What to expect if we cannot prevent your homelessness

If you need accommodation because you have nowhere to sleep that night and you have a priority need CBH will place you into emergency accommodation. Most emergency accommodation is bed and breakfast and may not be in Colchester. We may use Maldon, Clacton or Sudbury. You will be given a room for you and your family which could have a kettle and a microwave and a small fridge, but this is not guaranteed. Meals are not provided and unfortunately CBH is unable to help with the cost of getting your children to school or for you to travel to Colchester for work or appointments. Essex County Council’s Education dept may be able to assist you with this.

While you are in emergency accommodation the Accommodation Team at CBH will be trying to secure you interim/temporary accommodation. Temporary Accommodation is always in Colchester, but we are unable to guarantee that it will be close to schools or workplaces, although consideration is taken into account when trying to source suitable accommodation.

Interim/Temporary Accommodation

Temporary accommodation may be shared or self-contained. You may need to share bathrooms or kitchens with other households.

Temporary accommodation quite often is smaller than your bedroom need on the Gateway register. For example, if you have a 3-bedroom need, you will likely be in 2 bed temporary accommodation.

While you are in temporary accommodation you will still be required to look for private rented accommodation using CBH HomeStep scheme. Sometimes, CBH is offered property to rent from private landlords and we may match you to a private rented property. If we match you with a suitable property through our HomeStep scheme this will be your final offer of accommodation, and we will discharge our duty to house you. If you refuse this offer of accommodation we may ask you to leave your temp and you will need to make your own housing arrangements.

You may be in temporary accommodation for a long time, depending on your household size.

Current waiting times in temporary accommodation

Current wait times for accepted homeless clients are:

• 1 bed need 8 months from date of acceptance
• 2 bed need 12-15 months from date of acceptance
• 3 bed need 25 months from date of acceptance
• 4 bed need 36 months from date of acceptance

Many people still consider that social housing is a home for life. However, many Housing Associations (registered social landlords) are only offering fixed term tenancies on their properties. These fixed terms can range from 2-6 years and will be reviewed towards the end of the fixed term. If your circumstances have changed you may be required to move out of the property when the tenancy ends.