Homeless or at risk of becoming homeless

Victor House is a new facility that provides a psychologically informed specialist environment that looks to support rehabilitative and recovery approaches and focus on the overall well-being of a person, including their physical and mental health and wellbeing, their level of social support (from a partner, family, or friends) and their level of community integration.   ​

Promoting recovery and rehabilitation will include enabling access to housing, education, training, and employment alongside supporting people to find and participate in rewarding leisure and community activities.  ​

Victor House creates the foundation for person to be able to begin on their recovery from a position of somewhere safe to stay.   ​

No referral is required to access the facility and we welcome everyone seven days a week between 8am to 10pm.

Alternatively, you can ring the staff based at Victor House on 01724 297 760.

Victor House, 22-24 Cole Street, Scunthorpe, DN15 6QS

We will assess your housing situation and create a personal housing plan with you to relieve homelessness. The relief duty lasts for 56 days and can end if:

• We help you find alternative accommodation
• You refuse an offer of accommodation
• You do not follow the requirements of your personal housing plan
• You become ineligible or withdraw your application
• You lose contact with us.

If we cannot help you keep your home or find alternative accommodation, you will be assessed under the Housing Act 1996 after the 56-day relief duty ends. We will only have a duty to rehouse you if:

• You are eligible for assistance (section 185)
• You are homeless (section 175)
• You are not intentionally homeless (section 191)
• You are in priority need (section 189)
• You have a local connection to the East Riding (section 193).

If you need to leave your home immediately due to domestic violence or anti-social behaviour, visit your nearest North Lincolnshire Council building during office hours or call 01724 297000. For out-of-hours assistance, call 01377 276444. If your life is at risk, contact the police.

If we believe you are homeless and in priority need, and you have nowhere to stay, we may provide temporary accommodation while we help you find alternative housing or until a decision is made on your application.

If you do not meet the basic criteria (not homeless, not eligible for assistance, not in priority need, or intentionally homeless), our duty will be limited to providing advice and assistance. Temporary accommodation may be provided for a limited time while you secure your own housing.

If you are a young person asked to leave your family home, our obligation is usually to provide advice and assistance, as you may not have a priority need for rehousing. However, you may be eligible to register on the housing waiting list by completing a Housing Application on Home Choice Lincs.

For 16 and 17-year-olds or young people who have been in care, we will liaise with children’s services.

If you are ex-armed forces personnel facing eviction from service family accommodation, ensure you have a ‘certificate of cessation of entitlement to occupy service family accommodation’ and contact the Housing Advice Team.

Contact Information:

• Email: housingadvice@northlincs.gov.uk
• Tel: (01724) 297000

Support Organizations for Ex-Armed Forces Personnel

• Legionline: Email: info@britishlegion.org.uk | Web: British Legion
• SSAFA: Tel: 0800 7314880 | Web: SSAFA Forces Help
• Veterans UK: Tel: 0808 1914218 (UK) / +44 1253 866 043 (overseas) | Email: veterans-uk@mod.gov.uk | Web: Veterans UK
• SPACES: Tel: (01748) 833797/872940/830191 | Email: spaces@riverside.org.uk | Web: Riverside – SPACES
• Veterans’ Aid: Tel: 020 7828 2468 | Email: info@veterans-aid.net | Web: Veterans Aid

Certain public agencies must refer clients who are homeless or at risk of homelessness within the next 56 days. This Duty to Refer ensures public agencies work together to prevent homelessness.

Agencies required to refer include hospitals, social services, prisons, probation services, Jobcentres, and the Secretary of State for Defence for regular armed forces members.

To make a referral to North Lincolnshire Council, email: dutytorefer@northlincs.gov.uk

If we have a legal duty to help you, we will make one offer of accommodation. Due to limited vacancies, the offered accommodation may not be in your preferred location, but we will try to accommodate your preferences. The accommodation could be housing association or private rented housing, or a referral to another local authority.

If you feel the offered accommodation is unsuitable, you may request a review. Refusing the offer may mean we have fulfilled our duty to you, and you will need to make your own arrangements if you are in temporary accommodation.

If you are homeless, have nowhere to stay, and are in priority need, we may provide temporary accommodation in the following situations:

• We have not yet made a decision on your homeless application
• We have accepted a duty to rehouse you but do not have suitable accommodation immediately
• We have decided you became homeless intentionally, and temporary accommodation will be provided for a reasonable period
• We have decided you do not have a local connection, and we are waiting for the outcome of a referral to another authority.

You will be responsible for the cost of temporary accommodation, but you may be eligible for housing benefit. We may place you anywhere within North Lincolnshire Council, considering relevant circumstances like work or school locations.

Losing temporary accommodation through your own fault or refusing it without a valid reason means we will not provide further accommodation, and you will need to make your own arrangements. We will continue with your homeless application until our duty is fulfilled.

During extreme cold weather (below 0°C), the council activates the SWEP to support rough sleepers. The rough sleeper outreach team will assist long-term rough sleepers in accessing emergency shelter.

Support during SWEP may include:

• Providing emergency overnight accommodation
• Paying reasonable travel costs to access emergency accommodation.

If someone is in immediate danger or needs urgent care, call 999.

If you are concerned about someone sleeping rough, you can report it via:

• StreetLink website
• Tel: 0808 800 4444
• StreetLink app: Available on Google Play and the App Store

For young people under 18 sleeping rough, please call 999 to report.

We will assess your housing situation and create a personal housing plan with you to prevent homelessness. The prevention duty lasts for 56 days and can end if:

• We help you keep your home
• We help you find alternative accommodation
• You refuse an offer of accommodation
• You do not follow the requirements of your personal housing plan
• You become ineligible or withdraw your application
• You lose contact with us.

The Forge Project Day Centre opens five mornings per week offering food and vital support services to North Lincolnshire’s homeless and roofless. It has been providing this lifeline since 1996, helping to bring positive change in the lives of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, helping them to realise a better future.

Our Day Centre offers a befriending service and whoever attends the project is guaranteed a warm welcome by people who care. As well as food, warmth and a friendly atmosphere our Day Centre staff provide support, signposting and referral to appropriate agencies as and where required. The Forge Project has built up many excellent partnerships with other agencies such as the local Housing Advice Team, drug and alcohol agencies, mental health agencies and Scunthorpe and District MIND. Representatives from these agencies attend the Day Centre to hold clinics to enable our mutual clients to see them in a safe environment. We know that given the right support and opportunities homeless people can resolve their problems and we are now providing more support and a wider range of opportunities than ever before.

For more information visit the Forge Project website.