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What to Do if You are Homeless

1. Contact the Local Authority Housing Department in your area and any of the other agencies offering housing information and advice who will refer you to the appropriate office.

2. If you are unable to secure your own accommodation, you should ask for an interview with one of the homeless person's staff as soon as possible. This can be done in person by calling into the office, or by phone.

3. Attending the interview is very important. It will give you useful information and advice and should result in you knowing quickly whether you may be entitled to be given temporary accommodation. Written detail of your situation may be required, e.g. a letter from your current or most recent landlord, at the interview to verify your circumstances.

Interview

In Aberdeenshire people presenting themselves as homeless are interviewed by skilled and experienced staff from the Council's Homeless Persons' section at:

  • Baltic House, Peterhead
  • 55 Mid Street, Fraserburgh
  • 32 Low Street, Banff
  • Municipal Buildings, High Street, Turriff
  • 25 Gordon Street, Huntly
  • Gordon House, Inverurie
  • 16/22 Allardice Street, Stonehaven

Assessment

Where an applicant is homeless and in priority need, temporary accommodation will be secured, or if the person has no local connection, they will be referred to another authority.

The Council aims to reach a final decision on each application from a homeless person within 28 days. People facing a homeless situation should seek legal advice where appropriate.

Assessment Period

The assessment period for applications allows Council staff enough time to make the necessary enquiries to verify each applicant's homeless circumstances properly. Applicants are kept regularly informed by the staff concerned on the progress being made with the assessment of their application.

Temporary Accommodation

From 30th September 2002, besides a requirement to provide priority needs cases with accommodation, the Council must also provide temporary accommodation to those non priority cases presenting as homeless. In such cases, accommodation will be provided for a reasonable period to allow applicants to secure accommodation.

Dissatisfied applicants have the right of appeal against the decision. This would be carried out by submitting a letter to the Homeless Section stating their grounds of appeal.