Emergency housing

If you are homeless, have nowhere to stay or need to move urgently, contact us for advice and information.

Housing options for families

We will talk to you to see if we can help you. If we are satisfied that you fulfil our criteria we may offer you a tenancy in the private sector or temporary accommodation while we make our decision or while we wait for a permanent home to become available.

​Help for single people

We give support to single people who are homeless or are worried they might become homeless. You can contact us directly, or you might be referred to us. We will assess your situation and refer you to the housing service that best fits your needs. 

If you are threatened with homelessness tonight you can call our out of hours number 020 8314 7007 .

Who we can help

1. You must be habitually resident within the UK
2. You must be homeless or threatened with homelessness within 28 days
3. you have a priority need
4. You must not be intentionally homeless
5. You must have a local connection with Lewisham (or have no local connection with any other council).

1. You are habitually resident within the UK.

You are NOT eligible if:

• you are from abroad and subject to immigration control
• you are from abroad and not habitually resident in the UK
• you are a British citizen but you have not been habitually resident in the UK for a number of years.

There are exceptions to this which will be discussed with you in interview.

2. You are homeless or threatened with homelessness now or within the next 28 days and:

• you no longer have a legal right to stay in your home
• you have somewhere to live but cannot gain entry to it
• you are at risk of violence from someone who is living in your home
• your home is a caravan or boat and you have nowhere to legally place it and live in it
• you have a home in which it is not reasonable for you to live, when compared with the housing conditions of other people living in the area.

3. You have a priority need. You are considered to have a priority need if you or a member of your family is one or more of the following:

• you are pregnant
• you have a dependent child aged 16 years or under, or aged 17 to 18 and still at school
• you are 16 or 17 years
• vulnerable as a result of a physical or mental disability
• homeless due to a fire, flood or similar disaster
• you are vulnerable as a result of fleeing domestic violence or other violence.

4. You are not intentionally homeless

If, for example, you have become homeless because you did not pay your rent or mortgage and you could afford to do so, you could be considered ‘intentionally homeless'.

This means that you have done something deliberately which causes you to be homeless. If you are found to be intentionally homeless, the Council has no duty to accommodate you.

5. You either have a ‘local connection' with the area or no local connection with any other council

Generally, we will only house you if you or a member of your family have a local connection with the area. You may have a local connection if:

• you have lived here for six out of the last 12 months, or three out of the last five years
• you have permanent work in the area
• your close relatives, such as mum, dad, brother or sister, have lived in here for the past five years
• you have very special reasons why you must live in the area.

If you have no local connection, we will refer you to another area where you have connections, if it is safe for you to go there.

If you have no connection with any area, we will house you if it is decided we have a duty under current homelessness legislation to do so.