Homelessness

If you are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless you should contact Barnet Homes as soon as possible on 020 8610 3539.

There are very few council and housing association properties available in Barnet and demand for housing far exceeds our supply. This means that:

  • our first priority will be to help you stay in your current home
  • you may be offered a home in the private rented sector
  • for most people the quickest and most effective way to solve your housing problem will be for you to find your own accommodation in the private rented sector. The private rented sector in Barnet is very expensive and if you are on a low income you may need to look for accommodation in areas which are more affordable for you
  • social housing is allocated to those with the most urgent housing need, so most people will not qualify
  • if you qualify for social housing we will make one reasonable offer of accommodation only. If you do not accept this, it is likely that we will not be able to help you further.

If you are already homeless

Barnet Homes runs an appointment only service.

Telephone: 020 8610 3539

Type Talk: 18001 0800 3895225 

Email: housingadvice@barnethomes.org

If you think we can help you with your housing problem, you should contact us as soon as possible on 020 8610 3539. A member of our Housing Options team will then assess your housing problem and circumstances and give you advice on what options you have to solve them.  In order to do this, you will be asked questions about:

  • you and your household, including immigration status
  • any serious medical conditions you believe are affected or made worse by your current situation
  • your income and expenses
  • your current housing situation / problem.

Based on the information that you provide, we will provide you with advice on next steps.  If we think we can help you, an advice appointment will be arranged for you so that we can review your case in more detail and give you further assistance.

If an advice appointment is arranged for you, we will ask you to provide evidence to help us complete an assessment of your circumstances and needs.  We need this information so that we can better understand your housing problem and circumstances and work with you to find the housing advice and options that are most suitable for you. You will need to provide a range of documents including proof of your identity, income and current address.

It is important that you tell us as soon as possible if it is likely that you could become homeless. We will do everything we can to prevent this and will assess your situation, offer advice and explain your options.

Helping you find an alternative home

Where staying in your current home is not an option, we will assess your housing needs using Barnet Council’s Housing Allocations Scheme.  This assessment will determine what level of priority you will be given for rehousing and what type of housing you need. There is no waiting list or housing register. There is no application form for you to fill in.

To find out what we take into account you can download and read Barnet Council’s 

Housing allocations scheme 2019 (PDF)

Our assessment will involve reviewing information that you provide and carrying out checks including:

  • Previous address and residential history checks
  • Credit and fraud checks
  • Land registry searches and checks with other councils
  • In cases where you are living with friends or family or renting privately, we will visit you at home and also talk to your landlord.

Once we have completed our assessment, we will let you know:

  • Whether we will assist you through the Housing Allocations Scheme
  • What type of housing is suitable for you (including size, rent level, location and floor level)
  • What level of priority for rehousing you have been given (what ‘band’ you are in)
  • How you can access our Let2Barnet scheme if you find your own private rented accommodation.

Some customers will not be assisted any further once their case has been assessed. Examples where this may happen include where:

  • The household has savings and/or receives an income that is above a certain level
  • A member of the household has been evicted for or involved in proven anti-social behaviour (this includes whilst living in temporary accommodation provided by Barnet Homes)
  • A household has been evicted due to rent arrears (this includes arrears at temporary accommodation provided by Barnet Homes)
  • A customer’s immigration status has changed and they no longer have recourse to public funds