Temporary accommodation - Adur & Worthing Councils

If you:

are homeless
have nowhere to sleep tonight
need help to keep your current home
need help to find new accommodation to prevent you from becoming homeless

To find information about help you can get, see:

Get help if you're homeless, or at risk of losing your home

Getting temporary accommodation

The council looks at the needs of people and offers help according to their circumstances and eligibility. We may be able to provide temporary accommodation to you if you are in an immediate housing crisis.

We have a duty to provide temporary accommodation to someone who has a priority need.

A person has a priority need if they:

are at risk of domestic abuse
are a pregnant woman or live with a pregnant woman
have dependant children living with them or who are reasonably expected to live with them
are 16 or 17 years old and are not looked after by social services
are 18, 19 or 20 years old and spent time in care while between 16 and 18
lost their accommodation because of an emergency such as a flood, fire or other disaster

A person may have a priority need if they or someone they live with is vulnerable because of:

old age
a mental health condition
disability

If we are not able to provide you with accommodation we can signpost you to other local services and support you to find alternative housing.

To find information about help you can get, see:

Get help if you're homeless, or at risk of losing your home

Where temporary accommodation might be

Most temporary accommodation we offer is not in Adur or Worthing.

If you have children in school, we can't guarantee that you will be housed near their school.

What to expect from your temporary accommodation

If you don't have children: you're likely to be in a house of multiple occupation (HMO), which will probably have shared facilities (such as the bathroom and kitchen). You will need to buy your own food.
If you do have children: it is very unlikely that you will be asked to share any facilities with other households. If you do, you will be moved to self-contained accommodation within six weeks. In most cases the living area is also a sleeping area, and we can't guarantee that each member of the family will have their own bedroom.

You may be moved more than once, and this may be at short notice.

Almost all temporary accommodation is furnished and you will need to decide what to do with your belongings. You should take basic kitchen items and bedding with you to the accommodation. Your housing officer will speak to you about storage as the councils may have a duty to protect your belongings if you are not able to. You will be charged for this and once in storage, access is limited.

You need to keep important documents with you, such as ID, medical and income information.

How long you may be in temporary accomodation

The councils will work with you to help you find somewhere to live. The councils will assess your homeless application and will let you know if it will help you to find longer term accommodation (called a full housing duty). If so, you may be in temporary accommodation for many years.

If the councils don't have a duty to help you find longer term accommodation, they will tell you why and give you the date for when you need to leave your temporary accommodation.

Moving on from temporary accomodation

Moving into temporary accommodation is very unlikely to increase your priority for social housing, such as housing association or council housing.

Your banding assessment on the housing register will be unlikely to change whether you:

stay with friends or family
are in temporary accommodation
are in supported housing

From temporary accommodation, most people move into the private rented sector because there isn't enough social housing for everyone who needs it.

Depending on circumstances, some people are offered supported housing which is accommodation for single people.

Paying rent and service charges

You will need to pay rent and service charges for any accommodation which we provide. If you have a low income, you may be able to claim Housing Benefits to help cover your rent. You could lose your accommodation if you do not pay your rent.