you're living in overcrowded accommodation, unsuitable and unsafe accommodation, disrepair
- Housing-related family law problems
- Housing-related issues related to domestic violence
- Harassment by landlords
- If you have a problem with an unprotected deposit
- If you have questions about allocation of social housing
- Tenancy succession issues
- Advice regarding Equality Act duties of housing associations and local authorities
Here are some important things you need to know if you are a tenant and are at risk of losing your home.
- Always put your safety first.
- You have rights. Most tenants cannot be evicted until a court says so.
- If you have to leave your home to keep safe, do so, but read on for more information.
- Illegal evictions and harassment from your landlord are crimes. If you are being illegally evicted or harassed call Buckinghamshire Council who can investigate, tell your landlord to stop and take action if the harassment continues.
- Don't leave your home just because you've been told to. Doing so when you don't have to may affect your rights to help getting somewhere else.
- Try to keep hold of all the paperwork related to your tenancy and deposit.