What is homelessness?

This content applies to England only.

Housing laws vary between England and Scotland. This page applies to England only. Get advice relating to Scotland

Homelessness means not having a home. Even if you have a roof over your head you can still be homeless. This is because you may not have any rights to stay where you live or your home might be unsuitable for you.

What situations mean you are homeless?

You don't have to be sleeping on the streets to be classed as homeless. You might also be entitled to help as a homeless person if you are:

• temporarily staying with friends or family
• staying in a hostel or bed and breakfast
• living in very overcrowded conditions
• at risk of violence or abuse in your home
• living in poor conditions that affect your health
• living somewhere that you have no legal right to stay in (eg a squat)
• living somewhere that you can't afford to pay for without depriving yourself of basic essentials
• forced to live apart from your family or someone you would normally live with because your accommodation isn't suitable.

If you ask the council for help, it will look into your situation to see if it has a legal responsibility to help you as a homeless person. You can use our homelessness assessment tool to find out what help you might get.

Who is affected?

Homelessness affects a wide variety of people. Some groups of people are more vulnerable to homelessness because they have fewer rights, particular needs or are less able to cope by themselves. These include:

• young people leaving home for the first time
• old people
• people with children
• people with physical or mental health problems
• people on benefits or low incomes
• people leaving care
• ex-prisoners
• asylum seekers and refugees.

How do people become homeless?

You could become homeless for many different reasons. These could include:

• being evicted by your landlord
• losing your job
• health problems
• relationship problems
• a disaster such as fire or flooding.

How can an adviser help?

If you are homeless or worried about becoming homeless, you should get advice as early as you can. An adviser might be able to help you find a way to stay in your home, find a new home more quickly or get help from your local council.

You can get advice from a housing aid centre, Shelter's free national helpline, a citizens advice bureau, your local council or a local advice agency. Use the use our directory to find agencies in your area.