Housing Advice

East Dorset Housing Association manages the Housing Advice Service on behalf of East Dorset District Council. This includes giving advice to those with housing related problems and those who may be homeless or threatened with homelessness.

If you require accommodation in East Dorset or need advice regarding your housing situation, you need to contact the Housing Advice team.

As the Housing Advice Team carries out the housing needs duty on behalf of East Dorset District Council, we work very closely with them which help’s us address housing problems effectively in the District.

The Housing Advice team provide advice to anyone who needs help with his or her housing. The advice and housing options will be tailored to your individual needs.

In the Housing Advice Team we have:

Housing Options Advisor  Vicky Chase  01202 864233

Team Assistant  Jean McKerron  01202 864233

Housing Officer Homeless  Stephen Harrison  01202 864237

Housing Support Officer David Quy 01202 864234

Team Leaders Jude Harvey (Mon – Wed)

Sue Burton (Wed – Fri)  01202 864234

Emergency out of hours service please contact 08450 500 568

For queries, information & guidance please contact, in the first instance: Housing Options Advisor Vicky Chase 01202 864233.

What can we do for you?

Our priority is to prevent someone from losing their home and becoming homeless whenever possible. This could be in the form of providing support and assistance to remain in your current home.

Our service is for people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness along with those who are seeking housing advice with regards to alternative housing options.

The Housing Advice service is designed to provide information for people in housing need so that they are able to make informed decisions regarding their housing options.

Housing advice can include:

• Joining the Home finder Dorset choice based lettings scheme

• Securing accommodation in the private rented sector

• Supported housing

• Staying with friends or family

• Negotiating with landlords / family / friends / mortgage company to enable you to remain in your current home

• Lodgings

• Rent deposit scheme

For more details please contact a member of the Housing Advice Team on 01202 864233.

HOMELESSNESS

In order to assist you we will need to ask questions about your situation and you may need to provide detailed information on your housing and family circumstances. In some cases, we may have to provide temporary accommodation while we make our investigations, but this may only be possible if you cannot stay in your current home or we cannot find other accommodation for you.

Please remember that you should not give up your current accommodation without seeking our advice first as is you do, you may be classed an “intentionally homeless” which may mean any duty that may have been owed to you would cease.

If we accept you as homeless with a full housing duty, it is unlikely that you will be offered a housing association tenancy due to the severe shortage of available social housing. We will try to help you remain in your current home or access accommodation in the private rented sector.

We recognise that it is not always possible to prevent someone becoming homeless, and emergency situations can arise. For example, if you were experiencing violence at home, we would ensure emergency accommodation was available whilst we worked with you to pursue your housing options.

In exceptional circumstances it may be necessary to make an application for assistance under the homeless legislation (Housing Act 1996 as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002). If you are not happy with the decision made following a homeless application, you have the right to request a review.

For further information please click - Homeless Fact Sheets below:

Fact sheets available:

Homeless Fact Sheets

Fact Sheet 1   The Housing Advice Service
Fact Sheet 2   Asked to leave private rented accommodation?
Fact Sheet 3   Notice to Quit
Fact Sheet 4   Grounds for possession
Fact Sheet 5   Finding Private Rented Accommodation
Fact Sheet 6   A Guide to Homelessness
Fact Sheet 7   Mortgage & Rent Arrears