Housing homeless people outside of our area

We have a duty to provide housing for vulnerable people who are homeless. Like ourselves, many councils across the country, are struggling to find suitable housing options. This is especially an issue in the south east of England.

We try to house our residents within our towns. If that isn't possible, we and other councils sometimes house homeless people outside of our area.

When we do this, we need to make sure that we follow certain guidelines.

Guidelines to follow when housing a homeless person in another area

The council that houses the homeless person must:

• Inform the council in the area where the homeless person is being moved to
• Look after the person’s housing and care, including social care

The authorities in the area where the person is being moved to are responsible for:

• Education
• Health needs

In Rushmoor, this is Hampshire County Council for education and the NHS for health needs.

All councils should work to bring their residents back to their own area as soon as they can.

Typically, when someone is housed in a different area, they do not establish a ‘local connection’.

Please see the out of area guidance from the Local Government Association for more information.

What we do

From time-to-time we need to move residents outside of our towns due to a lack of suitable accommodation. In all such cases we make sure we keep to our housing duty, so that the welfare and needs of the residents are a priority.

This is the same standard we expect from any council temporarily housing people within Rushmoor.