Resources to help you support people living in temporary accommodation

This information is for anyone supporting individuals or families living in temporary accommodation, to help them understand the law and their temporary accommodation rights. 

It is a quality-controlled selection of all the best legal information from a range of providers hand-picked by the Advicenow team, run by Law for Life.

Our resources

Homelessness Code of Guidance

This is Government guidance that local authorities should follow in all homelessness cases they are responsible for. It is a useful document to understand and refer to when dealing with local councils. They know they should be following the Code so if you quote it to them, they are more likely to pay attention.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s guide on temporary accommodation

This guide is aimed at housing officers who work for local councils. It sets out good practice on how housing officers should work with people who are living in temporary accommodation. If you are in this role it will be useful. If you are not, it could still be very useful as you can use it to explain to a housing officer what they should be doing. It includes helpful case studies where the Ombudsman has found the council to be at fault and the person complaining about their housing has a valid complaint.

National Homelessness Advice Service

This service, delivered by Shelter, provides free expert advice, training and online information resources to professionals working on the front line in England. It is funded by Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities. Eligible organisations include:

  • Citizens Advice
  • local authorities
  • voluntary organisations
  • public authorities such as prisons, probation, jobcentres or health services

Shelter England resource on how to challenge the suitability of accommodation offered by a local authority

This resource helps you understand what the legal test of suitability means, the procedure for challenging the suitability of an offer of homelessness accommodation, and the courts' powers where a challenge is successful.

September 2023

About this resource

Disclaimer 

The information in this resource applied to the law in England. Some laws on housing and homelessness are different in Wales. The laws in Scotland and Northern Ireland are also different. 

Acknowledgements

September 2023 

This resource was funded as part of the Better Temporary Accommodation for London initiative at Trust for London, in partnership with Oak Foundation.