Student emergency housing rights

Overview

If you are a student and you become homeless or unsafe during term, you generally have the same rights to emergency housing help as anyone else. Being a full-time student does not remove your right to apply to a council as homeless, although it can affect the practical picture (for example whether student finance counts as income, or whether you have somewhere to return to in the vacation). Help comes from several different directions at once, and it is sensible to use more than one at the same time rather than relying on a single route.

Immediate safety first

If you are in immediate danger, for example from violence, threats, domestic abuse or being locked out at night, treat it as an emergency. Call 999 if there is a risk of harm right now. If it is not an emergency but you still feel unsafe, you can contact your university security or wellbeing team out of hours, and you can seek a refuge place. The 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline (0808 2000 247, run by Refuge) can arrange emergency refuge accommodation and does not require you to have any local connection. Refuges will usually take you regardless of your student status.

Applying to the council as homeless

Your main statutory route to emergency accommodation is a homelessness application to the local housing authority (the district or unitary council) for the area you are in. You do not need to be actually roofless to apply. In England the relevant law is the Housing Act 1996 Part 7 as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017; in Wales it is Part 2 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.

You count as homeless not only if you have nowhere to stay, but also if you have accommodation you cannot reasonably continue to occupy, which expressly includes situations where it is not safe for you to stay, for example because of violence or abuse or a genuine risk of it.

The interim (emergency) duty to accommodate

The key point for emergencies is the interim accommodation duty. In England, while the council investigates your application it must provide you with emergency accommodation straight away if it has reason to believe that you may be:

1. eligible for assistance (this relates to immigration and residence status; most UK nationals are eligible),
2. homeless, and
3. in priority need.

This is a low threshold. The council only needs a reason to believe you may fall into these categories, not to be certain, so it should not delay accommodation until inquiries are complete. This interim accommodation is what is usually meant by emergency accommodation. In Wales the framework is slightly different but a council also has duties to secure interim accommodation for applicants who are homeless, eligible and in priority need while it assesses the case.

Priority need — the crucial issue for students

Emergency accommodation under the interim duty depends on priority need. You are automatically or potentially in priority need if, for example, you are:

1. pregnant, or someone in your household is,
2. responsible for dependent children,
3. vulnerable as a result of old age, mental illness, physical disability or other special reason,
4. homeless as a result of an emergency such as fire or flood,
5. aged 16 or 17, or a care leaver aged 18 to 20,
6. vulnerable as a result of fleeing violence or the threat of violence, or as a result of being in the armed forces, prison or care.

A single adult student in good health with no dependants may not automatically be in priority need, which is the most common reason students are turned away from emergency accommodation. However, if you are fleeing domestic abuse the position is stronger: recent changes mean that a person who is homeless as a result of being a victim of domestic abuse has priority need in England. If you have a mental or physical health condition, you may be vulnerable and therefore in priority need, and you should make sure the council understands the full picture and any supporting medical evidence.

The relief duty and help even without priority need

Even if you are not in priority need, the council in England still owes you the relief duty for up to 56 days if you are homeless and eligible. This is a duty to take reasonable steps to help you secure accommodation, and before that it must carry out an assessment and produce a personalised housing plan. So do not assume there is no help simply because you are a single student. You are also entitled to free advice and information about homelessness from every council.

How to apply in practice

1. Go to or telephone the housing options or homelessness team of the local council for the area you are in. Many run an out-of-hours emergency line for evenings and weekends, which you should ask for if it is after office hours.
2. Say clearly that you wish to make a homelessness application and that you have nowhere safe to stay tonight. Ask specifically for interim or emergency accommodation.
3. Explain any reason you may be in priority need, for example that you are fleeing abuse or violence, are pregnant, have children, or have a health condition.
4. If you are refused emergency accommodation, ask for the decision and the reasons in writing, and ask how to request a review.

University support

Alongside the council, contact your university at once. Most universities in England and Wales have a student services, wellbeing or accommodation team, and many can provide short-term emergency accommodation in halls, temporary rooms or partner accommodation, especially where a student is unsafe or suddenly homeless. Universities also hold hardship funds that can provide grants or short-term loans towards a deposit, rent or emergency housing costs. The students’ union advice service is independent of the university and can advocate for you, help you approach the council, and check that you are being treated fairly. If your homelessness arises from a problem with a private landlord or a house share, the university or SU housing adviser can also advise on your tenancy rights.

Money and other practical help

If you lose your accommodation you may face costs for a deposit and rent in advance. Options to explore include your university hardship fund, a council discretionary housing payment if you are on housing benefit or the housing element of universal credit, and local charities. Full-time students are usually excluded from universal credit, but there are exceptions, for example if you have a child, have a disability and receive certain benefits, or are aged under 22 and without parental support. Check your position rather than assuming you cannot claim.

If you disagree with a council decision

You have the right to ask for a statutory review of most homelessness decisions in England, including a decision that you are not in priority need or that a duty has ended, generally within 21 days of being notified. While you dispute a refusal of emergency accommodation you can ask the council to continue accommodating you pending the review, and if it refuses that is potentially challengeable. If the council is simply refusing to take an application or provide emergency accommodation when it should, seek urgent specialist homelessness advice, as this can sometimes be challenged quickly.

Where to get free help now

Shelter runs a free housing advice helpline and detailed online guidance and can help you understand and enforce your rights against a council. Citizens Advice can help with homelessness, benefits and debt. For domestic abuse, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 operates 24 hours and can arrange a refuge place. If you are unsafe right now, contact the police.

What would sharpen this advice

The most important facts that would change the practical answer are whether you are fleeing abuse or violence, whether you have any dependants or health conditions, your age, your immigration or residence status, whether you are in England or Wales, and whether your homelessness is because you have physically lost your accommodation or because it is unsafe to remain there. If you tell me which of these apply to you, I can be far more specific about which duties the council owes you and the strongest way to put your case.