Homelessness: Duty to refer
If you are looking for housing help for yourself, see:
Who has a duty to refer
As part of the Homelessness Reduction Act of 2017, many public services have a duty to refer their service users to a local authority if they believe they are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless.
The public services who need to refer their service users to local authorities are:
- prisons and young offender institutions
- secure colleges and training centres
- youth offending teams
- probation services, including community rehabilitation
- Jobcentres in England
- adult and children's social services
- emergency departments
- urgent treatment centres
- hospitals in their function of providing inpatient care
- Secretary of State for defence in relation to members of the regular armed forces
Please note: If you are working with a customer who you are concerned may be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless but you're not from an organisation on this list, please contact us for advice:
How to make the referral
If your service user is on the above list and you want to refer them to us, you will need to get their consent first, ideally in writing. Consent is not required for referrals made to safeguard children or vulnerable adults.
Once you have their consent, please complete this form:
Please provide as much information about the person and their situation as possible, to help us respond more effectively.
Please email the completed form to us:
A 'Duty to Refer' is not a formal homeless application. Once we receive a referral, our team will contact the individual to discuss their situation and help them make a formal application if required.
Although a referral can be sent to any local authority in England, local authorities will usually prioritise referrals who have a local connection to their area. So it is recommended that you first discuss with the service user which local authority they wish to be referred to.
What happens next?
- We will review the information provided
- We will attempt to contact the individual using the details you provided
- We will provide advice and support to try and prevent them from becoming homeless
If you have questions about the process, please email us:
For more information about the duty to refer see:
Emergency housing situations
This referral form is not for emergency use. If you are a professional dealing with a housing emergency (the person has nowhere to sleep tonight):
- Complete the referral form first.
- Contact our Housing Needs Duty Team immediately after submitting the form to ensure it is prioritised:
- During office hours: Call the Housing Team using the contact details at the bottom of this page
- Out of hours emergency: see Out of hours contact details
Tell us about someone living on the streets
If you are a member of the public and you are concerned about someone living on the streets you can tell us by using the:
The details you provide will be sent to our outreach service so we can find the individual and connect them to the right support.
If you think someone needs urgent medical care, or they're under 18 years of age, you should call 999.
Need assistance with this service?
Get in touch:
Housing: Needs Team
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Page last updated: 09 June 2026