If your Housing Options Officer assesses you and is satisfied that you are at risk of becoming homeless within 56 days, and you’re eligible for help, we will try to help prevent you becoming homeless. This could be by helping you...

• To remain in your current accommodation
• To delay having to move out of your current accommodation in order to allow a planned move into alternative accommodation
• To look for alternative accommodation, and/or
• To sustain independent living

If your Housing Options Officer assesses you and is satisfied that you are homeless, and you’re eligible for help, we are obliged to help you to secure a suitable home. We may be able to help by providing you with temporary accommodation in the short term. 

We will then aim to help you find suitable permanent accommodation, this may be in the form of...

• Offering you council accommodation
• Helping you secure an permanent offer of tenancy with a housing association 
• Helping you secure an offer of tenancy in the privately rented sector

You may have a priority need for help if you...

• Are a pregnant woman or you live with, or would reasonably be expected to live with, a pregnant woman
• Have a dependent child living with you or might reasonably be expected to live with you
• Are vulnerable due to some special reason (such as old age, physical or mental illness or physical or mental disability)
• Are homeless or threatened with homelessness as a result of an emergency such as flood, fire or other disaster
• Are homeless as a result of being subject to domestic abuse
• Have reached the age of 18 but are under 21 and are at particular risk of sexual or financial exploitation, or you are leaving Care
• Have served in the regular armed forces and have been homeless since leaving those forces
• Are assessed as having a local connection with Wrexham County Borough and are assessed as vulnerable due to having served a custodial sentence or been remanded into youth detention

If you are homeless, eligible and in priority need then we must make sure you are offered suitable temporary accommodation whilst we complete further enquiries.

Your Housing Options Officer will speak to you, and after discussing your situation will decide if you have a local connection.

If you have a local connection with another council’s area, but have no local connection with Wrexham, we may refer your homelessness application to the other council.

However if you have no local connection anywhere, and ask us for help then we may consider providing help/taking responsibility.

Depending on our decision you may be entitled to temporary or permanent accommodation.

You may be considered intentionally homeless if you leave or are forced to leave accommodation that you could reasonably have been expected to continue to stay in, but which you left as a result of something you did or failed to do. This includes if you:

• Voluntarily gave up your accommodation, either in the UK or abroad, and it would have been considered reasonable for you to continue to live there;
• Are evicted for rent arrears or mortgage, in circumstances where there is no good reason for non-payment;
• Are evicted for anti-social behaviour, such as harassment or drug dealing;
• Chose to sell your house without good reason;
• Chose to give up employment, which included accommodation, for no good reason

If you are found to be eligible and in priority need, but homeless intentionally, we may be able to provide temporary accommodation to give you a reasonable opportunity of securing accommodation for yourself, and give you advice if needed.

If you have been found to be eligible for help, homeless and in priority need we have a duty to provide you with temporary accommodation. 

If you are unintentionally homeless, in priority need and have a local connection with Wrexham County Borough, we have a duty to provide temporary accommodation.

In certain cases, we may also have to provide you with temporary accommodation whilst Housing Options Officers are still assessing your application (to decide if you are homeless, eligible for help and in priority need).

If you are in priority need, you may be provided with temporary accommodation while we look into your case further.

Temporary accommodation could be...

• Council temporary accommodation
• Bed and Breakfast
• Hostel accommodation
• Shared accommodation

While we help provide temporary accommodation, our duty to provide this could end if you break the agreement of the housing plan you are given (you may then be given notice to leave the accommodation).

If we find that you don’t have a priority need, we have no legal duty to provide you with temporary accommodation. You’ll be informed of this decision in writing and we’ll offer advice/assistance to try and help you find your own accommodation.

While we can provide temporary accommodation to help prevent or relieve homelessness in the short term, where necessary we can then help you source suitable permanent accommodation. 

Permanent accommodation may be in the form of a....

• Permanent council tenancy
• Permanent housing association tenancy
• Private rented sector tenancy

Our duty to you will end if you: 

• Accept an offer of a permanent Council tenancy;
• Accept an offer of a permanent housing association tenancy
• Accept an offer of a tenancy in the privately rented sector
• Refuse an offer of suitable accommodation  

However, you have the right to appeal within 21 days if you disagree with the suitability of the accommodation offered to you.

While we assess the suitability of the offer, we may continue to provide you with temporary accommodation.

If you are given a tenancy based on any false or misleading information that you have supplied, we may take legal action to end the tenancy.

If you don’t qualify for rehousing through us, we can still give you advice about what you can do next and refer you to other organisations that may be able to help.