What is a local connection?

A local connection means that you have links to the 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

If you have links to more than one council area, ask for homeless help in the area that you want to live. That council should help you.

Why local connection is important

The council checks your local connection if you ask them for homeless help.

You can ask any council for help if you're homeless or could be homeless soon.

Before they check your local connection they should first check if you are homeless.

If children live with you or they think you have another priority need, they must give you emergency housing if you are homeless.

If the council want a different council to help you

The first council can only ask another council to help if you:

• do not have a local connection where you apply

• have a local connection to another area

• are not at risk of domestic abuse in the other area

The first council must give you a letter that explains why they are asking a different council to help you. They could do this before or after helping you under a personal housing plan.

If the other council agree to help

If the first council has already decided that you should get longer term housing, the other council must provide this.

If the first council has not decided if you can get longer term housing, the other council will:

• help you under a personal housing plan

• decide if you can get longer term housing

If the other council refuse the referral

The first council should help you.

This could be help under a personal housing plan, or longer term housing.

Ask for a review of a council decision

You will get another letter if the other council agrees to help.

You could challenge the council decision to refer you to the other area if, for example, you:

• think the council made a mistake

• find a job in the area you first went to

• are at risk of domestic abuse or other violence in the other area

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

What counts as a local connection

Sometimes a council might say you do not have a local connection even though you do. Check to make sure they get things right.

These things give you a local connection to an area:

You live there or have lived there recently

You have a local connection to a council area if you have 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 does not count.

Working in an area

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

This could include being:

• self employed

• in part time or unpaid work

Casual work for a very short time does not count.

Close family in the area

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

• parents

• adult children

• brothers and sisters

The council might agree that you have a local connection because of other family members. For example, if you were brought up by another relative and are in close contact.

Young people who have left care

You have a local connection if you're:

• under 21

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

This applies even if you were placed there by another council.

You also have a local connection if you're:

• 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 live somewhere else now.

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

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 getting 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 have to leave asylum housing.

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