Homelessness

When your housing circumstances have been assessed and as a homeless applicant, you will be placed on the council’s urgent need list. This means that the council has a legal responsibility to resolve your homelessness within a reasonable timescale. 

Given this responsibility, we will provide you with settled accommodation and you will receive one suitable offer of housing as a homeless housing applicant.

Having an urgent housing need limits the ability for applicants to be selective in terms of housing preferences including area and house type.

This means that the council will make you an offer of suitable housing that will meet you / your family’s basic housing needs, however, you will be required to queue for whole locality areas and not specific letting areas.

All applicants on the urgent homelessness list will be queued for all property type accommodation and further discussions will take place around your preferences with your housing officer.

This is intended to ensure that we can make an offer of housing within a reasonable period to all households who are homeless.

It is important that you understand that you may require to make some compromises in order to resolve your homelessness. For example, you may require to consider the following:

• Moving your children’s school or nursery
• Registering with a different GP
• Journeys to and from work
• Residing in an area outwith where you are used to living

You will require to discuss and complete a personal housing plan with your housing officer. This process ensures your circumstances are understood, considered and recorded.

This plan will record your housing needs, that is the size of property required for your household and any specific needs in relation to property type or area. Your housing officer will discuss all your housing options with you, including the private sector and other registered social landlords. 

Our housing options self-assessment guide can be used to help give you an understanding of the housing provision within South Lanarkshire this information can be viewed on our HomeOptions webpage.

Detailed information on each housing area within South Lanarkshire, can also be viewed on our HomeOptions webpage.

Please note supporting information will be requested, and must be provided, to support any special housing need.

Your view is important to us

We are keen to work with people who are currently or have recently become homeless to help us to continue to improve our services to prevent people from becoming homeless and to support those who are.

This can take place in various ways such as, attending group meetings/events, reviewing our services, or answering short surveys.

If you think you would be interested in this and would like further information, please email us at homelessness.strategy@southlanarkshire.gov.uk providing your name and contact details and we will contact you.