What is a local connection?

A local connection means you have links to a council area because you:

• live or have lived in the area recently

• work in the area

• have close family living there

• get care leavers' support in the area

• lived in asylum support housing in the area

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You can ask any council for help if you are homeless or will be homeless soon.

You do not need a local connection to the area.

The council should:

• take your details

• decide if you should get emergency housing

• write a personal housing plan with you with steps on finding a place to live

If you do not have a local connection, a council might tell you to go to an area where you do. But they must not send you to another area if you are at risk there.

If you have a local connection to more than one council area, ask for homeless help from the council in the area where you want to live.

Emergency housing

Any council should give you emergency housing if you are homeless and have a priority need.

Examples of priority need are:

• you are pregnant or children live with you

• you are disabled or have a serious health condition

Domestic abuse

Any council you go to must give you emergency housing if you are facing domestic abuse.

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A council might say you do not have a local connection even though you do.

The details below will help you check if you have a local connection. You can challenge a council if they make a mistake.

You have a local connection to an area if any of these apply:

1. You live in the area or have lived there recently

You have a local connection to a council area if you've lived there for at least:

• 6 out of the last 12 months

• 3 out of the last 5 years

Living in emergency housing or a refuge counts.

Time spent in prison or hospital in an area does not count.

2. You work in the area

You have a local connection if you work in the area.

This can include self employment or part time or unpaid work

Casual work for a very short time does not count.

3. You have close family in the area

You have a local connection if any of these close relatives have lived in the council area for at least 5 years:

• parents

• adult children

• brothers and sisters

Other family members could count. For example, if you were brought up by another relative and are in close contact.

4. You are a young person who has left care

You have a local connection to an area if you:

• are under 21

• were in care in the area for at least 2 years

This applies even if you were placed in care in the area by another council.

You also have a local connection if you:

• are under 25

• have a pathway plan with the council's social services team

If your pathway plan is with a county council, you have a local connection to the whole county council area. This applies even if you now live somewhere else.

You can choose where to apply if you have a connection to more than one council area.

5. People who have lived in asylum support housing

You have a local connection to the last council area where you lived in asylum housing before you got refugee status.

It does not matter how long you lived there.

You could also have a local connection to an area if you:

• work there

• have close family members living there

• have lived there for 6 out of the last 12 months, or 3 out of the last 5 years

Find out more about homeless help if you must leave asylum housing.

6. You have special reasons for a local connection

You could have a local connection for a special reason such as:

• you need to live in the area for specialist health care

• you have very important social connections in the area

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If the first council wants to send you to another council, they must give you a letter which says why.

If the other council takes your case

The council that agrees to take your case from the first council must:

• give you longer term housing if the first council said you should get it

• help you write a personal housing plan to find housing in their area

If the other council does not take your case

The first council you spoke to should keep helping you.

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You can challenge the council decision to send you to another council if, for example, you:

• think the council made a mistake about your local connection

• find a job in the area you first went to

• are at risk of domestic abuse or other violence in the area they want to send you to

• have family in the other area but do not want to live near them

Tell the council you want them to review the decision.

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