Mental illness or impairment

If you think you may become homeless, you have the right to apply to us for help. 

When deciding if we owe you a legal duty to provide help, one of the things we will look at is whether you have a priority need. You have priority need if you are vulnerable because of mental illness or learning disability. 

When deciding whether you are vulnerable, we will speak to medical professionals, social services and your care providers and will consider all the circumstances, including: 

• the nature and extent of your illness and/or disability;
• the relationship between your illness and/or disability and your housing difficulties; and
• any support you receive and whether you would suffer more harm than an ordinary person if they became homeless.
• If we are concerned that you may be at risk of abuse or neglect, we will take action or ask other agencies to do so. 

Once you have applied, we will ensure that the Adult Services team carry out a “Needs Assessment” to assess what support or care you may need. We will discuss this with you. 

They will decide whether you have eligible care and support needs. Eligible needs are: 

• needs related to a physical or mental impairment;
• needs that mean that you cannot carry out specific things, such as feeding yourself, wash and get dressed, access work, training or education, develop and maintain family and social relationships, keep your home safe or look after a child; and
• needs that have a significant impact on your well-being. 

They will then prepare a “Support Plan” for you to agree to, which explains what support and care you will receive. It will include: 

• your needs which have been identified;
• whether your needs are eligible needs (as explained above);
• which Local Authority will meet your needs and how they will do that; and
• how the support will help you, including if it might delay, or stop, you developing additional needs in the future. 

We will work with you and the Adult Services team to ensure that you receive any social care assessments and care packages to which you are entitled. 

You may be allocated an adult social worker who you can contact and who can organise care services to help you. 

They may be able to help you if you need assistance with: 

• getting out of bed;
• washing and dressing;
• cooking and eating meals;
• getting to work;
• caring for family members;
• seeing friends and being part of the community; and
• emotional support. 

We may be able to make adaptions to your current home to enable you to remain there, for example: 

• intercoms;
• ramps; or
• door widening. 

See our supported housing advice page  to find out more, including information about the costs and whether you will have to pay anything. 

If you have debts and are receiving mental health crisis treatment, you may be able to qualify for a "Breathing space" scheme to give you legal protection from creditor action. 

We may be able to help you find accommodation which is supported, which may be: 

• specialised accommodation which is your own home; or
• specialised accommodation which is shared accommodation. 

Supported housing can help with a variety of support needs, not just your mental illness or impairment. For example, it may include training to improve your life skills to enable you to live independently at a later stage. 

We may be able to provide temporary accommodation until you find a permanent home. 

We can help you apply for social housing. Some social housing is adapted or can be adapted to allow you to live there. You can apply for social housing in this area if: 

• you have family in the area;
• you work in the area; or
• there is a special reason for you to be connected to the area, for example, you need to attend medical appointments in the area. 

We can help you with financial advice and budgeting so that you know what you can afford. We can also help you apply for financial help, which could be benefits, discretionary housing payment or financial support to obtain new accommodation. 

We can help you apply for tenancies in the private rented sector. 

You may also want to consider if you can afford to buy a home . This will depend on your circumstances, including whether you can manage to maintain a home and pay a mortgage yourself. You may also need to deal with additional legal matters, for example, if you have a guardian due to mental impairment.